While pundits and opposition fans baulk at the boos Trent Alexander-Arnold received, Liverpool fans are united in understanding if not principle…
CAN I just say this and leave it for good?
It’s absolutely fine to be angry at Trent Alexander-Arnold. It really is. No one is saying otherwise. We’re all disappointed. I’ve frowned at him more than once lately, so I’ve no issue with that.
Like many others I’ve been annoyed at countless Liverpool players down the years for decisions they’ve made off the pitch and it’s weird how that works. You can have your opinion of an entire career coloured by how a player has behaved (hi, Jordan). That’s how things go and it’s the case here.
Trent has made an unpopular decision and it’s part of life that people can vent spleen if they so wish. No issues for me there at all.
But.
And it’s a pretty big but.
Liverpool are having a lovely day. The league’s won and there’s fun to be had at Mikel Arteta’s expense. God, that’s a wonderful sentence. I might just look at it for a bit. We’ve won the league at the expense of a former Everton midfielder who seems furious and weirdly spiky about everything. Lovely.
But Liverpool undergo some sort of sugar crash at half time and Arsenal are in the ascendency. Though we’d like to pretend otherwise, they’re an excellent side.
Then 2-0 becomes 2-1 and suddenly we’re up against it. The team need our support. All of the team need support. We’re cajoling the lads to either calm things down a bit or fight a little bit harder according to the situation.
It’s all of the team that needs our support. Not the majority of our team.
There’s an adage that’s often dragged up at times like this, something about how the badge on the front of the shirt is more important than the name on the back. It’s spot on.
It was a meaningless game and it’s one we wanted to win for a number of reasons. The badge and club were under attack, and it was a bit more of a contest than we’d liked. Just then, we had more important business to deal with than a wantaway footballer.
My issue with the booing is two-fold. Firstly, booing should be reserved for pantomimes as they’re shit too and, more importantly, for the reaction it causes.
Sure, it’s directed at one player, but for the upset it causes you’re effectively booing the entire team. The other lads seemed shocked at the grief their mate was getting, and it affected the performance. After all, it wasn’t just booing but the continued booing of it and heads went. Then it’s 2-2.
Yeah, but they made their point, and you can’t tell people how to feel. Great. Freedom of speech has been asserted. Got that. It’s just…
Couldn’t we just sort this Arsenal thing out first because, y’know, that’s the most pressing thing at the moment. Knock yourself out after that. Once he’s gone and his shirt’s changed colour, he’s fair game, but not while there’s a Liver bird on his chest.
I’d rather, for half an hour, he just had to deal with Leandro Trossard rather than expecting vitriol every time the ball fetched up at his feet.
No one is, as I was called yesterday, “an atmosphere bizzy”. I’d just rather we were doing everything in our power to get Liverpool over the line first before we shout at our own players. There’ll be plenty of time for that once he’s gone.
I hope that’s his last appearance in the shirt because this season shouldn’t be bookmarked with the memory of booing a lad who’s wearing our shirt. I’ve never seen that happen before.
After they’ve gone, yes, but not while they’re defending our goal.
Just a thought.
