Rio Ferdinand was far from pleased with Frank Lebouef’s criticism of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive abilities.
The BT Sport pundit suggested the former France international was a hypocrite, claiming he ‘wasn’t the best’ defensively back in his heyday.
“Are you winding me up? It’s disrespectful, some people get too disrespectful,” the former Manchester United star told the FIVE YouTube channel (via the Express). “Leboeuf defensively wasn’t the best by the way, so he’s got a cheek.”
This follows a stream of criticism that has been aimed at the Liverpool fullback in light of his less than inspiring start to the 2022/23 campaign in which he is yet to register a single assist across all competitions.
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To be completely objective, our No.66 has hardly been faultless in the backline as far as his defensive duties are concerned.
That being said, to assert that Alexander-Arnold is defensively ‘championship level’ is absolutely scandalous and fails to take into consideration the impact of Jordan Henderson’s prior absence from Liverpool’s first-XI through injury.
Sadly, it seems the Liverpool man has become an easy target for those searching for easy clicks and he’ll continue to be the subject of intense scrutiny regardless of when he rediscovers his top form.
EOTK Insider Opinion: Trent will never win with England while Gareth Southgate is manager