Speaking after Liverpool’s dominant 4-0 win over Arsenal, Trent Alexander-Arnold relished the hosts’ suffocating display, with their opponents “just seeing red blurs.”
It took half an hour and a heated argument between Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta to get the game going, but once it did, Liverpool were unstoppable.
After Sadio Mane‘s first-half opener, the Reds came out of the blocks firing after the break, with further goals from Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah and Takumi Minamino pushing them up to second in the table.
There were shades of Liverpool’s brilliant best as they pummelled Arsenal for an hour at Anfield, with Aaron Ramsdale’s smile quickly fading as he conceded four.
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Alexander-Arnold spoke with pride on the pressing display in the second half, with the Gunners “just seeing red blurs.”
“First half, we did have that aggression, but didn’t really capitalise on it,” he explained.
“And then the first 15, 20 minutes of the second half were probably as good as we’ve played, pressing-wise, this season.
“We completely ran all over them, they continued to play out from the back and we were all over them.
“They were just seeing red blurs all over the place, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do. That second half was outstanding.”
On a personal level, Alexander-Arnold added another two assists to his tally to take him over the half-century mark for Liverpool, having also laid on three in England’s 10-0 thrashing of San Marino in the international break.
The 22-year-old has assisted seven goals in his last four starts for club and country, with his record for the Reds this season standing at one goal and seven assists in 12 appearances.
“Score, create goals, that’s kind of what my game’s based on, and I’ve been able to do it again twice today,” he reflected.
“Obviously one with the set-piece and near the end as well. I’m happy with that, I just need to keep up that form.
“Going into this tough run of fixtures, they’re coming thick and fast into the Christmas period, all games are very important and hopefully I’ll be able to keep that form up going into this run.”
He added: “I’m feeling good out there.
“I’m playing with freedom and finding myself in positions I haven’t previously found myself in and being able to hurt the opposition.
“It’s flowing really nice and I just want to keep up that form. These are the levels I expect of myself.
“I need to keep it up and carry on for the rest of the season. Like I said, these are the levels I expect.”
Asked about the quality of players in front of him, with all three starting strikers scoring along with Minamino, Alexander-Arnold paid tribute to the substitute.
“We’ve got top, top players, world-class players, throughout the whole team, the whole squad,” he said.
“Even Taki coming off the bench and nicking a goal as well, it’s great to have that when we are kind of low on first-team players right now through injuries.
“A lot of lads [are] out at the minute, so it’s good to be able to still bring players on who contribute with the goals, and know that we can make changes throughout the game and still be able to produce goals.”
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