LOCAL HERO
Alexander-Arnold proving home-grown talent can still make it at Liverpool
LIVERPOOL’S squad is made up of 14 nationalities from three continents. But you could not get more local than 19- year- old defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, who grew up a few minutes’ walk from the club’s Melwood training ground.
He remembers as a six-year-old watching the parade to celebrate the 2005 Champions League title.
‘They came right past my house. We were all standing on the wall outside, me and my mates, and playing footy in the front garden just waiting for them to come,’ he said.
‘Then we heard the commotion. We could see all the players on the open-top bus going right past with the Champions League trophy. It was just unbelievable. We had flags hanging outside the windows and everything — I think most houses in Liverpool did because it was such a big occasion.’
It is the kind of story they love on Merseyside. Since Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher came through the ranks, they have been waiting for another Scouser to “make it”. Some have broken into the first team, Stephen Darby, Jay Spearing and Jon Flanagan among them, but none has lasted. Alexander-Arnold could be different.
‘He’s going to get better and better, which is a very exciting thought for all Liverpool fans,’ said Gerrard, now Liverpool’s Under-18s coach, this week.
Alexander- Arnold has already played 17 first-team games for his home-town club and scored three goals. Today’s game at Southampton will be interesting as a compari son because their right- back, Cedric Soares, has won a European Championship medal for Portugal.
It was not l ong ago that the politely-spoken youngster was outside the gates of Melwood, trying to spot players and being snubbed for autographs.
‘ I’d try to get a little sneak at training but obviously it was hard with the high walls and everything. I’d have to find a gap to look through. Our house was only five or 10 minutes’ walk away, whenever possible I’d try and get a glimpse at the players I looked up to. The likes of Gerrard, Carragher, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres. They were heroes.’
Now, he is able to ask Gerrard for advice whenever he visits the club’s academy. ‘I’ll try to pick his brain on how I can get better, how I can improve. I always try to take it on board,’ he said. ‘I saw growing up how many people he influenced.’
Alexander- Arnold’s uncle was former Manchester United club secretary John Alexander, though he insists that there was never any family dispute about who he should sign for. ‘My heart was always set on Liverpool. I always loved the club,’ he said.
His decision has also been to England’s benefit — he has represented his country at every age group from Under-16s to Under-21s and has an outside shout of going to the World Cup next summer. He showed his ability with a brilliant strike against nst Swansea earlier this is season.
‘ There is a hype around English youth football at the minute because of winning the Under -17 sand Under-20s World Cup last summer,’ he said. d. ‘The goal is to win at the senior level and bring ng joy to the nation. It’s what we’re trying to do. Hopefully in following years that will happen.’
For a teenager, there does seem to be a maturity about Alexander- Arnold and appreciation of the responsibility resting on his young shoulders. He still lives with his parents and he acts as an ambassador for An Hour For F Others, a community mu nor ga ni sat ion which wh asks people to spend sp time with the vulvn er able, from children in poverty to the elderly living alone. Through the group, g AlexanderArnold A has become ffririendswi th Louis Henry, Henr an eight-year-old boy with wit cerebral palsy. ‘I could tell from the first time I saw him [in hospital] that he’s responded to me and it’s given him that bit more motivation to fight his illness,’ he said. ‘I never thought I would be in a position to have an impact on people like that but if you can have influence, that is what you should do.’
If Alexander- Arnold is picked today, it is likely he will have a German behind him in goal, a Dutchman and Croat to his left, and a Scot or Spaniard over the far side at left-back. The goals will come from Liverpool’s famous front three — players from Egypt (Salah), Senegal ( Ma n e ) and Brazil (Firmino).
He thinks that there will always be the appetite to have home-grown players in the Anfield dressingroom however.
‘There is a big emphasis at Liverpool to have an academy that brings through young players,’ he said. ‘The club has done it in the past and, looking to the future, I think there will be more stories to tell.’