What Roy Keane said about Trent Alexander-Arnold at HT of England clash speaks volumes | OneFootball

Trent Alexander-Arnold couldn’t play a part in England’s latest round of international fixtures, though this didn’t stop his name from cropping up in conversations.

The Liverpool Academy graduate pulled out of the international squad after suffering a hamstring injury during the Reds’ 2-0 win over Aston Villa the week prior.

The 26-year-old right-back has yet to be ruled out of Arne Slot’s side’s upcoming trip to Southampton at the weekend.

Roy Keane says England missed Trent Alexander-Arnold

(Pictures courtesy of ITV Sport)

With the scoreline even at 0-0 at the half-time break between the Three Lions and the Republic of Ireland, Roy Keane bemoaned the absence of the Liverpool vice-skipper.

“We praised them before the game, but what you’ve got to do, particularly for the wide players, you’ve got to back it up, you’ve got to do it again a few days later,” the former Manchester United man spoke on ITV Sport.

“Some of the players are actually making good runs, but the quality of the pass… I hate talking about players who aren’t here, but they really seem to be missing Trent. When he was getting into positions in the first game against Ireland, he was picking people out.”

To be completely fair to Lee Carsley’s men, they did then go on to absolutely obliterate their opposition (with a helping hand from Liam Scales’s red card) in the second half.

Liverpool would miss Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ability on the ball

There’s no denying that our No.66 is one of the most phenomenal ball players in the Premier League, nay, global football.

The departures of Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah, should their contracts likewise be allowed to run their course in 2025, would naturally be catastrophic from a defensive and offensive perspective.

However, Alexander-Arnold’s ability to carve out opportunities, as Roy Keane rightly highlighted during ITV Sport’s coverage, would be nigh on impossible to replace. At the very least, impossible to replace from the right-back position.

Perhaps there’s an argument to be made that the fullbacks aren’t quite as integral to Arne Slot’s system as they once were to Jurgen Klopp’s – and that’s a valid point to make.

But it would be foolish on the part of our recruitment team to accept Trent’s departure – in the face of interest from Real Madrid – as an acceptable inevitability on that basis.

We’d still miss what our vice-captain offers on the ball and that should absolutely be borne in mind during ongoing contract talks.