Trent Alexander-Arnold’s starting spot in the Liverpool team could be in jeopardy after recent top performances from 20-year-old Conor Bradley.
Alexander-Arnold has been one of the stars of this Liverpool team in recent years, a team that has won the Champions League and Premier League among other trophies. Trent has been one of the stars of this team during that time; but could his place in Liverpool’s starting XI now be in question?
We put that question to former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann who put forward an interesting idea that could incorporate both Bradley and Trent into the starting team.
Hamann also talked to us about Caoimhin Kelleher’s Liverpool future after recent impressive performances have seen speculation that he could be bound for a move to become a starter for another Premier League team.
Could Conor Bradley Take Trent Alexander Arnold’s Starting Spot?
He’s only just burst onto the scene so it’s probably a bit different with Bradley but it’s a nice problem to have, because if you told me 12 months ago or six months ago that Trent Alexander-Arnold is out injured and that that there might be a player coming in who doesn’t guarantee him his place back, I would’ve said you’re mad.
He is one of the best full-backs in Europe so I couldn't see it coming but the calmness, how good his decisions are, he's doing everything right. He plays like a player who has been there for five or six years.
It’s a nice problem to have and the other thing is that there has been a lot of talk about Trent playing in midfield so I think that’s an option.
*Liverpool are 2/1 to win the Premier League per the latest football betting odds at BoyleSports.
Caoimhin Kelleher’s Liverpool Future
I think it was a difficult decision for him last summer, I thought that someone in the Championship or maybe even in the Premier League might show an interest. But having said that, Klopp was always very strong in saying that he was going to stay.
But there will be a time when he wants to play because being second-choice goalkeeper is not an easy thing to do. You could go pretty much a whole season without playing, although many are used in the League Cup, you have to wait for your chance and if the other guy doesn’t get injured then you watch games for most of the season.
I think he’s a brilliant keeper and a keeper that would improve most Championship teams and some Premier League teams. At some stage he will have to make a decision and I don’t think that Liverpool will have any issues with it because he has been a brilliant player and a brilliant servant. He showed it in the cup final and on Saturday what a brilliant goalkeeper he is.
The manager wants the best players at the club so from Klopp’s point of view it’s been a no brainer, you want to keep him at the club and probably whoever comes in the summer will probably try to keep him for another year or tw/o, but there might come a time when he says no, I’ve watched enough games now and I want to play on a weekly basis.
To have kept him in the summer could’ve been a defining moment in winning more than one trophy (in Klopp’s final year).
*Liverpool are 7/2 to win the FA Cup according to the latest football odds at BoyleSports.
Caoimhin Kelleher To Celtic Move On The Cards?
He has to decide where he wants to go, Celtic have been doing well and playing in the Champions League, obviously a huge club. Then again he may not get tested as much as he will in the Championship or the Premier League.
If you look at Chelsea’s goalkeeping position, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the big boys were to come in and make an offer for him because he’s such a good goalkeeper.
What I like most about him is his attitude and his calmness. A goalkeeper has to calm his team down and give his team reassurance that if something happened then he is there for them.
That’s what he does and for a player who hasn’t played a lot of first team football, I think he’s done fantastically well and I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the bigger teams came in for him in the summer.
Wrong Time For Klopp To Leave Liverpool With Young Players Starting To Thrive?
If another manager was there then they might not even have the chance to play in these games. At the same time if you look at the cup final last week they had an awful lot of injuries so he probably had to play some of them.
I think what he does is give them confidence and trusts them, what happens if you trust people is that they pay you back. I think that’s what he’s done. What’s happened in the last few weeks with all these youngsters coming in, I think it will have an impact on who is coming in next.
You need to bring in a manager who is known to give young players a chance because it would be a travesty if somebody comes in and says ‘well I want experience and I can’t deal with the young kids’ that would be a shame.
But I think the club knows that they have outstanding young players who have to be used. I think whoever comes in would use them as much as Klopp does because that’s why you watch football. If you see the reaction of fans after the game and the young kids beating Chelsea, this is why we watch football to see players coming through and doing well.
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