Manchester United legend Gary Neville has urged Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold to sort out the defensive side of his game if he wants to be considered world-class.
The 21-year-old turned in another impressive showing on Sunday, as he helped his side remain top of the Premier League and unbeaten with a 2-1 victory over Tottenham.
Alexander-Arnold has become one of the most consistent and dangerous attacking options for the Reds during the last two seasons and his passing ability has been compared to David Beckham’s by former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy.
An accomplished right-back himself in a career spanning almost 20 years for Manchester United, Neville knows all too well about playing in that position for a top side.
And while he has hailed the Reds youngster’s attacking abilities, he admits he still has much to improve defensively before he can be compared to the best in the world.
“Liverpool’s full-backs are quite simply sensational, but Andy Robertson is a better full-back than Trent Alexander-Arnold in my opinion,” said the Sky Spots pundit on Sunday.
“I think Alexander-Arnold is amazing. From the moment I laid eyes on him in that first game at Old Trafford two or three years ago, his temperament was incredible to be thrown in that game. He was outstanding from minute one.
Danny Murphy says Trent Alexander-Arnold as good a crosser as David Beckham
“But now he’s getting to a point where he’s one of the best full-backs I’ve ever seen going forward, his passing is unbelievable, but the three best chances for Tottenham today (were on his side).
“He’s got to become as serious about his defending as he is about his attacking play, and then you’ve got a world-class full-back there.
“But today Tottenham could have scored two or three goals and he could have been sat in that changing room at the end on a losing or drawing team. I took the man-of-the-match off him, because his defensive play could have cost his team.
“If he looks at that game today, it was the epitome of what his game is, but he can become a world-class full-back if he gets that defensive bit right and has more composure.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold is an amazing player, I love him to bits, but he just has to cut those little bits of rash defending out of his game and his positioning sometimes just needs a little bit more care.”
Former Liverpool centre back Jamie Carragher joined in with the praise saying, “it’s like having Kevin de Bruyne at right-back”.
Earlier this month, Alexander-Arnold earned a place in the Guinness World Record books – for claiming the most assists by a defender in a single season.
He provided 12 assists in the Premier League in 2018/19, beating the previous record of 11 which was jointly held by two former Everton players, Andy Hinchliffe and Leighton Baines.
