Andy Robertson on Trent Alexander-Arnold's Defensive Criticism

Andy Robertson has lifted the lid on the reality behind Liverpool’s celebrated full-back axis – and why he always felt a touch of sympathy for Trent Alexander-Arnold as the defensive criticism rained down.

Under Jurgen Klopp, the pair became one of the most productive partnerships in European football. They drove Liverpool to the Champions League crown in 2019 and the Premier League title a year later, turning the touchlines into runways and dominating the assist charts as two of the Reds’ most dangerous creators.

But while the numbers looked similar going forward, Robertson insists the picture was very different when Liverpool were asked to defend.

‘I started to feel sorry for him’

Speaking on The Overlap, the current Tottenham defender laid out the tactical imbalance that, in his eyes, shaped the narrative around Alexander-Arnold’s defending.

On the left, Robertson had Sadio Mane snarling and snapping back into shape whenever Liverpool lost the ball. Mane’s work-rate gave him a safety net.

“The way I defended at Liverpool compared to Trent was very different. I had Sadio helping me out and he was a bit more aggressive so if I missed [a tackle], he’d usually be there,” Robertson explained.

On the opposite flank, the brief for Mohamed Salah was the polar opposite. Liverpool didn’t want their star forward chasing back towards his own box; they wanted him high, ready to counter, occupying defenders and waiting to spring.

“With Mo [Salah], we didn’t want him coming back towards our box,” Robertson said. “A lot of times, Trent was waiting on someone like [Jordan Henderson] to come over, so, sometimes, I started to feel sorry for him.”

The consequence was clear. Where Robertson often had two bodies patrolling his side, Alexander-Arnold could be left alone, exposed to switches of play and one-v-one duels with elite wingers, his every misstep replayed and dissected.

The English spotlight

Robertson also pointed to something less tactical and more cultural: the weight of being English in an English team.

“It’s very different when you are English, compared to another nationality,” the Scotland international said. “I always said to Trent, ‘I will never get as much high praise as you, but I’ll never get as much criticism as you.’”

Alexander-Arnold’s defending has been a lightning rod topic almost from the moment he broke into the Liverpool side. The 27-year-old left Anfield for Real Madrid in 2025, yet the questions about his work without the ball have followed him to Spain and into every England camp.

Robertson believes that label has stuck unfairly.

“Now, at times, he maybe makes mistakes. But we all do,” he said. “But it’s as if [Trent] had this stigma around him, that he can’t defend. And he’s had that from a very early age. It’s as if he can’t shift it.”

‘He locked out Mbappe’

For Robertson, the idea that Alexander-Arnold is a defensive liability simply does not tally with what he witnessed at Liverpool’s peak.

During the run to the 2018 Champions League final, the right-back delivered some of his most complete performances, standing up to some of Europe’s most dangerous attackers and posting strong defensive numbers across the campaign.

“I’ve seen him lock out [Kylian] Mbappe at PSG. In the Champions League finals, he was unbelievable,” Robertson insisted. “Trent is a very, very good defender… [in his] best games, he was an unbelievable one-v-one defender.”

Those nights, Robertson argues, should carry as much weight as the isolated clips that circulate whenever Alexander-Arnold is beaten out wide.

A career at a crossroads

While the debate rumbles on, Alexander-Arnold has more immediate concerns.

He has been named in Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad, another chance to convince a national-team manager that he can be trusted from the start in major games. Despite his club honours and his creative output, he has never fully nailed down a regular starting role for the Three Lions.

This camp offers a fresh audition under a new boss.

At club level, the stakes feel just as high. Since his 2025 move to the Bernabeu, his La Liga journey has yet to catch fire. Form has stuttered, opportunities have fluctuated, and his long-term Real Madrid future sits in a delicate balance.

The stigma Robertson talks about still hangs in the air. The question now is whether Alexander-Arnold can finally shake it off – not with words, but with another defining run of games on the biggest stage.