Arne Slot has deflected blame away from Trent Alexander-Arnold after the Liverpool star's horror show against Manchester United.
Alexander-Arnold, who is the subject of a recent bid from Real Madrid, was run ragged by Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes in a 2-2 draw on Sunday. The 26-year-old was also partly at fault for Lisandro Martinez's opener, and the usual attacking influence he has was nowhere to be seen.
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Reds boss Slot believes some of the blame for Alexander-Arnold's struggles lie with Ryan Gravenberch, as well as the United duo which tormented him out wide.
"Trent has played mostly very good games for this club," Slot told Sky Sports. "Today wasn’t his best game but that probably had to do with them [United] as well. Sometimes Ryan wasn’t close enough to him in the first half. I would put it more on the quality of Dalot and Fernandes.
"Bruno Fernandes is a very, very good player. They have shown many times, United, that if things are really difficult for them, they can show up. They caused us some problems.
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"Dalot was a threat as well on the left side. We’re talking about two Portugal starters so it’s not easy to stop them getting into dangerous situations."
Alexander-Arnold is into the last six months of his Liverpool contract, and the fact he is yet to sign an extension has fuelled rumours that he could be off to Madrid this summer, where his good friend Jude Bellingham plays.
Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah will also be free agents in six months' time unless Liverpool chiefs are able to agree terms with them. The pair were influential against United, with Van Dijk marshalling the back line and Salah converting a penalty which put them ahead until Amad Diallo's late leveller.
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The Red Devils coming away with anything was a surprise to many, given their torrid run of form leading up to the game. Slot believes the final stages of the match, in which United pushed for a winner and Harry Maguire missed a gilt-edged chance, proved that manager Ruben Amorim may be onto something.
"In the last 15 minutes you could see how well they could play if they do play," he said. "Before that they were only going long with [Andre] Onana. Maybe they are even better than they think they are."
