Arne Slot said Trent Alexander-Arnold has been a good defender “all his life”, even though the Liverpool right-back is often praised more for his attacking prowess.
The 25-year-old, who is in the final year of his contract at Anfield, believes the perception that he is a better attacker than defender is “harsh”.
The Anfield youth product, linked with a move to Real Madrid, feels he is benefiting from the input of Slot, who is in the early weeks of his tenure after replacing Jurgen Klopp.
“We talked about targets and aims and I said to him that I would like to be the defender that no one wants to come up against in Europe,” Alexander-Arnold said after Liverpool’s 3-0 win against Bournemouth on Saturday.
“We agreed that he will be harsh on me. Any time an attacker gets past me he will call it out in meetings and individual meetings and say this cannot happen.”
Slot, speaking Tuesday, on the eve of Liverpool’s League Cup third-round clash against struggling West Ham, said: “It’s clear to me then that he (Alexander-Arnold) has been a good defender all his life.
“But because he is so, so special with the ball, the main emphasis goes to him doing special things with the ball and I think with him it is not about if he is capable of doing things, it’s more can his concentration rate constantly be in 100 percent focus, that’s what it’s more about with him.
“So this is what we talk about a lot, that he has to stay active in every situation of the game, even if the ball is further away from him.
“But it’s not that we or I taught him to defend in the last three months — he’s won the (Premier) League and he’s won the Champions League, so it’s just getting him to understand all of what is necessary to play the best possible game.”