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Watch: TAA dissects Spurs defence with jaw-dropping crossfield pass

Planet Football •

Trent Alexander-Arnold has come under heavy scrutiny this season but he reminded everybody why he’s considered such a special talent during Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Tottenham on Sunday. 

The pressure was on Jurgen Klopp’s side after back-to-back domestic defeats to lowly Nottingham Forest and Leeds, yet a brace from Mohamed Salah secured the points.

A lot of the talk before the game centred around Alexander-Arnold and whether he should be included in England’s squad for the World Cup after a difficult start to the 2022-23 campaign.

His technical quality has never been in doubt but there’s been a growing chorus of observers that cannot get past Alexander-Arnold’s perceived defensive weaknesses.

Speaking to Red Bull about criticism, he said: “I think that’s something people don’t really understand if I’m honest. We don’t play a normal style of football. When things are going well, people praise it.

“But when things aren’t going right (it’s), ‘they don’t defend like they used to’ or ‘they don’t defend like they’re supposed to…they’re supposed to be doing this, they’re supposed to be doing that.’

“It was ‘Trent’s changed the position, he’s changed the role. Changed how right-backs play the game or full-backs play the game.’

“Now it’s like, ‘He doesn’t defend like a full-back used to or a full-back’s supposed to.’ Well if I’ve changed the game, then surely you can’t have one without the other.

“As a team, all you can do is play how you’re told to play.”

And it’s safe to say both sides of his game were on show at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The 24-year-old played an incredible diagonal pass in the seventh minute, barely looking up before hitting a first-time ball into the path of Darwin Nunez on the left flank.

Alexander-Arnold’s second pass was accompanied by a worrying gasp from the Tottenham crowd, a sign of true quality from the Liverpool defender.

At the same time, he gave the ball to Ivan Perisic early on, pushed Ryan Sessegnon to the floor and was lucky not to give away a penalty.

But it was this sexy pass that got everybody salivating and provided a timely reminder of Alexander-Arnold’s unique ability.

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