Klopp the name ‘that gets Real Madrid fans the most excited’
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Alexander-Arnold joined Real before last summer’s FIFA Club World Cup as new head coach Xabi Alonso began his reign.
But from start to finish, the season has not turned out how Trent – or the club – would have liked.
They exited the CWC at the semi-final stage following a heavy defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, Alonso was sacked in January after Real lost the Spanish Super Cup final to Barcelona, they went out of the Copa del Rey to second-tier side Albacete, and they are now braced to see their fierce Catalan rivals win La Liga – potentially in front of them on Sunday evening at Camp Nou.
In that wider context, it would have been hard for any new signings to shine, let alone in a season where Alexander-Arnold has spent much of it on the sidelines with injuries.
And, as TNT Sports’ Spanish football expert Phil Kitromilides says, there is another reason why Trent has found it hard to win over the club’s fanbase.
“It hasn’t been the kind of first season that he would have liked, not least because he spent a lot of it injured,” Kitromilides said. “So it’s been difficult for him to gain any kind of consistency.
“Now, towards the end of the season, he’s keeping Dani Carvajal out of the side. Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid captain, legendary figure, came through the youth academy, Spain international. He is a much-loved and respected figure among Real Madrid fans.
“And it’s almost to Trent’s detriment that he’s keeping someone like this out of the side. There are, I think, Real Madrid fans who will be thinking, ‘Well, maybe Dani Carvajal should still be playing.’
“I think Trent is a much better footballer than Dani Carvajal but defensively there remain question marks. There were always question marks about Trent defensively. Even before he joined Real Madrid, people were saying ‘he is very good going forward, but is he going to be able to cover coming back?’
“We’ve seen his deliveries be really, really impressive. He’s put in a couple of decent performances in the UEFA Champions League and with dead balls and crosses into the box, he’s been effective. But there are main question marks about him defensively.
“It’s not been the kind of debut season that he would have wanted, injuries playing a really big part. He missed two or three months with injuries, which is not good when you’re moving to a new club, a new league, new language, new team-mates. It hasn’t helped with his integration.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s La Liga season at a glance, via Transfermarkt, showing how injury-disrupted it has been
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“And again, that issue with Carvajal just makes it a little bit harder for him to be accepted by the Real Madrid fans. Because when you’re keeping out their legendary captain, you need to be an unbelievably good player to be able to keep Carvajal on the bench.
“And I think Trent hasn’t necessarily done enough to totally convince all Real Madrid fans that Carvajal should be benched ahead of him. But he was a strategically good signing for the club, free signing. I know they paid some money for him to be able to compete in the Club World Cup.
“In theory, it was a good signing. In practice, it hasn’t really worked out yet, but it is just the first year. There is still time.”
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