Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders believes Trent Alexander-Arnold broke the ‘golden rule’ as Vinicius Junior ran him ragged during Real Madrid’s stunning 5-2 Champions League triumph at Anfield, speaking to talkSPORT (21 February, 11pm).
At this stage, Alexander-Arnold’s defensive deficiencies are very well-documented. The chances are that he was always likely to end up on the losing side in a head-to-head with arguably world football’s most fearsome left-winger.
Saunders, however, still expected a whole lot better; Alexander-Arnold part of an abysmal defensive performance from a Liverpool side conceding five goals in a Champions League game for the very first time.
“He has still not learned,” Saunders sights, highlighting Alexander-Arnold’s apparent inability to stop Vinicius from cutting inside onto his ruthless right boot.
“There was an example of how to defend against him, from Virgil van Dijk. There was an instance when (Real Madrid) broke, they had three streaming through the middle. Van Dijk was one v one with Vinicius and he said; ‘Go on! Push it outside and see if you can beat me’.
“If you come inside, you’ve got all the goal to aim at. Golden rule (is stopping that).”
Read Related Also: Arizona Christian University Files Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Against Bigoted School Board
Liverpool hammered 5-2 by Vinicius Jr inspired Real Madrid
Early goals from Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah – the latter profiting from a bizarre Thibaut Courtous blunder – gave Jurgen Klopp’s beleaguered side a 2-0 lead inside 14 minutes; raising hopes of one of those ‘famous European nights at Anfield’.
All that good work was undone in double-quick time, however. Real Madrid went from 2-0 down to 5-2 up between the 21st and 67th minute; even the usually-reliable Alisson Becker and Van Dijk having a night to forget.
“I thought it was total disregard for defending,” Saunders adds. It’s like as if they are saying; ‘Right, we’ll just play when we get it, and you play when you get it. Its like a boxing match. And Liverpool got knocked out.
“You’re thinking; ‘Can they go there (to Madrid for the second leg) and not concede a goal’?
“Don’t let Rodrygo come inside! Make Vinicius go down the outside! Don’t get too tight. Midfielders don’t give the ball away in the middle of the pitch. It’s like they need to go back to the basics.”
In other news, ‘I don’t like it’: Stan Collymore tears into £160,000-a-week Arsenal man
