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Emmanuel Petit has boldly claimed that Trent Alexander-Arnold “hates” defending, and described his performance against Manchester United as “horrible”.
Alexander-Arnold put in arguably his worst performance of the season at Anfield on Sunday, with both of United’s goals coming down the right side (Alexander-Arnold’s side) of Liverpool’s defense.
The right-back was notably caught napping as Bruno Fernandes threaded a reverse pass through to Lisandro Martinez to score the opening goal of the game, and Arsenal legend Petit criticized the Liverpool star’s defensive shortcomings.
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“I’ve always had the same opinion on Trent Alexander-Arnold, he’s a great player with technical ability, amazing passing and vision, but he’s not a defender,” Petit told DisCasino. “He hates it. When you play in a team like Liverpool, they can handle that weakness, but they almost lost to Manchester United at Anfield because of him. The way Alexander-Arnold defended was horrible, he was so lazy for the Lisandro Martinez goal.
“I’m being harsh, but I’m not surprised about his ability to defend either. With the ball, Alexander-Arnold is the best in his position, without the ball, he’s one of the worst. This game meant a lot, he knows that as he’s from the city and Liverpool is in his DNA.”
Much of the build-up to Liverpool’s game against United centered around Alexander-Arnold’s future after news emerged that Real Madrid had approached the Reds about the possibility of signing him in January.
It is no secret that Madrid has made Alexander-Arnold a top target during 2025, and he has been free to sign a pre-contract agreement with the Spanish club since January 1 ahead of possibly joining the club on a free transfer on July 1.
Sunday’s post-match pundit chat on Sky Sports was dominated by Alexander-Arnold’s situation, but Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk played down suggestions that his teammate was distracted by Madrid’s interest during the game against United.
“I am fine with it. Trent has his own people around him, his family and we are there as well,” Van Dijk said. “He wants to perform in the best way possible like we all do. That is the main focus. In my opinion, maybe ask him, that is the distraction… the game.”