Arne Slot has discussed early talks with Trent Alexander-Arnold after taking over at Liverpool, saying he “wasn’t completely happy” with his attitude in training.
Alexander-Arnold will depart Liverpool after the final game of the season and Slot is yet to decide whether to involve him against Crystal Palace.
The head coach is adamant he should be part of the title celebrations, however, though it remains to be seen how any focus on the vice-captain will be received.
While Slot will bid farewell to Alexander-Arnold fondly, his comments in his pre-match press conference on Friday suggest there are aspects that he will not miss.
“I think Mo has said already a few things about why he was in my office in pre-season and there were similar reasons why Trent was in my office in the beginning of the season!” he explained.
“Maybe he said it himself, he’s going to leave either way so why not tell. Maybe it’s already a first gift I can give Xabi Alonso.
“I wasn’t completely happy with every single minute how he was on the training ground.
“In my opinion in certain moments he could do a bit more, to say it mildly, and that’s what we talked about.
“Combined with that I said to him: ‘You are a much better defender than everybody tells you, unfortunately you don’t show it all the time, that’s why people sometimes say you are not’.
“If he is just at it and focused and concentrated, there are not many players that can go around him, because he’s fast, he’s agile, he has great mentality.
“But it’s about showing that every single game, because in this world we are judged not only on the 34 games we do well, we are mainly judged on the four games we don’t do so well.
“These things we spoke about in pre-season.”
Slot’s dive into behind-the-scenes conversations paints a picture many may have expected of Alexander-Arnold, whose generational creative talent has outweighed concerns over his defensive application.
While, as the Dutchman insists, he certainly can defend when he sets his mind to it, the entire shifting of Jurgen Klopp‘s system with an extra burden on Ibrahima Konate shows there was a balance that needed striking.
As his final days as a Liverpool player play out, though, Slot has shifted the emphasis to Alexander-Arnold the person rather than the professional.
“It’s clear in Trent’s situation there are circumstances for me to talk more with him than with Virgil for example. So yes, I am talking to him,” he continued.
“And I think that is the biggest difference between me and all the ones that have a purple bin: that I speak to the human being Trent Alexander-Arnold every day.
“That, I think, combined with winning something together, creates a different bond than maybe the fans have with him.”
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