Arne Slot insisted that everybody should be allowed to have an opinion after Trent Alexander-Arnold was heavily booed by Liverpool fans during their game against Arsenal. The defender was introduced in place of Conor Bradley in the second half but was jeered by what sounded like the majority of home supporters. He was making his first appearance for the Reds since announcing that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Alexander-Arnold’s first touch of the ball was also met with a chorus of deafening boos from the home crowd. Some fans chose to sing the name of Bradley, who will be hoping to prove himself as a worthy successor to the 26-year-old ahead of next season. After the final whistle, Slot was asked to give his reaction to what happened after Alexander-Arnold was introduced.
He pointed out that many fans stopped booing as the game progressed and praised the Anfield faithful for singing songs about Bradley and former Reds midfielder Steven Gerrard.
Explaining why he decided to bring the defender onto the pitch in the first place, Slot said: “Trent showed why I brought him in because he had two or three incredible balls [into the box].
“For the fans, they can always have the reaction they want but I will always back the players I lead and the ones that wear the red shirt. I will back them no matter what.
“First of all, they sang for Steven Gerrard, which is a nice thing to do, and then for Conor Bradley. But when Trent took a free-kick, more people were positive about him and hoping that he would score than people booing him.
“It would not be fair to focus only on the Liverpool fans that booed. If they want to, it’s fine, but there were a lot of people that were really positive about him as well.”
Quizzed on whether fans should have avoided booing Alexander-Arnold, the Liverpool boss replied: “The good thing about living in Europe is everyone can have their opinion.
“There were people who were happy with him, there were people that were not so happy with him. They clapped for him, some booed.
“Everybody is allowed their opinion and towards the end more and more people got more positive. For me, it is simple. I owe it to the fans to play a team that can win the match.”
Alexander-Arnold is widely expected to sign a five-year contract with Real Madrid when he departs Liverpool at the end of the season. The move is yet to be officially confirmed but appears to have been done and dusted for quite some time.
