Empire of the Kop
·9. Januar 2025
Empire of the Kop
·9. Januar 2025
When Trent Alexander-Arnold was introduced off the bench after an hour of Liverpool’s defeat to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, the reaction from the away supporters in north London was telling.
Uncertainty continues to abound over the 26-year-old’s future after an unsuccessful bid from Real Madrid last week, with the England international now into the final six months of his contract at Anfield, and to say that he endured a tough day at the office against Manchester United last weekend would be an understatement.
The right-back was partly culpable for both of the Red Devils’ goals in that 2-2 draw and was tormented all evening by Diogo Dalot, with some sections of the home crowd viciously heckling him on Sunday.
Trent was one of three players brought on by Arne Slot as part of a triple substitution in the 60th minute against Spurs, and from the moment that he stepped onto the pitch, the travelling Kop made their feelings clear.
Sky Sports‘ live coverage of the game picked up the umistakable sound of ‘The Scouser in our team’ as the away fans showed in no uncertain terms that they still have the Liverpool vice-captain’s back.
(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Trent’s performance against Man United was tough to watch, as was the level of vitriol aimed towards him by some within Anfield on Sunday, even if that display was a contender for the worst of his 334 appearances for the club.
However, any school of thought that his levels of effort and commitment have waned amid the ongoing links with Real Madrid will surely have been put to bed by his contribution last night, when he was unlucky not to have scored as his shot was somehow cleared off the line by Radu Dragusin.
As per Sofascore, he completed 24 passes after coming on as a substitute (twice as many as Diogo Jota in half the time on the pitch), had a 100% dribble success rate, made one interception and played five accurate long balls.
Professional footballers need to be thick-skinned, but we could understand if Trent was hurt by some of the venom directed towards him in recent days, and he responded with a proactive display off the bench against Tottenham, even if he couldn’t prevent Liverpool from falling to only a second defeat of the season.
The hardy Reds who travelled to north London and back on Wednesday night certainly made it clear to him that he’s still one of us, and so long as he’s playing for this club, he deserves our support.
You can view the Liverpool fans’ reaction to Trent coming on against Spurs below, via @SkyFootball on X: