Liverpool should sell 'lazy, shoddy' Trent in January; they 'would've been better with 10 men' v Man Utd

Liverpool fans have already seen enough of Trent Alexander-Arnold and his ‘lifelong dedication to shoddy, lazy defending’. They want to face him and Real.

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Take the money and run

If Trent wants to go in January, send him packing and take whatever you can get for him. The idea of making that defender one of the highest paid players in the world is ridiculous.

Joe lfc (don’t usually overreact but that was a horrendous individual performance)

Trent can go.

And when he’s gone, if we continue to come upon his new club in the late stages of European competition as we too often seem to, I’ll love all them vectors down his flank and netting ours on account of his lifelong dedication to shoddy, lazy defending. The lad is a sieve. Except that he’s no longer a lad; this is a full-grown man in his prime as a player, yet he can’t defend a training dummy or your nan.

Too much was made of the infinitesimal, nano-level improvement to his defending coaxed out by Slot, and even that’s been undone with his head in the clouds now he’s Madrid-bound. He was always missing something intrinsically as a defender, something basic and rudimentary.

Look, at the outset Alexander-Arnold’s departure will sting, as will the optics. How could it not. But we won’t miss him in the long-term. His Scouse loyalties and childhood club come secondary to his chase for individual plaudits and personal glories, that much is already clear. That which becomes clearer only with time is our defensive uptick when he’s gone, when a proper fullback has taken his place. I reckon it’s eventually addition by subtraction once we see him wearing white.

Eric, Los Angeles CA (The draw was deserved, we were well below it tonight.)

Before the game I would’ve been disappointed with a draw. After, I feel like a lucky mofo. We would’ve been better with 10 men and Trent off the pitch.

Where’s your head at?

Aidan, Lfc (love the guy but you can’t down tools against Utd – and apologies if there’s something non-transfer related going on)

Ring ring, ring ring

“Hello?”

“Hi, is that Real Madrid?”

“Yes?”

“This is Liverpool, we were just wondering if that January bid for Trent still stands?…hello?…hello?…are you there? hmm, I think they’ve hung up.”

Mike, LFC, Dubai

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The Slot machine broke down

On chances you’d say Man utd should’ve won but once we were 2-1 up we should’ve seen the game out. Reasonable on that basis to say a draw is a loss for both clubs today.

Trent really stunk the place out. Maybe his head was in Madrid, and who can blame him on a day it’s 0 degrees, raining and windy in the North West. He might’ve just had one of those days. I think if slot had replaced him earlier, maybe as soon as it goes 2-1 maybe we see the game out but who knows. Trent failed to win a single duel today which is pretty dire for any defender.

But that leads to the other surprise today; Slot, for the first time, made the team worse with his substitutes. Nunez was so poor coming on when Gakpo was looking outstanding. We were in the ascendency and replacing our chief mischief maker up top seemed silly. If you were gonna take Gakpo off, as Slot does seem to do every week, maybe Endo was the right choice to close out the game.

I think Man Utd fans will be cheered by the result but it reminded me a lot of our lot in the 90s. Turn up for a good fight whenever Man z Utd came about but nowhere near the prizes come end of the season. If they beat Brighton and Fulham next up in the league I’ll be more concerned that Amorim is turning them around. This game was proof of why form goes out the window in these sorts of games.

A poor result, Gravenberch, Trent, Jones and Mo all looked poor today. We desperately missed Szoboslai’s combative presence in midfield today. Jones is great for games where we dominate the ball and territory but need to find a way through whereas Dominic is someone who helps keep rhythm and control in the side. We missed both today.

6 points clear, game in hand. Would’ve bitten your hand off for this in August so no complaints and trust in Slot to be annoyed the standards slipped today.

Minty, LFC

Give United some credit

A leaky roof. Players playing poorly (or being exposed). Players clearly looking to leave. Funny that this describes Liverpool not United for a change.

Throw in the hilariously and not-even-subtle biased refereeing by United-hating Michael Oliver, I think we can all be pleased with the day’s events.

Yeah it was probably a penalty, although chest to hand makes it less nailed on. If it wasn’t in front of the kop and with this Muppet in charge, maybe not. Shame these referees and VAR can’t manage any consistency from match to match (thinking on the Spurs match). Let alone the seeming Van Dijk handball in this very match, and the red card foul that Nunez got just a yellow for. But this is Anfield and Liverpool Football Club We’re Talking About.

And yeah, it’s just a point that could easily have been 0 or 3, which means very little in the grand scheme of things to either, but it showed a degree of determination for us that has been far too rarely seen and now having shown it, have no excuse not to maintain.

By the way, let’s stop this silliness when we (and by “we” I mean the media) describe these matches as the stronger side playing badly or not turning up if they don’t win, rather than the weaker side playing well or identifying ways to stop danger men and space. We hear this time and again, not just in United matches. Give some credit where it’s due.

Final thought: Trent should probably get on and sign da ting, since if he’s getting exposed by a makeshift lwb, he’ll be lucky to get a good offer from Real. Let’s hope they’re too busy to watch that match on catch-up.

Badwolf

Oliver!

Well done to Michael Oliver and his inept colleagues for robbing us of points yet again, and gifting Liverpool a point. He’ll sleep well tonight.

Amazing consistency from the PGMOL yet again. No handball in build up to the Newcastle first goal because it was too close and accidental, penalty here because proximity doesn’t matter to Michael Oliver. You can put your house on the fact that he wouldn’t have awarded a penalty in the other box had VVD done the same.

Decent performance, arguably deserved 3 points, but foiled by Michael Oliver again. Keep saying it, shouldn’t be allowed to referee our games as he clearly has a chip on his shoulder. Regardless, let’s use this performance and kick on.

Garey Vance, MUFC

READ MORE: Paul Scholes reveals one Man Utd star has ‘surprised’ him in Liverpool draw

Arteta nonsense

I’ve had to say this so many times at this point but I am completely happy with Arteta and the desire from rival fans to sack him is hilarious to me.

Every single time people mention the money we’ve spent, they seem to ignore that Chelsea and United have outspent us in that period and Spurs have spent near enough the same. City already have their world class team established and fair play to Liverpool they did better than what they should. If you just say Arsenal have spent 700m or whatever it is with no context, it obviously looks bad. If other big teams are spending the same amount and doing worse than us then why don’t you mention that. The fact that those teams have kept sacking their managers too just proves that it’s not as simple as throwing cash as players.

“Arteta gets his arse beaten each time he goes near Anfield”. Except we haven’t lost there since 2021. See this is why I just ignore bullsh*t opinions like this. If you have to exaggerate your mail then you just come across as bias or uneducated. We don’t have a great record at Anfield but we’ve been pretty good against Liverpool and City in general in recent years. We rarely ever get our “arse beaten”. I think the last hammering we got in any context was the 4-0 vs Liverpool in 2021, which is probably etched in your mind. I’ve looked back over Artetas other games at Anfield and we’ve not been hammered.

The rest of your piece is just nonsense too. I swear this always happens when players from smaller teams do well. Everyone wanting Arsenal to sign people like Cunha because he’s flavour of the month. Havertz quite literally outscored him last season after spending half a season in midfield. Isak would be f**king great, cheers captain obvious. 150m is no bother to spend, he will definitely play every minute and is not injury prone whatsoever. Likewise Mitoma, Martinelli literally scored more last season than Mitoma has in the last two combined. Mitoma is also 28 in May.

It’s so easy to talk all this nonsense when a result doesn’t go out way. Why didn’t you write in when we best Brentford?

Dion

This is why it’s important to wait until the fixtures finish before talking s**** Stewie. Liverpool at home with give or take their full first XI couldn’t beat THIS United but our away game at Brighton with half our first XI injured, ill or having to start on the bench is loser mentality. Liverpool even made United look good.

I imagine this season is what it felt like for Liverpool last season. A great team thwarted by injuries, bad luck, cards and it not quite clicking. The league is probably over but we will keep going you never know. If they can lose to United they can lose to anyone. The fixture list is definetly kinder for us but Liverpool don’t look like letting it slip.

I also would really like to move on from “slot spent nothing” argument. He inherited one of the best teams we have ever seen which had been coached for years by one of the best managers the world has ever had. Slot has been brilliant, he’s clearly an amazing tactical coach as well, but let’s not pretend he’s rocked up to Crystal Palace and performed miracles

Rob A (you don’t have to spend 750m if you inherit VVD, Sarah etc.) AFC

Bad head

Arsenal deserve to be torn down for their performance against Brighton, but can the great collective minds at F365 find any other examples of a foul committed with the head?

Yours doubtfully,

John the Notts/Manc Gooner

Bit Rich

I struggle to believe that Rich actually believes what he’s writing, but just in case he does, in response to his question about favourable decisions for Arsenal, I would suggest every single one of their goals from corners being given in spite of clear and consistent fouls on goalkeepers…

Dom

I just had to respond to this unbelievably massive plonker called Rich (Arsenal fan of course). Nobody is gaslighting you dude. You’re gaslighting yourself. Deluded. Probably suffering from other things but I’ll hold off on the name calling.

‘The ball clearly bounces of Saliba’s head before any clash of heads’

This is what you wrote. I’m kinda lost for words because my god what an incredibly dumb statement but I’ll try. Now you maybe be certified blind, I dunno, but no the ball did absolutely NOT touch Saliba’s head. Maybe you got mixed up watching the highlights and saw him head a corner away in a separate action and used that as his defence but do you know what did touch Saliba’s head for the penalty to be given? That’s right. Pedro’s head. Just because we may have never seen the like in the premier league doesn’t mean it’s not a penalty. Just most top defenders don’t go headbutting other players in the box. We’ve seen plenty of fouls given OUTSIDE the box for similar incidents so if it’s a foul outside it’s a foul inside. I rest my case.

Oh and you think only Arsenal get hard done by? Don’t get decisions their way? Odegaard didn’t handle that ball against Liverpool last year right? Stop being a bellend and STFU!!

Alex

Rich, AFC, excellent points well made. I don’t fully buy into the ‘agenda against Arsenal’ thing because I don’t pay enough attention to other teams grievances. However, it’s absolute fact that Arsenal got royally and inconsistently screwed over by the ridiculous delaying restart rule and no one else has.

And on the penalty, at first I thought ‘thats an odd one, but maybe its right’… But the replays clearly show Saliba got the ball before the man and in any other situation that’s not given as a penalty. What is the point of VAR debating marginal offsides for 5 minutes yet not spend more than 5 seconds on that.

Finally, can you stop publishing Stewie Griffins mails, he’s clearly just a troll.

Diaby, AFC, London

Arsenal penalty fume

You regularly see fouls, penalties and red cards given when a player follows through on a tackle. Even if there is (slight) contact with the ball, the follow through on the opponent is heavy and the player making the challenge is deemed as out of control, thus causing damage to opponent.

This is why it was a blatant penalty all day long. It’s exactly the same situation, just in the air.

Arsenal fans are such crybabies, its gone beyond the point of even being funny now to just being boring. How can one fan base be so deluded and victimised?

Seamus

The incredible sulk

Don’t make me Ange P. You wouldn’t like me when I’m Ange P.

Alex Stokoe, Newcastle upon Tyne

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