Despite being a Champions League winner and conceding only 22 goals with the Reds this season, Martin Tyler has absurdly doubted Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive qualities at international level.
Starting at right-back today for England’s Nations League 3rd place play-off against Switzerland (we know…), the veteran broadcaster made the utterly ridiculous comments about Trent live on air.
Three things wrong with this:
1: he’s acting as if international football is the pinnacle of the sport(LOL)
2: it supposes Walker or Trippier are good defensively(LOL)
3: he’s acting as if a player — while he’s not yet brilliant defensively — who was in the best defense is bad— John O’Sullivan (@NotoriousJOS) 9 June 2019
We find Tyler’s theory to be completely without basis and lacking in any logical sense; Trent is quite clearly one of the finest right-backs in the world right now, if not the best.
At just 20, the West Derby lad has contested back-to-back Champions League finals – obviously winning the second just over a week ago – and fired the Reds to 97 points in the Premier League.
Not only is he the cream of the crop in his position, we’d definitely pick him over Kyle Walker in a back four (although both played on Sunday when Walker came off the bench).
He’s also clearly far, far superior to two of Gareth Southgate’s other options – Kieran Trippier, who doesn’t seem to have made the grade at Spurs, and winger-turned-failed-full-back Ashley Young who is turning 34 in July.
The pedestal international football continues to be placed upon is bemusing. Martin Tyler essentially asking if Trent Alexander-Arnold can make the ‘step up’ to this stage. He’s just been an integral part of the side who won the Champions League, a far tougher competition.
— Kristian Walsh (@Kristian_Walsh) 9 June 2019
What’s more, the Reds right-back also contributed a club-high 17 total assists this season.
He also broke the record for most assists by a defender in the Premier League with his 12th league assist on the final day.
We’re not sure what Tyler was thinking when he doubted Trent’s world-class abilities in defence, but he’s quite clearly made an atrocious error here.