The captain of Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk, admitted that the boos that aimed at Trent Alexander-Arnold would not be “simply” accepted, but insisted that the outgoing full-back “would have to handle” with it and the rest of his teammates on Sunday.
Alexander-Arnold’s first appearance since his announcement of his departure at the end of the season was determined by a volley from Boos from Boos in the amount of the Aufield quantity before, during and after the 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
The Reds boss Arne Slot insisted that “everyone can have their own opinion”, while the defender Andy Robertson revealed that “it was not nice” to see his teammate. Van Dijk repeated slots repeated feeling with an energetic tone: “I think the manager correctly said in the press conference that they cannot decide how someone felt about the decision he has made for him and his family.
“The reaction occurred. He has to deal with it. By the way, we as a team must also have to do with it,” emphasized Van Dijk. “But I think maybe he was expecting that. We have two more games and then we are wearing and he will go somewhere else.”
It is generally expected that Alexander-Arnold will come to Real Madrid to an indefinite point this summer. Despite all his hard love, van Dijk granted the difficulty of his decreasing teammate.
“I didn’t really expect anything,” admitted the Dutch skipper. “It is not easy at all. We are there for him. We are disappointed that he will not be here next year, because in my opinion he is a fantastic player, with outstanding, extraordinary characteristics that we have seen in the past seven years that I have seen here. We will definitely miss him when he is gone.
“It shouldn’t [overshadow the title celebrations]. There are many more players who also earn an amazing day. I don’t think it will be.
“He made the decision for himself and he is in peace. We still have two games in which he also has to play a role. I am sure he will do it because he is a fantastic player and then we will say goodbye to him.”
Slot started Conor Bradley against Arsenal to build his experiences before taking on the role of Alexander-Arnold’s full-time successor next season. The Northern Ireland international is not quite fit or robust enough to keep the full 90 minutes, but Slot insisted that he would not hesitate to call Alexander-Arnold again in the coming weeks.