“Wasn’t his best game” and “schoolboy stuff”.
After Sunday’s game against Manchester United, Liverpool boss Arne Slot admitted right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was not at his best, while former midfielder turned pundit Roy Keane lamented the defender’s display.
But was Alexander-Arnold’s performance really that bad?
It depends where you look.
After reports surfaced during the week that Real Madrid had approached Liverpool about the 26-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, there was always going to be more focus on him during this game.
With nearly 55% of United’s attack coming down Liverpool’s right according to Opta, it was clear Ruben Amorim’s side were targeting any potential vulnerability – and the creativity of Bruno Fernandes and of Diogo Dalot took full advantage.
But this is not the first time Alexander-Arnold’s defensive capabilities have been questioned and, even this season, he has statistically had worse games.
Against the Red Devils, the England international lost possession 27 times – the second-most of a Liverpool player in the Premier League this season, but still fewer times than he gave the ball away in their defeat by Nottingham Forest (33) earlier this season.
What would be concerning for Reds’ fans, however, is the regularity in which he loses high amounts of possession during matches, with the right-back appearing seven times in the top 10 for possession lost in games by Liverpool players this campaign.
Alexander-Arnold was surprisingly only dribbled past twice by opponents on Sunday, a figure that has been topped by himself on six other occasions so far this term.
But, with no tackles recorded and all five of his duels lost, his willingness and ability to get stuck into the opposition in such an intense derby game for Reds’ fans will have frustrated supporters.
Despite this, Alexander-Arnold won possession more times (eight), had more touches (97), made more interceptions (four) and equal the amount of passes (63) as any Liverpool player in the match.
And, as shown in their heatmaps, the defender covered more of the pitch than fellow full-back Andy Robertson – although the amount of play coming down the right side from United will have had an impact.
With transfer silly season only just beginning and the games only going to get tougher, the scrutiny around Alexander-Arnold looks set to intensify.