Isn’t this the usual/universal narrative when we concede chances or goals? We defend as a team so it can’t be just Trent’s fault when the defense fucks up.
I'm actually one of those who used to facepalm whenever I read/heard from fans of other clubs or pundits that Trent can't defend. It's one of the most ridiculous cliches that gets thrown around without any basis and they use this as justification to say Reece James is better or Hakimi is better. But it's so horribly wrong.
Has any of them even seen the performance he put in 2017-18 Champions League quarters in the 3-0 win against Man City? How good was he against Sane? That was a masterclass against Sane, of all players, who was and still is one of the most feared wingers in world football. Sane could not win a single dribble against him and he was what? 18-19 years old? He has been really good over the years and of course he can be defensively really good.
However, the last couple of years, he hasn't been secure defensively in many games, it has to be said. It's not that he can't defend or win duels, the most frustrating thing is that he can, if he stays in the right position. He can be excused for last season surely, we had 20 odd CB pairings and must've been difficult to play with. But it has become a recurring theme this season where he is caught high up or in the middle of the pitch (the new tactic as some say) and then is seen jogging back, when others are running behind to cover that space and stop the counter-attacks.
It's simply not true that goals conceded are attributed to him meaninglessly by everyone, there is some sense to it. When you say, the 'defense fucks up', he is part of the defense isn't he? And there was a lengthy period of games where our right side was targeted specifically by multiple teams and some teams even cause us trouble. It did help that Matip was in top form though. When teams targeted our right with some success even though our RCB (Matip) has mostly been on form (except last two games), means only one thing, our RB position was vacated time and again.
Maybe the pundits and other fans don't have a clue on Trent's defensive capability, so they're spreading cliches, but believe me no Liverpool fan would want to willingly repeat those cliches. His defensive capability is fantastic as he has shown before and against tough oppositions. That's why it's so disappointing that he's not defending to his ability of late, and constantly asking too much of the RCM (mostly Hendo), RCB (Matip/Konate), DM (Fabinho) and sometimes even Salah tracked back behind Trent to help out, which should not be the case, as Salah is technically our striker.
But I wouldn't have any other RB in the world over him and I'm not even sure I'd have any other Liverpool RB of the past as well over him. He's that good and the scary thing is that he can be the most complete RB in history if he improves his defensive intelligence and positioning.
