A number of Liverpool players were in action for their national teams on Tuesday, and one man in particular had his country’s media eating from the palm of his hand.
Harry Kane grabbed the headlines with both goals on his 100th cap for England as they defeated Finland 2-0, although Trent Alexander-Arnold was arguably the star performer on the night at Wembley.
The Reds’ vice-captain has had a rough ride from some sections of the British media in the past, but the swell of public opinion appears to have altered considerably.
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The Guardian‘s Jacob Steinberg offered him 9/10 in his post-match player ratings and hailed him as a ‘stunning passer’, while The Independent‘s Lawrence Ostlere waxed lyrical about a ‘dazzling display’ of ‘supreme technique’.
In the Evening Standard, Malik Ouzia dubbed him ‘England’s best player’ and wrote of ‘five or six stunning passes that carved the Finns open’. Roy Keane also got in on the act on ITV, saying that the 25-year-old was ‘brilliant’.
Some of the passes that Trent was spraying around were simply mindblowing, such as the assist for Kane’s first goal, the ball into Noni Madueke in the lead-up to the England captain doubling his tally, and one sumptuous delivery towards Eberechi Eze midway through the second half.
It doesn’t take recourse to statistics to deduce how good the Liverpool star was last night, but the numbers nonetheless back up how impressive he was at Wembley. As per Sofascore, he executed four accurate long balls and a team-high five passes, along with completing 82 of his 94 passes (87% accuracy) and losing just one duel.
It was only three short months ago that the 25-year-old was being hung out to dry in his country after the Three Lions’ slow start to Euro 2024, with Gareth Southgate not helping matters by taking him out of his favoured right-back position.
Lee Carsley has evidently learned from his predecessor’s blinkered mistake and is instantly reaping the rewards, with Trent delivering two eye-catching performances against Ireland and Finland over the past week.
Liverpool fans are no strangers to seeing him control games with his phenomenal passing range, and he’s also woken up the rest of the nation to his immense talents in recent days.
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