Liverpool’s nightmare night was already well under way, but after just over half an hour it went from bad to worse with Trent Alexander-Arnold in the lead role. Because even though it was stopper Joe Gomez who made the first mistake when he messed up the ball in his own half, the images of Alexander-Arnold’s subsequent performance have gone around the world in the hours after the game. The 23-year-old ended up right next to the ball when Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa pulled into the box and played a wall with Piotr Zielinski, before Anguissa easily put the ball into the goal alone with the goalkeeper. But throughout the sequence, Alexander-Arnold stood planted in the same spot, making no effort to stop it. – The first 45 minutes were embarrassing for Liverpool, especially defensively. Neither as a coach nor as a player, you cannot accept a lack of willingness to put in effort, when people do not run or want to work at home. Gomez made the mistake but you have to get home and help your teammates and Trent didn’t do that,” former Manchester United stopper Rio Ferdinand said of the situation on BT Sports’ broadcast. SHOCKED: Robbie Fowler called Liverpool’s defensive play shocking, and was unimpressed by Alexander-Arnold. Photo: DAVE THOMPSON / AP Liverpool legend reacts Alongside him was Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, who called Liverpool’s defensive play “shocking”. – Joe Gomez is going to get all the criticism for his performance before, but look at the lack of commitment from Alexander Arnold. You can’t take him offensively, but defensively you can pick him to pieces because he doesn’t show the same desire to defend as he does to get forward on the field, and that’s wrong. “Liverpool were shocking defensively,” Fowler said. Just before the break, Napoli scored 3-0, and the nail in the coffin for the match. Again, Alexander-Arnold’s defensive game came into focus. – We often talk about how bad Alexander-Arnold is at defending. If he also does not produce at the opposite end, he is a burden for the team. He positions himself wrongly, and on the third goal he lets a player just go past him, says former Manchester City defender Richard Dunne. See the situation here: Pictures from TV 2 Sport Premium. – Big problem After a weak start to the season, several have asked themselves the question of what has happened to Liverpool. The team’s former stopper Jamie Carragher believes the defensive line is in trouble, and singles out Alexander-Arnold in particular. SHOULD CHANGE POSITION: Jamie Carragher believes Liverpool should consider moving the full-back up the pitch. Photo: PETER POWELL / Reuters – When he is put under real pressure, the defensive problems show up even more, and that is a big problem for him now, says Carragher. He wonders if the time has come to move Alexander-Arnold up the field, to mask the defensive problems. Carragher believes the full-back has some extraordinary qualities offensively, but never thinks he will be good defensively. If Liverpool’s form continues he could become a problem in his position at the back of the pitch. – When Liverpool is no longer one of the best teams in England or Europe, they have to defend themselves more, and then they want more nights like this. And then his defensive weaknesses will show, says Carragher. Not afraid of the sack Liverpool’s start to the season has been weak. The team was expected to fight with Manchester City for the league gold, but have only won two of their first six games in the league. After the loss against Napoli, they are also in trouble in the group stage of the Champions League. Alexander-Arnold’s full-back colleague Andrew Robertson believes the team needs to take a look in the mirror. – Nowhere near good enough, and we can’t look at it in any other way than that. It would have just been silly of us. We have to look at ourselves, and look at ourselves individually before we look at the collective. Are we doing enough for the team? Are we playing the way we want to play? Are we doing what we are supposed to do? Because it doesn’t look like that, he says to the club’s own website. NOT AFRAID OF THE SACK: Jürgen Klopp is not afraid of being fired for now. Photo: Frank Augstein / AP Great stopper Virgil van Dijk believes that it is not helpful to point out individuals in the crisis they are in. – The key is to stick together. If you start blaming others and don’t look at yourself, or create negativity around the club, then we won’t get out of this, says van Dijk. But despite the weak start to the season, head coach Jürgen Klopp is not worried about getting fired for now. – Not really, but who knows. Our owner is calm and expects me to solve the situation, and does not think that anyone else will solve it. That’s how they see it. When they change their mind, they speak up, he said at the press conference after the match.
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