Didi Hamann came to the defence of maligned star Trent Alexander-Arnold, branding recent criticism of the fullback as “ridiculous”, as reported by Stadium Astro.
The right-back has come under fire of late for his perceived sub-par performances this term, with his crossing highlighted as a concern.
“If you play weekly or every third day, the standard he set has been exceptional. He has been flawless for two years and played over 100 games. I find the criticism of him ridiculous,” the ex-Red said. “To criticise a player who is still very young because he has had some half-baked appearances and not done any assists in a few months is ridiculous.”
At the age of 22, there’s a remarkable amount of pressure riding on the Englishman’s shoulders; partly due to the fact of his immense importance to Jurgen Klopp’s style of play, which is reliant to an extent on his fullbacks.
While the No.66, as far as stats go, is underperforming compared to the ludicrous highs of the prior term, we do have to question the amount of critique being thrown his way.
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As far as crossing goes, the Academy graduate’s numbers have hardly dropped as catastrophically as some might expect, which suggests that the blame should be shared rather than aimed at Alexander-Arnold.
It’s worth also considering the potential impact of COVID-19 on performance, with the Scouser having contracted the virus last year.
We realise we’re offering a lot of excuses at the moment, but these are all worth considering before we continue to heap the pressure on the England international.
You can watch the clip below, courtesy of Stadium Astro: