Trent Alexander-Arnold arrived at Real Madrid to solve a problem at right back, where Dani Carvajal was out with a long-term injury and Lucas Vázquez, who is leaving after the Club World Cup, was not performing at his best. A lot of confidence was placed in the English player, who, on paper, was expected to fit perfectly into Xabi Alonso’s system of three center backs and two wing backs. However, his adaptation is taking longer than expected, while Carvajal is already knocking on the door.
A restrained Trent
While Dean Huijsen, Real Madrid’s other signing for this Club World Cup, has performed outstandingly since the first game, giving masterclasses and surprising many, Trent’s role has gone more unnoticed. The English player has not shone and still seems a long way from the form he showed at Liverpool, which caught the attention of the Whites.
Against Juventus, the Englishman provided the assist for Gonzalo’s goal, but he is still struggling to try more things. So far, Trent’s performance has been correct, but not decisive. The full-back is adapting and has clearly benefited from the three-center-back system, as he made 52 and 53 interventions against Al Hilal and Pachuca, respectively, and 89 against Salzburg, the first game with this system.
Xabi Alonso praises Trent’s performance
“Trent’s cross to Gonzalo is his trademark; he’s made 500 in his career. He placed it very carefully, in the right place,“ said Xabi Alonso after the game against Juventus, praising the English player’s great assist in Real Madrid’s goal. However, the Spanish coach admits that the full-back still needs time to adapt to how he wants his Real Madrid team to play. ”I believe in him [Trent]. He still needs time, but he’s an incredible player,” he said.
“On the right, we sometimes need a foot closer to him, sometimes he’s a little isolated and there we have to bring him closer and give him alternatives because one-on-one situations aren’t his thing, he’s more about link-up play. It’s about finding a bit of balance,“ said the Real Madrid coach. Xabi Alonso acknowledged that Trent’s arrival at Real Madrid is ”a big change for him, he’s been at Liverpool all his life, he’s coming to Madrid, he’s coming to compete.”
Carvajal is back
Trent will have to make all the necessary improvements and adjustments under the pressure of Dani Carvajal’s return. The Leganés full-back was included in the squad against Juventus after almost nine months out. It was at the beginning of October, in the final minutes of the match against Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabéu, when he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a torn lateral collateral ligament and a torn popliteal tendon in his right knee.
“Nine months have passed and I’m ready to compete. I know myself and I know that if they put me on the field, I’m going to give it my all, without fear, at full throttle and putting my foot down from the very first moment. What I will notice is the spark and the level of competition, because logically you feel it after so much time out,“ said the player, adding that ”I’ve been training for almost three weeks and haven’t had any problems. It’s true that the grass is different from in Europe, and the heat and dryness have an influence, but I don’t have any problems.”
There has been speculation in recent days that the two positions may not be incompatible, as the captain could play as a right-sided center back, freeing Trent to play as a wing-back. The captain is not afraid of having to compete for his place. “I see it as a personal challenge, and I love competing and having important challenges ahead of me. Hopefully, this healthy competition, I repeat, will make the team much better.”