JAMIE CARRAGHER insists Liverpool need to buy a new right-back to give Trent Alexander-Arnold “serious competition” as his “defending is not good enough”.
The defender, 24, was criticised again as the Reds were dumped out of the Champions League with 6-2 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid.
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool have endured a difficult campaignRex
GettyEx-Reds star Jamie Carragher has urged them to buy a new right-back this summer[/caption]
Alexander-Arnold played a key role in Jurgen Klopp’s title-winning side and has also lifted the Champions league, FA Cup and League Cup.
His set-piece and crossing abilities have won him plenty of plaudits, but his defensive frailties have been exposed numerous times in what has been a disappointing campaign for both him and Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold has played regularly for the past five years, but Anfield legend Jamie Carragher has urged Klopp to go out and buy him “help” this summer.
He told CBS Sports: “It’s very, very worrying. Not just for Liverpool as a team, but for him. And what I mean by that is, this can’t continue, what’s happened this season and the amount of times he’s been lacking defensively.
“The problem they’ve got in that position is, they’ve never had real competition for Trent Alexander-Arnold. And one of the reasons for that is because he’s been so good.
“You’re then thinking ‘Who do you buy?’. How much do you spend for someone who’s not really going to play every week?
“I think Liverpool are at the point now where they have got to go buy a right-back. It’s Jurgen Klopp’s decision how good that right-back is, how much he costs, but that lad needs serious competition.
“He’s been playing now at the top level every season, week in week out with no rest.
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“He’s won everything, he’s been fantastic and he’s done everything I could ever dream of. I’m so proud of him, a local lad coming through the ranks. But he needs help.
“At the end of this season, he needs to have a long think about where he is as a right-back.”
Carragher added: “I’ve always defended him because he plays for one of the best teams in the world. So you do a lot more attacking than you do defending. We all know his defending is not good enough. And I don’t think it’ll ever be good enough.
“We’re talking about a player who has played 260 games – it’s not going to massively improve.
“When Liverpool drop off and aren’t one of the best teams in Europe, then you’re doing more defending and less attacking. We’re seeing the worst traits of Trent and not his strengths going forward. And that is a massive problem.
“I thought this problem would rear its head when Klopp left, and Liverpool went back to how they played when I was a player, where most seasons we were trying to qualify for top four.
“But if Liverpool are trying to qualify for the Champions League on a yearly basis, I am not sure Trent is your man at right back.
“If Liverpool go back to being one of the best teams in Europe, which they will try to do next season, he is your man. But right now the lad needs help.”