Once ‘Trent’, now merely ‘Rat’
It is a level of wrath out of all proportion to the supposed transgression. Even today, it is difficult to fathom what Alexander-Arnold has done to deserve such pillorying. He has given 21 of his 27 years to Liverpool, he has never spoken ill of the club in public, and he struck a carefully conciliatory tone after May’s title parade by telling fans: “Perfect send-off. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I love my city.” Diplomatic enough? Not for the fundamentalists, who just six months later have treated him as if he has just committed high treason.
Peter Schmeichel, the former Manchester United goalkeeper, did not sugar the pill. “I find it annoying, disgusting in a way,” he said. “He has won every trophy and given them 20 years of his career. He should be welcomed back as a hero.” Never could Alexander-Arnold have thought that he would fall out of Liverpool’s embrace with such brutal haste. In 2019, it was his short corner that set up Divock Origi and helped propel Liverpool to that 4-0 victory over Barcelona, the final flourish on the greatest European night ever witnessed at Anfield. Six years later, all this has seemingly been forgotten. All that matters, in the eyes of his myopic detractors, is that he has had the temerity to leave. Once “Trent”, now merely “Rat”.
