Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid continued their flawless streak in La Liga this weekend with a 2-1 victory over Mallorca on home soil. The win also marked a return to the starting line-up for Trent Alexander-Arnold and the Santiago Bernabeu faithful have given their verdict on the Englishman’s display.
After a stint at Liverpool, his boyhood club, the defender moved overseas this summer for a new challenge. At first, the La Liga juggernauts signed him on a free transfer, but they later coughed up €10 million so that he could feature at the Club World Cup.
Although he struggled to hit the ground running following his high-profile summer switch, the Liverpool-born star’s competitive debut for the club was against Osasuna in their Spanish top flight curtain-raiser – but his performance against Mallorca has got the tongues of the Los Blancos fanbase wagging.
Trent Alexander-Arnold in action for Real Madrid
Dani Carvajal – widely regarded as one of the best defenders in world football alongside Alexander-Arnold – went off injured in the 78th minute of Los Blancos’ 3-0 win over Real Oviedo last weekend and, as a result, the England international's services were called upon a week later.
The 26-year-old started on the right-hand side of a back four consisting of Antonio Rudiger, Dean Huijsen and Alvaro Carreras – but did he impress?
As seen in his highlights reel below, Alexander-Arnold’s passing was on point; 40 of his 47 attempted passes (85%) were accurately played to a teammate, nine of them entered into the final third and his punchy passes often put Mallorca under heaps of pressure.
In their match ratings piece, Football Espana insisted that the Alexander-Arnold of old was on display. Giving him a 7/10, they wrote: “Drafted back in to replace Dani Carvajal and looked like his old self early on. An early assist was chalked off, as Kylian Mbappe was flagged offside by VAR, but a solid return.”
Spanish publication Marca also waxed poetic about Alexander-Arnold’s 72-minute display in the Spanish capital. “The English full-back's form has improved noticeably. More relaxed, less shy, more daring. More of everything,” they wrote before adding:
“The passing weeks have to do their work, but it's also important to know that Carvajal will be under enormous pressure. The Spanish full-back's return is excellent news for Xabi. As is the realisation that Carvajal is going to get the best out of the Englishman. Because, conversely, the number 2 didn't need anyone to come in to give his all match after match.”
Fans of the Spanish side, however, are pleased with his performance after a tricky start to proceedings at the club. "Trent Alexander-Arnold is arguably the finest long-range passer in football. He’s exceptional."
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Despite being relatively happy with how he played against Mallorca, a large chunk of fans believe that Alonso is not making the most of the right-back’s strength, which is his passing. Insisting that Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr could thrive as a result, one wrote:
“Xabi has the same problem as other managers, they are stuck in a system that doesn’t utilise Trent’s strengths. With Vinicius, Mbappe and the speed Madrid has, Trent would feed them balls all day.”
Striking a similar tone, another member of the Santiago Bernabeu loyal said: “Trent is the best passer of this generations and generations before have ever seen, I remember teams were so afraid of his passing that he had 2 to 3 players marking him," as a fourth supporter said: "We are still not utilising him to his strength – his passing. He needs runners in front of him."