Liverpool: Alexander-Arnold opens up on Anfield team-mates
The Liverpool full-back spoke to former Labour Party spokesman and campaign director Alastair Campbell for GQ Magazine, revealing much about the atmosphere around the Reds' squad.
Liverpool have seemed like a team united all through their record-breaking Premier League season and in a recent interview with GQ Trent Alexander-Arnold gave fans a peak into the Anfield dressing room.
"They become your family" - Alexander-Arnold on bond in Liverpool dressing room
He spoke about the strong bonds that are created within squads, especially ones as successful as this Liverpool side:
“Because you spend so much time with them, you understand them, you’re having fun with them. You’re going through good times, bad times. You’re sharing a section of your life with those people for so long. They become your family.”
That bond is clearly hugely important to the 21-year-old, and throughout the interview he spoke about his Liverpool team-mates.
He picked out James Milner as the cleverest in the squad, describing him as a “very intelligent guy”, and revealed that the experienced midfielder’s autobiography was the most recent book that he read.
His partnership with Andrew Robertson is often highlighted, with former Manchester United right-back Gary Neville admitting that “Liverpool’s full-backs are quite simply sensational”. The pair are clearly on the same wavelength and Alexander-Arnold picked ‘Robbo’ as the funniest of his Liverpool team-mates.
Liverpool’s is a very multi-cultural squad and Alexander-Arnold did concede that his Liverpool accent can sometimes be too much for new boy Takumi Minamino. The Japanese forward has only recently made the switch from Red Bull Salzburg but his new team-mate has generally been impressed with his acclimatisation to the language.
“He didn’t speak a lot of English when he first came, but he is probably the fastest learner I’ve ever seen for someone learning a language.”
However, the young right-back refused to be drawn on the matter of worst dressed, insisting that no one in the squad deserves that title despite some not being to his taste.
“There are styles I know I wouldn’t be able to pull off like Divock [Origi]. I know if I put it on I wouldn’t look good at all. But that doesn’t make him a bad dresser.”
Alexander-Arnold praises "unbelievable" Klopp
Aside from a bit of insight on his team-mates, one thing that the interview made abundantly clear was his admiration for manager Jürgen Klopp. Asked to describe the German in one word, Alexander-Arnold was unequivocal:
“Unbelievable. Just everything about him in every way. His man-management... as a person, as a manager. Just unbelievable.”
What is most telling, and perhaps the cause of the great team spirit since he took over in 2015, is Klopp’s ability to build a rapport with everyone at the club. His personality made him instantly loved by fans and it’s clearly felt by the players too:
“You can see that he’s someone who cares about the people around him. He cares about his family, he cares about his players, he cares about his staff. He treats everyone as equals. He treats the captain the same as he would a young player.”