‘One of Liverpool’s best’: Jamie Carragher lauds Trent Alexander-Arnold for his Man of the Match performance at Man Utd

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Jamie Carragher has lauded Trent Alexander-Arnold for delivering one of his best performances of the season as Liverpool beat Manchester United 4-2 on Thursday.

The former Reds defender named Alexander-Arnold as his Man of the Match for the Old Trafford affair during his work as a pundit for Sky Sports (13/05/21, 22:07), but reflected on the England international’s season as a whole.

Carragher believes that despite receiving a lot of scrutiny for some of his displays, the right-back has actually been one of Liverpool’s best players all season in a campaign that has seen Jurgen Klopp’s side fail to defend the Premier League title.

Liverpool sit fifth in the standings after beating rivals Manchester United with a four-point deficit to Chelsea in the last of the Champions League places, albeit having played a game less, which would mark their lowest finish since the 2015/16 campaign.

Alexander-Arnold has also faced his own difficulties with Gareth Southgate electing to omit the 22-year-old from his England squad for the March internationals, feeling via quotes by the Metro: “I don’t think he’s played at the level that he found in the last couple of years.”

Carragher would argue that Alexander-Arnold has risen to the occasion over the second half of the season, despite the scrutiny he has faced, and feels the defender has proven himself to be one of Liverpool’s better players in that period.

“Alexander-Arnold, it was simply one of his best performances this season and to be fair, he’s had a lot of scrutiny, a lot of eyes on him but for the second half of the season, he’s been one of Liverpool’s best players. He really has,” said Carragher.

TBR’s view:

Alexander-Arnold has turned in his fair share of poor performances this season, with his time on the field in defeat to Southampton in January cut short after relentlessly turning over possession and proved wasteful with the ball against Burnley by choosing the wrong option all too often.

That was not the case on Thursday night, however, as the 12-cap full-back was certainly one of Liverpool’s better players, as he read the game magnificently, rarely put a foot wrong defensively and was key to both of Firmino’s goals under the watch of Southgate (Sky).

Alexander-Arnold delivered a superb free-kick to set Firmino up for his first of the night with the assist his sixth of the Premier League season, no Liverpool player has more. He also won possession more often than any other player on the pitch (Sky), and fully deserved to be named as Carragher’s Man of the Match.