'He can defend' - Andros Townsend explains Liverpool star's criticism and agrees with Arne Slot

Former Premier League attacker Andros Townsend has hit back at criticism over Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defending capabilities.

The 25-year-old has been subject to extreme criticism over his defending across the years, despite being an integral part of brilliant Liverpool defences that have agreed 36 goals conceded per season across his seven campaigns since coming into the first team.

Across those seven seasons, he’s averaged being dribbled past just 1.08 times per game. Plus, he just reached 100 goal contributions for Liverpool in all competitions from right-back which is a remarkable achievement and his attacking capabilities outweigh the defensive lapses in concentration that people look to throw at him at any given opportunity.

Speaking on BBC 5 Live’s The Monday Night Club, Townsend defender Alexander-Arnold and explained the reasoning for the unjust criticism. “I’ve never been on his side, I’ve never come up against him personally,” He began. “I think he is someone who is a good one on one defender.

“People say he isn’t a good defender but his role in the Liverpool team is more focused on what he does going forward so, at times, he is caught out or people perceive he is caught out of position where it is somebody’s job to cover him, whether it’s a [Jordan] Henderson or Fabinho. People see Trent high up the pitch and a winger running through and think Trent can’t defender. But, one on one, he is a very competent defender.”

Manager Arne Slot was quizzed over Alexander-Arnold in his press conference ahead of their EFL Cup clash with West Ham United, in which he praised him for his past achievements and cited focus as a key variable. “It’s difficult for me to judge how it has been in the years before but the only thing I know is we are talking about a player that won the Champions League and the league title so it’s clear to me that he has been a good defender all his life,” Slot said.

“But because he is so special with the ball, the main emphasis goes on him doing special things with the ball.“I think with him it is not about if he is capable of doing things, it’s more can his concentration rate constantly be in 100% focus? So this is what we talk about a lot, that he has to stay active in every situation of the game, even if the ball is further away from him.