Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold may be excellent going forward but his defensive qualities have often been questioned by pundits and rival fans.
Reds legend Jamie Carragher has singled out one area where the 21-year-old must improve. The former defender criticised the right-back for jogging back instead of running after being caught out of position for Wilfried Zaha’s equaliser:
“That’s my biggest problem with him. Zaha is powerful and it’s tough to stop him. He doesn’t panic, sprint back. I’ve seen it from him a lot. I don’t know if Jurgen Klopp has noticed or spoken to him about it. There was a goal at Arsenal last season. It’s like he jogs back, just get back! I think that goal is stopped if he makes that sprint.”
It is something that supporters have also noticed about Alexander-Arnold, and you wouldn’t necessarily put it down to a lack of desire to get back and defend.
He does make a number of lung-bursting runs forward, and it may be the case that he doesn’t always have the energy to track back when he needs to.
The fullback role is one of the most challenging roles in the modern game as, unlike most positions, they are required to run the length of the pitch on a regular basis. Even so, Carragher is correct to point out that it is something that Alexander-Arnold can improve on.