Trent Alexander-Arnold has come under fire for his performance against Manchester United as his Liverpool contract ticks down, but ex-Red Emile Heskey feels it wasn’t all his fault
Trent Alexander-Arnold need only look around the Liverpool dressing room for help in his ongoing contract saga – both on and off the pitch.
That’s according to ex-Reds forward Emile Heskey, who said Alexander-Arnold can take inspiration from fellow contract rebel Mo Salah’s performances this season in the wake of criticism for his performance in last weekend’s draw with Manchester United.
“Players can get distracted, especially when it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world that are showing an interest, and the stakes are high,” said Heskey, via Instant Casino.
“It takes real mental strength to ignore it. You’re looking at Mo Salah, he’s never dropped his level while everything has been going on with his contract this season.
“It takes real mental strength to get through those times as a player. The uncertainty can be hard to deal with, and also the interest of other clubs. You’re gonna have ups, you’re gonna have downs. You’ve got to try and find that medium that helps you to get through. Salah has been remarkably consistent. His end product is still there with goals and assists.”
Alexander-Arnold was ripped to pieces by Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane for his defensive display against United, but Heskey says that criticism was nothing new, and instead pointed the finger at the right-back’s team-mates for not helping him out.
“Yeah, look, I think it’s something that we’ve spoken about year-on-year for Trent,” he continued. “We never talk about his on-ball abilities. It’s off-ball abilities, isn’t it? It’s defending. It’s positional play. It’s aggression. He didn’t show any of them against Man United.
“It looked like United actually went at him. They targeted him. I think his teammates could have helped him out a bit more. As a player, if I know someone’s not doubling up, and I can see that players are really getting at my teammate, I would come across and help him. You can’t just leave him on his own to be taken on.
“I get it, sometimes you need to be able to deal with 1v1s, but if you’re not dealing with the 1v1s well enough, then his teammates must help out. This is one of the things that we constantly point our fingers at others, but there’s 11 people on the pitch, 10 outfield players, and they’ve got to help each other. It’s not just 1v1 all over the pitch.”
Heskey admits he isn’t sure how the full-back’s contract saga will ultimately play out, but admits he wouldn’t be surprised if Alexander-Arnold fancied a new challenge.
“The reality is he’s won the league at Liverpool,” he added. “There’s only one or two clubs that will draw you away from Liverpool, which is Real Madrid and Barcelona. So, it’s a really difficult one.
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“My thing about it is, he’s coming to the end of his contract. That would have been a four-year contract, I’m guessing. So, two years into that contract, why are we not talking about extending that now? We’re not going to get that answer.
“It just baffles me that someone that you rate really highly as a local lad and someone that potentially could be captain going into later years, you’ve let his contract run out. I don’t know if it’s on both sides or it’s on one or the other. It just shouldn’t have come to that point.”
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