Jamie Carragher has advised Arne Slot to play without Trent Alexander-Arnold for the rest of the season, despite the fullback still being an important cog in their machine.
The Real Madrid-bound England international got their sole goal over the weekend in the Premier League to keep them ahead of the pack and within touching distance of another Premier League title. He was substituted in for Connor Bradley, who is his replacement in the team and in five minutes, scored the only goal of the game.
Carragher, who spent his entire career at Liverpool and earlier expressed disappointment at Alexander-Arnold choosing not to remain with the Anfield club, praised Slot’s decision to start the game without the fullback. Then he went on to argue in favour of keeping the fullback on the bench for the rest of the season.
“You can’t replace him, because what he is…” the former English defender explained during his post-match punditry on Sky Sports. “The reason we talk about him so much, I think why he’s the most talked about full-back we’ve probably ever seen in the Premier League, is because he’s unique, he’s different.
Why Liverpool must evolve without Trent
“You’ve [Micah Richards] just mentioned about him defensively, now, most top full-backs don’t get it thrown at them that they’re not very good defensively.
“But he’s so unique on the ball, I think I said four or five years ago, it’s like having Kevin De Bruyne playing right-back, that’s what it feels like in terms of his ability on the ball. He can come on and change games, so Liverpool aren’t going to replace that.
“So Liverpool need to replace his creativity, they’re not going to do that from right-back, they maybe need to that from an attacking midfield position, or maybe a left-wing position.
“So, the team has to evolve that way. Now, where they can replace him, is Conor Bradley’s a right-back. Conor Bradley shouldn’t look at Trent and think, ‘I want to be like him.’
“He’s got to be like Andy Robertson was when he was in his prime, a proper full-back, up and down, aggressive at the winger, maybe overlapping, getting crosses in, underlapping is what the Liverpool full-backs like to do.
“So you’re not going to be able to replace him, so forget that, but the big decision Liverpool have, or a couple of decisions between now and the end of the season, and the summer is…
“If Trent hasn’t committed, which he hasn’t obviously, to the manager for next season, he shouldn’t be starting games. He shouldn’t be…”
