The right-back has been ridiculed for a lack of playing time for Los Blancos, but he might just have to get used to rotation under his new manager
Trent Alexander-Arnold looked a bit miffed by the end of it all. It was shortly after the full-time whistle of Real Madrid’s ultimately comfortable 3-0 win over a resilient Real Oviedo, and the former Liverpool man didn’t seem in the mood for any sort of celebration. Instead, he sort of walked around, a half-hearted hug here, a fist bump there.
And for good reason. The England international had played just three minutes against the newly-promoted side. He touched the ball once. His only real action was the jog he made onto the pitch, and a sprint to win a header late on. Some corners of social media found this all very funny – especially Liverpool fans, who took a certain amount of joy in seeing their former player settle for bench minutes after making such a show of his move to Spain.
But, as amusing as it might be on Merseyside, the Alexander-Arnold situation is admittedly typical, if not entirely predictable. Xabi Alonso is a master of rotation. He likes to keep his squads fresh, and run out his best line-ups for the biggest games. And as intriguing as it may be to see Alexander-Arnold come off the bench, it is likely that he may have to settle for limited minutes as the Spaniard tinkers with his system.
