Latest news with #TrentAlexanderArnold
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kostas Tsimikas makes Trent Alexander-Arnold exit admission after Liverpool supporters 'saw it differently'
Kostas Tsimikas says "the whole world must respect" Trent Alexander-Arnold's decision to leave Liverpool for Real Madrid. But the Reds defender also accepts the supporters' right to view the departure differently to the squad itself. Advertisement Alexander-Arnold joined los Blancos at the beginning of the month after the Reds engineered a £10m transfer for him to leave a month before his contract technically expired, meaning the Premier League champions bagged a sizable sum for a player who was on the cusp of a move as a free agent. The West Derby-born defender was subjected to loud boos at Anfield when he made his second-half substitute appearance in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal last month and while Tsimikas says the team have not been offended by their former colleague's decision, he also understands the depth of emotion from those who reacted angrily. READ MORE: Federico Chiesa sent blunt Liverpool transfer demand by new Italy boss READ MORE: When Liverpool will announce Florian Wirtz transfer as medical set for record arrival Advertisement "Okay, for Trent what to do," Tsimikas told Sport24. "After all, it's work. That was his choice, he wanted to see something else. Trent also goes to the best team, after Liverpool! (laughs). "Okay, they are choices, from then on the whole world must respect it. When you make this decision, you have to be ready to accept everything, we are our choices. He wanted to leave, he chose it. "From then on, you can see what he has given to the team, you see what Liverpool have got since Trent started playing. "All you can do is give him a good, warm round of applause. Tell him good luck. Because what he gave is too many [memories]. It will be difficult for any other player, even a transfer with a lot of money, to be able to do what Trent did. Advertisement "But yes, surely the locals saw it differently, they expected the Scouser to stay forever, until he hung up his boots. This is what creates an extra tension." Tsimikas added: "We within the team understood that he wants to leave, that there is no [obligation] to stay. "That's what he wanted from the beginning, he wanted to play for Real, so from the beginning of the season it seemed like it was the last season, he wanted something different, as he said. "I wish him all the best from the bottom of my heart, because we were very, very close. We made a lot of jokes together and it's hard to say goodbye to a player who every day we've been together for five years. Advertisement "I wish him all the best, without injuries and okay, you are a player, a great player, what can we discuss." Alexander-Arnold made his Real Madrid debut in Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup.
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
What would Kerkez bring to Liverpool?
In terms of how Liverpool play football, transfer target Milos Kerkez appears the perfect full-back. Although Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal' style of fast-paced, high-pressing football has been adapted by Arne Slot, the fundamentals of aggressive pressing - albeit in a more structured way - and trying to win the ball high up the pitch still remain. Advertisement The 21-year-old recovered the ball 169 times last season - the fifth-most of any defender in the Premier League and more than any Liverpool defender. He also won the ball in the Cherries' attacking third 11 times - the ninth most of defenders in the division and again more than any of his potential future Reds team-mates. Trent Alexander-Arnold, a fundamental source of creativity, has already departed Anfield, with Andy Robertson also linked with an exit. Should the deal be completed, Kerkez is seen as a long-term replacement for the left-back role the Scotland international has made his own over the last eight years. In a Bournemouth team that eventually finished ninth, the Hungary international created 34 chances from open play - the seventh most by a defender - and registered five assists which placed him joint-fourth in that ranking. His 142 crosses were the sixth-most - behind Robertson in fifth and Alexander-Arnold in fourth and his eight big chances created was the seventh most among defenders - a metric topped by the man now at Real Madrid. Advertisement In terms of ball progression, Kerkez passed into the final third 476 times - the tenth most times of any Premier League defender - behind the Reds' two first choice full-backs last season. No Liverpool defender completed more dribbles than his 22. Translating such form from a side punching above their weight to a team now expected to win almost every match is never a forgone conclusion, but the statistics show Kerkez is well placed to adapt at Anfield both in terms of what Arne Slot requires from his full-backs both defensively and offensively. The prospect of him playing alongside players of a higher standard is likely to excite Liverpool fans - and potentially ease the blow of losing at least one of their two first choice full-backs. *All stats provided by Opta
BBC News
20 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
What would Kerkez bring to Liverpool?
In terms of how Liverpool play football, transfer target Milos Kerkez appears the perfect Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal' style of fast-paced, high-pressing football has been adapted by Arne Slot, the fundamentals of aggressive pressing - albeit in a more structured way - and trying to win the ball high up the pitch still 21-year-old recovered the ball 169 times last season - the fifth-most of any defender in the Premier League and more than any Liverpool defender. He also won the ball in the Cherries' attacking third 11 times - the ninth most of defenders in the division and again more than any of his potential future Reds Alexander-Arnold, a fundamental source of creativity, has already departed Anfield, with Andy Robertson also linked with an exit. Should the deal be completed, Kerkez is seen as a long-term replacement for the left-back role the Scotland international has made his own over the last eight a Bournemouth team that eventually finished ninth, the Hungary international created 34 chances from open play - the seventh most by a defender - and registered five assists which placed him joint-fourth in that ranking. His 142 crosses were the sixth-most - behind Robertson in fifth and Alexander-Arnold in fourth and his eight big chances created was the seventh most among defenders - a metric topped by the man now at Real terms of ball progression, Kerkez passed into the final third 476 times - the tenth most times of any Premier League defender - behind the Reds' two first choice full-backs last season. No Liverpool defender completed more dribbles than his such form from a side punching above their weight to a team now expected to win almost every match is never a forgone conclusion, but the statistics show Kerkez is well placed to adapt at Anfield both in terms of what Arne Slot requires from his full-backs both defensively and prospect of him playing alongside players of a higher standard is likely to excite Liverpool fans - and potentially ease the blow of losing at least one of their two first choice full-backs.*All stats provided by Opta
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
The Alexander-Arnold and Rodrygo dynamic showed Real Madrid's problems will take time to fix
There was a theme in Xabi Alonso's first post-match press conference as Real Madrid head coach: improvement will take time. After Madrid's 1-1 draw with Al Hilal in their opening game in the Club World Cup, Alonso portrayed a calm figure who knew his side were still early in the process. 'Whoever thought everything was going to work perfectly…,' said Madrid's head coach. 'We knew what things were going to work well and others that we have to keep working on to improve.' Advertisement After a season when Madrid looked porous out of possession regardless of their defensive shape, one thing Alonso needs to improve is the team's structure without the ball. Madrid's 4-3-3 against Al Hilal morphed into a 4-4-2 when Alonso's side were defending in a mid-block, with Jude Bellingham or Vinicius Junior slightly behind Gonzalo Garcia. The defensive problems mainly came down the right side, where Al Hilal's intricate wing play mesmerised Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rodrygo. In terms of their positioning, Madrid's players were usually a couple of yards short or blocking passing lanes that were already covered. Below, as Garcia presses Kalidou Koulibaly, Rodrygo holds his position to force the ball wide. However, Al Hilal's left-winger, Salem Al-Dawsari, is dragging Alexander-Arnold inside the pitch, which means Renan Lodi is able to exploit the space once he receives the pass from Koulibaly. The lack of communication between Madrid's right-back and winger, and the speed of the move, catches them out. Alexander-Arnold is left in between Lodi and Al-Dawsari, who is attacking the space from the right-back's blind side… … and the ball is played into his path, but Raul Asencio intercepts it. Rodrygo is miles away from the action and it is alarming that Al Hilal's left-back, Lodi, is in position to receive the return pass if Asencio does not stop Al-Dawsari. In this next example, Alexander-Arnold, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo are in the correct positions as Al Hilal are rotating their left side. When Al-Dawsari plays the ball back to Lodi… … Rodrygo takes a couple of steps inside the pitch to maintain Madrid's horizontal compactness. Meanwhile, Aurelien Tchouameni is keeping an eye on Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, as Lodi plays the ball to Ruben Neves. However, Tchouameni leaves Milinkovic-Savic free when the Serbia midfielder drops to receive the ball from Neves. On top of that, Rodrygo does not adjust his position in time to support Alexander-Arnold, who is in a one-versus-two situation and being dragged inside by Nasser Al-Dawsari. This allows Milinkovic-Savic to find the other Al-Dawsari in space… … and the captain dribbles inside, before combining with the Serbia midfielder, but his shot misses the target. In another example, Al Hilal's holding midfielder, Neves, is in a left-back position and Lodi is higher up the pitch while the ball is at Yassine Bounou's feet. Before the goalkeeper plays the long pass to Lodi, Madrid's right-winger Brahim Diaz is in a peculiar position, where the only assumption possible is that he does not want to leave Garcia defending Koulibaly and Neves on his own. However, that leaves Lucas Vazquez, who replaced Alexander-Arnold, in a one-versus-two situation. Madrid's right-back is initially narrow due to the positioning of Al-Dawsari, and when the ball is approaching Lodi, he hesitates about contesting the aerial duel… … which leaves him in no-man's land. Diaz's weird positioning and Vazquez's hesitancy allow Lodi and Al-Dawsari to combine… … before the left-winger sets up Marcos Leonardo, but the centre-forward misses the target. There were other instances where the reaction of Madrid's right-winger was simply late. Here, Koulibaly chips the ball towards Lodi… … and Alexander-Arnold is in position to contest the aerial duel. But Rodrygo reacts late to the second ball, and Al-Dawsari wins it, with his left-back in a position to support the attack. Al Hilal's captain then carries the ball into space with Lodi in an advanced position… … before putting the latter through on goal, but the Brazilian's opener is ruled out for offside — if Al-Dawsari plays the pass a second earlier, it would surely have been 1-0 to Al Hilal. Later in the game, Al Hilal are overloading the left wing and as Milinkovic-Savic is playing the ball to Mohamed Kanno, Lodi dashes forward from behind Diaz. Kanno then finds the underlapping left-back, with Tchouameni unable to commit due to Al-Dawsari's position between the lines. Tchouameni's decision to protect his zone and maintain his position proves to be the correct one as he blocks Lodi's cross and changes its path. Madrid's out-of-possession problems were not going to disappear after three training sessions — improving the team's structure without the ball will take time and commitment. The reaction in the second half, especially with the introduction of Arda Guler and the improvements on the ball, is a miniature example of the essence of patience and time. Advertisement 'Every game we need to take positives and learn from what we can improve,' Alonso told DAZN after the match. 'Every game will give us lessons to get improving.' Madrid will need to be patient as Alonso hones the team's structure in and out of possession. 'We are demanding the result because we are in a competition,' said Alonso. 'But what we want to learn and what we want to be also takes time.'
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Liverpool fans revel in Trent Alexander-Arnold's 'disasterclass' Real Madrid debut - as Spanish newspaper rip into his £10m early arrival fee
Liverpool fans have mocked Trent Alexander-Arnold after his debut for Real Madrid, reveling in their former star's difficult outing following his bitter exit. The Scouser waved goodbye to his boyhood club at the end of the season, having only recently put an end to a year-long speculation over his future as his Anfield contract wound down. The Premier League champions managed to secure a £10million fee for the 26-year-old but his departure still left a sour taste in the mouths of many. As a result, scores of Reds fans tuned in to witness his maiden appearance for Los Blancos, which came in their World Club Cup opener against Al-Hilal on Wednesday night. And they were not disappointed - particularly in the first half - as the England star struggled to find his passing range and was weak in the tackle. 'He thinks he has a chance to win the Ballon D'or,' wrote one fan on X, in reference to a 2024 interview in which he stated his aim of becoming the first right-back to win the prestigious award. Another made reference to Alexander-Arnold's comments about training with his new Madrid team-mates this week, words that some construed as thinly veiled digs at his old Liverpool colleagues. They wrote: 'The ball moves so fast here.' Responding to a post of a video that professed to show all of Alexander-Arnold's mistakes against Al-Hilal, one user on X pointed out an instance when the full-back was caught high up the pitch - positioning that nearly cost his side a goal. 'And here he is in a counter attack against him team,' the user noted, circling Alexander-Arnold's position. A fourth took the chance to swipe of two of the Three Lions' right-back options, commenting: 'Bro's worst than [Kyle] Walker.' Liverpool fans on social media were not the only ones displeased with Alexander-Arnold's first outing. Spanish outlet AS gave him a blank rating. He was one of only three stars to get the treatment. In their report they also stated that the LaLiga giants did not pay a fee to acquire the defender early so that he can take his time to adapt to his new surroundings. On Wednesday, in his 65 minutes on the pitch, the Englishman won just 25 per cent of his ground duels and lost possession 12 times. However, Alexander-Arnold showed his quality by delivering the most passes into the final third (12), with him showing some improvement after the interval. Post-match, he insisted that he knows he 'made the right decision' to join Real Madrid after making his debut. 'It's the first time that I've moved clubs so I didn't know what to expect. I had no expectations coming into this,' Alexander-Arnold told Mail Sport. 'It's a big change and it's different but I'm loving every single minute of it and in my mind and my heart, I know that I made the right decision for me.' The game started at 3pm local time in conditions that were far from ideal for football, with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees celsius and high levels of humidity. 'Yeah, I found it very challenging (in that heat). It's very different from England,' Alexander-Arnold admitted. 'But it was a very proud moment for me. I'm very happy to have made my debut. It's something that most, if not all players, dream of in their life. I'm incredibly proud of the achievement but of course there's some disappointment (with the result) with the mentality that comes as a Madrid player. 'You want and expect to win every single game but of course, new coach, some new players and new ideas - there's some positives to take from it, especially in the second half and the foundation has been built to go and win the next game now,' added the 26-year-old.
