‘You can’t call out him going forward but defensively, we can pick him apart.’
Trent Alexander-Arnold was accused of showing a ‘lack of desire’ in Liverpool’s heavy 4-1 defeat to Napoli on Wednesday night.
Jürgen Klopp’s side were played off the park in Naples as the hosts ran riot to give last season’s Champions League finalists the worst possible start to their group stage campaign.
Several players who have been lauded for their performances over the years were a shadow of their usual selves.
A 4-1 thrashing to Napoli sees Liverpool equal their worst ever defeat in the Champions League 😬#UCL pic.twitter.com/LqQ9TrFNB0
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Alexander-Arnold in particular was one player highlighted by the BT Sport punditry team, with both Rio Ferdinand and Robbie Fowler singling out his apparent lack of effort.
“What I would say is you can’t question the desire of this team over the last few years, but you can tonight,” Fowler said.
“We know how good Napoli are and they’ve been brilliant, but Liverpool have been so poor.
“Joe Gomez will get all the stick [for his first-half performance] but look at the lack of desire from Trent.
“You can’t call out him going forward but defensively we can pick him apart because he doesn’t show the same desire to get back than he does to get forward and that’s wrong.
“Liverpool were shocking defensively.”
Ferdinand backed up Fowler’s claims and questioned why the right-back failed to track back and help his teammates out.
He said: “It was an embarrassing first 45 minutes for Liverpool, particularly defensively.
“What you can’t accept as a manager or as a player is a lack of effort and desire. When people don’t run or don’t have the desire to get back.
“Gomez makes the mistake but you’ve got to get back and help your teammates and Trent didn’t do that.
“Liverpool got teased, they got embarrassed, they got shown up. This result has been coming too. They were lacklustre and lacked grit, determination and desire.”
The Reds return to Premier League action against Wolves on Saturday before facing Ajax in their second Champions League group fixture.
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