Trent-y Trent-y Vision
Everyone has an opinion. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. We are all human. But the reality is that the whole Trent Alexander-Arnold situation has been a mess from beginning to end. It was handled poorly by the club. And it was handled poorly by the player, and ultimately, it is now after snowballing into whether the fans are right or wrong to have booed Trent against Arsenal. When did the fans become the bad guys in the story, and the club and Trent the innocent parties?
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Liverpool have been top of the league since November. They have run away with the title. Yet, the contracts of Salah, van Dijk, and Trent have dominated the whole season. Every week, a new story would emerge. Every week before a big match, the headlines were dominated by rumors of Trent leaving, which no doubt were fueled by the Madrid media machine. Rather than fully enjoying the journey, we all became preoccupied with whether they would stay or go. We have never had it so good for a long time, and the expression of joy that was realized when we beat Spurs was a long time in the making. But the reality is the ride could have been even better.
What Could Have Been Done?
We have always complained about FSG not spending enough. But we accept that big spending will never happen because it is not in their model. They are the ultimate in business people. Where Van Dijk and Salah differ from Trent is in their age. Last summer, it was evident that we were not 100% of how those two would do as the season started. Last year, Salah struggled post-injury and post-Africa Cup of Nations. Trent is at the peak of his powers.
Was it a case of the club thinking they could wait until the last minute to negotiate with one of their local lads, taking them for granted? Did they foolishly believe Trent was going to sign, and it was only a matter of time? The reality is that Van Dijk and Salah have made the club millions in terms of performances and revenue from merchandising. Trent is not far behind, but with the potential to take his game to another level, be the local lad to take over the captaincy, and be the face of the city for years to come.
He is a star, but his stardom could have been taken to a whole other level. This should have been presented to him last summer, and maybe it was, but we will probably never fully find out. If the club felt there was even a chance that Trent could leave, an offer should have been put on the table. He should have signed it or been sold. People will say that the club was in a period of transition, but the truth is that Liverpool is a multi-billion-pound business, and business decisions do not halt during periods of transition.
Real Madrid Strikes Again
Real Madrid are the masters of getting what they want. They got Mbappe for free. They will now get Trent for free, and they will undoubtedly have someone else on their agenda next season. Is Trent the innocent victim in all of this? He shared at the start of the season that negotiations would never be conducted in public. Yet this ultimately provided cover and essentially a free pass from the media and fans. This deal from Madrid will have been at least a year in the making. And if Trent wanted to go, as upsetting as it may have been, it may have been better if he had gone last summer. What has transpired has been a season of questions and hiding, and allowing the Madrid machine to dominate.
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Scoring against West Ham earlier in the season and celebrating by doing all of the hand and chatting signals to the crowd gave a lot of people hope that he was actually planning to stay. Add to that the timing of his final announcement, and one has to ask who was advising him? Rather than wait until after the season has ended, albeit with a cloud hanging over him, we have now seen our title celebrations overshadowed by whether it was right to boo or not.
Trent & His Legacy
Trent will always be remembered. His corner taken quickly ensures that he will never be forgotten. He has won everything at the club. He cannot achieve any other honor, but the opportunity to lead the club to such titles must have been considered, and hopefully, the club had the vision to offer. Sometimes people just want a change of scenery, and the bright lights and warmer weather of Madrid proved overly tempting. The player and club will spin the story as they wish, but ultimately, only they will know the full story.
Our fans live and breathe for Liverpool Football Club. It shapes everything that we do. It can make or break a person’s day, week, or even year. Football is a form of escapism for people every weekend. Great players come and go. But when one of the greats is a local lad and one of our own, it can hurt that little bit more. While it may never be right to boo one of your own, the cold harsh reality is that the club got it wrong and the player got it wrong. They got it badly wrong. We deserved better from all involved. We will all celebrate together on May 25. But this was a distraction that should never have happened.