On Sunday, Liverpool lost 3-2 to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. It was another bitter blow to Jurgen Klopp, who was visibly upset about the defeat. However, Liverpool legend John Barnes believes that Trent Alexander-Arnold is not a problem for the Reds. 

The former star believes the midfield must protect the defence more, and that it is only teething problems for the Premier League giants.

Also, the 58-year-old believes Gabriel Martinelli is "one of the shining knights" for Mikel Arteta. He was impressed by the Brazilian last season, but he has only improved since then. The former Watford star believes the Spaniard has turned his side into title challengers, especially after winning his battle with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang last season.

  • Trent lacks Support in Defence

Sunday's defeat to Arsenal once again highlighted Alexander-Arnold's defensive struggles. For the opening two goals, the Englishman failed to cut out the chance, before Martinelli and Bukayo Saka converted their chances retrospectively.

The 24-year-old has failed to cement his place within Gareth Southgate's England side due to his defensive struggles, however John Barnes believes the full-back is not at fault for these problems.

He said: "Liverpool and their defenders have played in a particular way the last four years with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. The three midfield players are three hard working individual players."

"Now with Thiago and Harvey Elliot and people like that, the midfield isn't as defensively strong which means that they can't defend the back four and Trent as much as they used to. Trent is still coming forward, he's never been in a team for his defensive qualities but it's more to do with the fact that I don't believe the midfield is strong enough to protect the back four."

"Which is why teams are now getting to Liverpool. It's not Trent's problem because it was the way that he formulated a strategy to play with Trent as an attack in midfield, but expect others to defend. It's not that the team and Trent has changed, they're just going through a few teething problems. I don't see Trent as an issue in that team, he'll sort it out."

  • Turning Arsenal into Title Challengers

Last season, the Gunners were cruelly denied a place in the Champions League by close rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Nevertheless, this season, Arsenal have improved leaps and bounds, and find themselves top after nine games.

John Barnes believes the North London side are now title challengers, and that selling Aubameyang in January proved to be a masterstroke.

He said: "They've had one more year. They were young and inexperienced last year, sometimes they played well whereas now, they've got the experience and also Arteta is being fully supported. Last year when they were inconsistent, there were a lot of questions of whether he was the right man for the job but the hierarchy and fans supported him."

"When he won that battle against Aubameyang, it said to everyone involved with Arsenal that he's the man in charge, we have to do what he says. We've seen managers on the line making mistakes and managers lose their jobs because the fans or the hierarchy back the players instead of the managers. Whereas once you back the manager 100% on and off the pitch, that is when things improve and that has helped Arsenal massively. He's the man in charge, the players have to stand to attention and do exactly what he says rather than undermining him."

  • Martinelli Shines the Brightest

Gabriel Martinelli scored again on Sunday. This took his tally for the season to four, whilst also earning two assists.

The Brazilian has been one of the star players for Mikel Arteta, which is why Barnes believes he is key to their success this season.

He said: "I remember him last year, when Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-0 at Arsenal, Martinelli was an incredible player back then and even Jurgen Klopp likes Martinelli a lot. Arsenal's future prospects look good. They've got good young players. Martinelli is one of the shining knights of the team so he can be a fantastic player, he already is a fantastic player and he'll only improve."

  • Salah's Changing Relationship with Nunez

Liverpool's attack has struggled to fire into action ever since the loss of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich. Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Salah have struggled to perform consistently, which has highlighted the Merseyside club's struggles this season.

John Barnes believes Nunez has been a brilliant signing, and that Salah must learn to cooperate with the Uruguayan. 

He said: "He's been a great signing. You can talk about whether he should be playing or not but Liverpool have to give him confidence and confidence doesn't mean leaving him out. He played well, he scored goals, he created chances. It's difficult for him as he's come into a Liverpool team that isn't playing as well as it was."

"Whereas Erling Haaland has come into a Manchester City team that's playing well. If Liverpool was playing as well as they had in previous years, Nunez would be much better. I was pleased for him that he was one of the shining lights." 

He added: "Salah has to get used to playing as a centre-forward, when he was playing with Firmino who is a withdrawn centre-forward, Mo Salah scores goals by making runs from out to in into a vacated space where there's no centre-forward. Now they've got Nunez who's a centre-forward, so the way that Mo is going to play has got to be different."

"He can't play the way he did with Firmino, so he has to get used to that. It's a transitional period in the way that they're changing the way they play slightly so everybody has to get used to it. Mo will be fine, he's finding his feet in terms of playing in a new system and a new style but that might mean he won't score as many goals. Where you've got a new centre-forward like Nunez who's got to be the main goal-scorer, he should be, it means Mo will score less goals. He will still be effective but he will score less goals because of the way he plays.

  • Klopp's Selection Dilemma

Jurgen Klopp has come under pressure this season after Liverpool's worst start to the season in ten years. The German had been accustomed to performing at Anfield. However, this season, the Reds have struggled to fire up all their cylinders.

John Barnes believes Liverpool will still finish in the Top Four, but only if Klopp learns to play the youngsters more.

He said: "He has got to give the young players time, not everyone that goes into Liverpool is going to play the best, it takes time. Young players need to develop and take time in understanding how the system works. Sooner or later, with the quality players of Liverpool, they will get back to where they were."

"I still think Liverpool can make it to the top four. They are in that transitional phase, where they need to get new players in as many are in that 30/31 year old stage."

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