Pundit can’t believe ‘atrocious’ Liverpool-Trent Alexander-Arnold claim
Noel Whelan has insisted criticism of Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold is “unfair” after he was easily beaten in the air by Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic on Saturday (6 August).
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, put the goal down to “clever forward play” rather than any mistake on the 23-year-old’s part.
Mitrovic peeled off onto Alexander-Arnold in the 32nd minute of Fulham’s win over Liverpool, towering over the right-back to nod home the first goal of the game.
The Cottagers twice took the lead during the season opener but were pegged back by goals from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez to rescue a point for the visitors.
Reacting to the opening goal on Sky Sports News (6 August, 1:12pm), ex-striker Kris Boyd branded the England international’s defending “atrocious”.
Meanwhile, Liverpool hero John Aldridge insisted (per the Sunday World, 7 August) his defensive capabilities were “found wanting”.
When asked what he made of that criticism, Whelan told Football Insider‘s Ewan Kingsbury: “I think it’s unfair.
“When you have a player like Mitrovic, you will always tell him to find a mismatch. You’re not going to tell him to go up against Van Dijk – you’ll get him up against one of the wing-backs.
“That’s just clever forward play. You can’t blame him for not winning the header. Mitrovic is 6 foot 3, big, strong – Alexander-Arnold isn’t.
“I put it down to good movement and striking play rather than bad defending. That’s just what good strikers do.
“Mitrovic backed himself and got his rewards.”
Liverpool’s title rivals Man City picked up all three points in a 2-0 win over West Ham on Sunday (7 August).
The Reds face Crystal Palace next Monday (15 August).
In other news, pundit issues intriguing Sadio Mane verdict after what he saw at Liverpool.