While Alexander-Arnold appeared to be missing Liverpool, they were missing him. Jeremie Frimpong failed to convince as a right-back following his big-money move from Bayer Leverkusen, while collective issues led to a fifth-place finish and Arne Slot being relieved of his coaching duties.
Having witnessed those toils from afar, and been overlooked by England for a major tournament in North America, will Alexander-Arnold feel as though he made a mistake? When that question was put to former Liverpool and Three Lions star Murphy, he – speaking exclusively to GOAL courtesy of NetBet – said: “I think players will always feel that. When I left, you have moments where you think, ‘what have I done?’ Of course, that’s normal, it’s natural.
“I don’t think he’ll be in panic stations just yet because it’s only been one season. I’m sure he’s still got great belief in his ability. But yeah, he’ll have had moments, probably. Of course, when you go on any new adventure in football, you have moments where you kind of think, ‘oh’ – especially if it’s not going perfectly well. If it’s all going well, those moments become less. But I’m sure he would have had the odd sleepless night about it.
“But you can’t let it dwell, you can’t dwell on it because it hampers your performance in the job you’re doing. I think he’ll be disappointed with his season. But he’s got time and he’s got the contract, so I think he’ll be getting himself right and using the summer to get himself fully fit, ready for the start of next season.”
