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.
AFPBallon d'Or dreams
In truth, the early warning signs that Alexander-Arnold might leave Liverpool were there at the beginning of the 2024-25 season. Hindsight, of course, is 20/20. Some have pointed out, of late, that Alexander-Arnold didn't look particularly happy after the Reds beat Ipswich to open the season. There could be a number of reasons for that.
But the first big warning came in an otherwise fairly innocuous interview. He was asked by a interviewer if he would rather win the Ballon d'Or or the World Cup. Most might have said that glory with their nation is perhaps the best thing that can happen to any footballer. Alexander-Arnold took a different view. He wanted to win the Ballon d'Or.
"I believe I can. I want to be the first full-back to ever do it. "It's only the morning after you retire that you're able to look in the mirror and say, 'I gave it everything I got'," he said in October 2024.
It all sounded very Madrid-y – a Galactico-coded statement from a player who otherwise keeps a relatively low profile. Footballers who play for Liverpool, remember, do not tend to win the Ballon d'Or. It is an award reserved for the likes of Madrid, Barcelona – and perhaps now Paris Saint-Germain. In other words, Madrid is the place you go if you want to win this thing.
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And that's where some of the comedy comes from here. To win the award, you need to be on the pitch quite a bit. Alexander-Arnold started Los Blancos' first game of the season, and turned in a solid performance. He was basically just OK, Madrid as a whole were middling. They got a win. For them, this is all about systems, fluidity, and finding the right sort of combinations to ensure that the games later in the season are more easily navigable. In all honesty, they were able to Galactico their way to a 1-0 win over Osasuna.
That's exactly what they did. Alexander-Arnold pinged a few lovely passes right onto the boot of Vinicius Jr. He did some nice things with the ball. He was also left in the dust by opposing attackers on a couple of occasions. Google 'typical Trent Alexander-Arnold performance', and this is what you get.
It was widely assumed, then, that he would get the chance to build on that a little. Sure, Madrid have options all over the pitch – more on that later – but there's no way their shiny new defender would be left out. So much for that sentiment. Next time out, Alexander-Arnold had to watch from the bench as Dani Carvajal turned in a far more compelling showing on the right.
Getty ImagesAlonso, Leverkusen and Frimpong
Yet this is quite a typical Alonso thing. The Spaniard was hailed for his job as Bayer Leverkusen manager during the 2023-24 season. And with good reason. That almost-undefeated campaign is one of the finest managerial feats in recent memory. You'd be hard pressed to find a better one. They were one win away from an undefeated treble. Many made the argument that such a slate would be the best club season ever.
But that side, good as it was, relied heavily on rotation. In fact, there were very few un-droppable players. Granit Xhaka was indispensable in midfield, and played every possible minute. Alex Grimaldo, Jonathan Tah, Edmond Tapsoba and Florian Wirtz were largely the same. But around them, Alonso was happy to shuffle his pack. Fifteen players racked up more than 2,000 minutes. Victor Boniface, the star striker who bagged 20 goals in all competitions, consistently ceded his starting spot to Patrik Schick, and only completed 90 minutes 23 times out of a possible 34.
In fact, the most indicative difference during Alonso's tenure was the man who replaced Alexander-Arnold at Anfield. Jeremie Frimpong is regarded as one of the best right-backs in European football. Yet he started 52 of the 67 league games in which he was available from 2023-2025.
Alonso suggested he might do much of the same at Madrid. "It depends on what we need in terms of the game, the workload and the opposition," he said after the Real Oviedo win.
Getty Images SportThe Carvajal problem
Part of the issue here is that Alexander-Arnold finds himself in competition with an already-excellent right-back. Carvajal might be coming off a serious knee operation, but 12 months ago he was an outside pick for the Ballon d'Or. The grizzled 33-year-old is an entirely different profile of player to Alexander-Arnold, but he does have some key advantages. He is, by pretty much all measures, a better defender – a scrappy one-on-one presence who seldom backs down from a fight or tackle. Carvajal is also more positionally disciplined in that he is far more comfortable holding width on the right – something that might be vital if Madrid continue to have problems with overcrowding on the left.
And perhaps more importantly than either is his leadership ability. Carvajal has been here for a decade. He knows what it means to play for Madrid and win with Madrid. In fact, it is the first thing that Alonso highlighted about his showing against Oviedo.
"Today he played 85 minutes very much in the Carvajal style. Competing well, communicating and taking that leadership role. Bringing a lot of sense to everything," Alonso outlined. Those comments don't bode well for Alexander-Arnold.