"I think it’s a really difficult one" - Jamie Carragher claims he has 'sympathy' for Liverpool star after Champions league final loss to Real Madrid
Former Liverpool defender turned television pundit Jamie Carragher has sympathised with Trent Alexander-Arnold after their Champions League final loss to Real Madrid.
Los Blancos clinched their 14th Champions League title at the expense of the Reds as Vinicius Junior scored the only goal of the game.
Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has been blamed for his lapse in concentration that allowed the Brazilian international an easy tap-in past Alisson Becker.
However, Carragher has admitted that he has a lot of sympathy for the England international and stated that he did really well for most parts of the game.
Carragher has suggested that Alexander-Arnold had a really difficult job on his hands.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
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The former Reds hero told CBS Sports on Paramount+, as quoted by HITC Sport:
“I have got a little bit of sympathy with him. I think it’s a really difficult one. I understand what you are saying about the body position. But it’s very difficult when that ball flashes across there."
Carragher has insisted that Liverpool usually play a lot of offside traps and Real Madrid took advantage of that. He added:
“I actually think Liverpool handled Vinicius throughout the game really well – he’s got to be looking at the ball, but when that ball flashes across, then I am not sure he can actually get there."
He added:
“Liverpool play offside a lot. So, when he does check, it’s because he doesn’t want to go behind his defenders and play someone onside. But these are the fine margins that decide the biggest games.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold needs to improve defensively but he is not the only Liverpool played at fault for Real Madrid's goal
Trent Alexander-Arnold is certainly not the best when it comes to defending and gets rightfully criticised for that. However, the Englishman was not the only man at fault for the Real Madrid goal.
Andrew Robertson also had an unusually poor game in the Champions League final and Virgil van Dijk was also far from impressive.
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Federico Valverde was not well dealt with by the Reds and the Real Madrid midfielder did exceptionally well to find Vinicius Junior at the far post.
Alexander-Arnold has become a scapegoat for the Reds every time they defend poorly as a unit.
Liverpool playing a very high line exposes them more often than not and Real Madrid did well to target them by sitting back with the intention of hitting them on the counter.