As Trent Alexander Arnold closes in on his dream move to Real Madrid, a sizeable chunk of the Liverpool fan base is refusing to treat the defender with the dignity he deserves.
I have seen comments describing the 26-year-old as everything from a disloyal liar to a money-grabbing traitor. Well, the wording was normally not that polite, but the gist was there.
While I can understand any set of supporters being dismayed and saddened by the departure of ‘one of their own’, this outpouring of abuse and hatred feels a tad unfair on Trent.
He joined the club as a six-year-old and has gone on to make nearly 350 appearances, winning eight trophies, including the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and even the Club World Cup. He’s scored goals and chipped in with more assists than any other defender in history.
It’s not like he hasn’t made a valid and substantial contribution to Liverpool’s success over the last decade.
A lot of the nastiness revolves around the fact that Trent has often hinted he would be a one-club player and see out his career at Anfield, citing aspirations of being club captain and talking about how he is living the dream by playing for ‘his’ club.
> He should be able to walk out of Anfield with pats on the back, not knives in it
But just as situations and circumstances change, players have the undeniable right to change their minds.
The fact that he is leaving on a free also seems to have made a lot of Liverpool fans chuck their teddies out of their prams. But who knows the full story behind this? Maybe he was offered deals that didn’t match his expectations. Maybe the club thought he would never leave. Maybe he has played the club or maybe they called his bluff and lost.
Only the club and the player know exactly how things panned out, and the rest of us can merely speculate.
At the end of the day, Trent has been a very loyal servant to LFC for two decades. He has put blood, sweat and tears into the team’s success, scored goals, contributed assists and given the fans some truly memorable moments.
Just because he is a Liverpool lad in no way obliges him to spend his entire career with his hometown club. That rarely, very rarely, happens in football, and it is only becoming less likely to happen as football develops and changes.
Any fan who begrudges him the chance to make his own decisions about his own life is being equal parts selfish and petty.
If, in his mid-20s, Trent feels he has done enough for his beloved Liverpool and that the time has come to take up a fresh challenge and maybe achieve a few of his personal goals, then he should be able to walk out of Anfield with pats on the back, not knives in it.
**Going through the motions**
I went into Thomas Tuchel’s first England games without any real sense of excitement or anticipation, which turned out to be for the best, as both matches lived down to my expectations.
Comfortable victories, yes. Inspirational and filled with hope? Not as such.
To be fair, the German only had his players together for a few days and you can’t really expect him to stamp his authority on the team after just a few training sessions.
The fact that the opposition in both cases was mostly there to avoid a heavy defeat didn’t help in terms of making things exciting.
But even so, I can’t shake off the sense that international football, certainly in England’s case, no longer has any pizzazz about it. It’s just functional.
I remember the days when, if England were playing, you would be glued to the TV. It didn’t matter who they were playing against, competitive or friendly, it would still be an occasion to behold.
Nowadays I tend to watch England, certainly outside of the major finals, with a sense of obligation rather than desire. Like it is something I have to do rather than something I want to do.
And it feels to me like many of the players approach these games in exactly the same way. Changing that ‘going through the motions’ mentality might be Tuchel’s most difficult challenge.
**Dele returns to action... for a bit**
After two years without a competitive appearance, former England star Dele Ali must have been licking his lips at the prospect of making his debut for new club Como.
And when the opportunity came, against none other than AC Milan in front of 74,000 fans, he probably dreamed of having a major impact to prove he still has it.
Sadly, it didn’t go to plan for the former Tottenham Hotspur player who came on in the 81st minute with his team 2-1 down but was back in the dressing room just 10 minutes later slipping into an early bath.
The troubled midfielder was guilty of a rather poor challenge on Milan’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek, which initially earned him a yellow, but which was upgraded to a red thanks to the magic of VAR.
Como manager Cesc Fabregas didn’t hold back on his criticism of Dele.
“It is a grave mistake, one that we should not see from a player of his experience. It was a clear red card. He left the team down to 10 men during a crucial moment when we were pushing for 2-2.”
True, yes, but also harsh on the player.
The 28-year-old would undoubtedly have been rather ring rusty not having kicked a competitive football since February 2023. Combine that with his personal excitement at getting back on the pitch and the delicately poised scoreline and it’s easy to see why he may have got a bit carried away in the tackle.
Fabregas may be a good coach but, knowing Dele’s struggles with mental health and depression, I’m not sure a public bollocking like the one the Spaniard dished out was the greatest ever display of man-management.
**E-mail: [james.calvert@timesofmalta.com](mailto:james.calvert@timesofmalta.com)**
**X: [@maltablade](@maltablade)**