Rafa Benitez once talked of football’s “small blanket” – the idea that if you pull the failing fabric up one way – by focusing on someone or something on the pitch – it leaves something else exposed to the harsh cold air.
It was something that appeared to affect Arsenal at a sweltering Anfield on Saturday evening.
Their plan, it seemed, was to close Liverpool space in the central areas around their goal, overloading that part of the pitch to deny The Reds’ deadly trio of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino the necessary time and space to sprinkle their magic.
With five and six players hustling and harrying in middle ground with no thought for the toil of the humid conditions, it left Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander Arnold with loads of ball and loads of time to decide what to do with it on the wings.
This was the case to such an extent, that no player in the Premier League touched the ball more times than Alexander-Arnold (108) over the weekend. Robertson wasn't far behind either, featuring at fourth on the list with 98 touches.
Given that TAA, still only 20 remember, has assisted 15 goals and created 18 big chances for Liverpool in just 58 Premier League appearances, it was a bit of a head scratcher.
Alexander-Arnold's 12 Premier League assists in 2018-19 was the highest amount ever recorded by a defender in a single campaign.
9 – Trent Alexander-Arnold has assisted nine goals in his last 10 appearances at Anfield for Liverpool in all competitions, including assisting once in each of his last five competitive home games. Delivery. pic.twitter.com/XxHlwg6iRa
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 24, 2019
And Robertson's tally was only one fewer – the first time since the Premier League kicked off that two defenders from the same team have notched up double-digit assists in a season.
Both men have won admirers for their delivery, doubled with endeavour that has proved the undoing of many an opposition defence.
Trent, in particular, has won Steven Gerrard and David Beckham comparisons for some of the whipped deliveries he has pulled from his locker, passes that have had Gary Lineker, among others, purring about his potential.
One pass was so good people questioned whether he meant it. He did, he confirmed via social media.
Now a European Cup winner, and a first-team regular, Alexander-Arnold’s ability is no longer a surprise.
Why then afford him the freedom of Anfield, as Arsenal did? Wouldn’t it, in fact, make more sense to starve him of service, what with him being so key to so many Liverpool goals?
Arsenal would perhaps argue they did a job on Alexander-Arnold, to a point at least. A first glance at the number 66’s output from out wide shows 13 crosses and only three of them classed as successful.
Yet the midfielder-turned-full back still had a hand in all three goals, created six chances and ended the game with an assist, albeit from a set-piece delivery.
Most important of all, he finished on the winning side. And the Gunners were never in it.
Did Arsenal perhaps, as many have suggested, consider Alexander-Arnold a weak link, as seems to be the go-to hot take recently?
If so, as Steven Gerrard once said of trying to stop a past Liverpool side, “all the best”.
The man immortalised by a huge Anfield Wrap mural just yards away from the ground itself, is only likely to grow in confidence and influence as his career wears on.
"I thought it was a wind up at first.
"To be part of something like this is incredible."
@trentaa98's reaction to The Anfield Wrap's mural…
@Akse_P19 pic.twitter.com/HrAlbSjzGI
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) August 8, 2019
Sure, there will be ups and downs. And there have been already. But most important of all is the attitude and desire of a man who describes himself as “just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dreams came true.”
Criticism has ebbed and flowed before, notably around Alexander-Arnold’s ability to deal with Leroy Sane. Then he did just that. The finger-pointing didn’t break him. It made him better. When it mattered, Sane didn't get a sniff.
On the other side of defence, his friend and team-mate Robertson would no doubt be the first to admit that he is afforded more protection by having the presence of Virgil van Dijk next to him and the incessant graft of the ever-ready Sadio Mane ahead of him.
On Alexander-Arnold's side, Mo Salah is not as defensively minded as Mane, and Joel Matip, for all the praise rightly coming his way right now, is the centre half most would choose to do battle with given the choice between him and Van Dijk.
It could all skew something which has been served up as a problem when it’s a ‘problem’ scores of managers would love to deal with – a young lad, six caps to his name already, who is rated in the £70million bracket. What a problem.
The odd mistake, positional naivety, a tad too much testosterone – all have occurred and all are likely to feature again at times. But for every minus there is the moment of genius – exhibit A: that corner kick against Barcelona.
Should more managers choose to throw their blanket elsewhere and leave Alexander-Arnold exposed and free to flee, they too will likely feel the flush of failure that Unai Emery did at Anfield on Saturday.
Some teams may shy away from feeding a 20-year-old the ball over and over in a top-level football match. Not Liverpool. Not Alexander-Arnold's team-mates. Everyone at Anfield knows just how good he is, even if Emery doesn't.
