British media defended Arnold: His "wrong" was that he dared to go to Real Madrid, which was better than Liverpool

Sports Weekly All-Media Reporter Li Jingyi

In order to seek a new career in football and a new career high, Trent Alexander-Arnold bravely went south and started a new chapter in his career at Real Madrid. Before that, he was the well-established No. 66 Prince Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool. After this farewell, he became the unreachable No. 12 Trent on the luxury battleship. Trent's white-coat career had a slow start. Injuries made it difficult for him to perform. Eager to come back, he caught the last train to visit his old club. For Liverpool, "You'll Never Walk Alone" is more than just a slogan, it's a creed that symbolizes the inviolable sense of community between fans, players and the entire club. Trent has grown up with this symbol since joining the Melwood camp at the age of 6. But when he returned to Anfield as an opponent for the first time, where he was once loyal and even more loyal to him, he was greeted not with applause but with boos that were close to expulsion. As he warms up on the sidelines and waits to be replaced, he may only feel the emotion denied by that hymn - loneliness. Trent left with defeat and hatred. The "Daily Telegraph" wrote an article criticizing Lee Kee fans for being too harsh on their "own children". The boos and endless slanders cannot add value to the "lofty principles" they uphold. On the contrary, they can only make people feel that some "die-hard fans" are trapped in the paranoid and narrow-minded weak mentality.

When Trent's mural near Anfield was vandalized with white paint, leaving the words "Adiós el rata (Goodbye, traitor)", people initially thought it was an ignorant farce concocted by a few fools who didn't even bother to ask Google Translate and mistakenly wrote the definite article al before rat (rata) instead of el. But when Trent, dressed in white, stepped onto the Anfield he was so familiar with, what was heard was not sporadic boos, but overwhelming noise. The roar of hostility was in sharp contrast to the "Steve Gerrard" hymn, as if to remind Trent what it meant to be a "Red Army loyal soul".

These fans seem to have forgotten that their beloved captain took the initiative to submit a transfer request and tried to join Chelsea in 2005 - only six weeks after he won the Champions League trophy in Istanbul. Unlike Gerrard, Trent has never publicly complained about the club's development, never expressed his intention to leave the team, and has never considered joining a Premier League rival. Of course, there was a historical background for the Jays to want to leave the team. At that time, Leeds was wandering into the abyss, the management was in chaos, and the ownership turmoil made Gerrard even more embarrassed.

Talking back to Trent, all he expressed was that he "wanted to see how high he could reach", so he went to challenge himself to the football hegemon who had won the Champions League 15 times. He also gave an explanation for this: "I think this is the right step to take at the right time." Because of this sentence, he became a traitor in the Middle Ages, was insulted and ridiculed, all because he dared to believe that there was life outside of Liverpool.

And Anfield's anger towards him goes far beyond the so-called "betrayal". To this day, people still struggle to understand what Trent did wrong. He dedicated 21 of his 27 years to Liverpool and never said a bad word about the club in public. During the Premier League championship parade in May, he said a gentle farewell to the fans: "A perfect send-off. I am sincerely grateful, I love my city." Obviously, this dignity is not enough for extreme believers.

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel hated this: "I find this behavior disgusting, even disgusting. He has played for the club for 20 years, won all trophies, and should be welcomed as a hero." Trent probably never imagined that he would be pushed away so quickly and decisively. In 2019, it was his corner kick assist that helped Liverpool miraculously overturn Barcelona with a total score of 4 to 3, making it one of Anfield's most glorious nights.

In just 6 years, everything has turned upside down. In the eyes of those short-sighted critics, the only important fact remains that he "dared" to leave. Trent? Just rats. Just a traitor.

When the outside world heatedly discussed Trent's career change, they regarded it as a black-and-white multiple-choice question: Is joining Real Madrid a betrayal, or a young man's right to choose self-realization? But the vicious reception he received at Anfield should never have been a point of contention. The only "crime" he committed was to seize the fleeting opportunity to challenge one of the few clubs in the world, perhaps greater than Liverpool.

What's more, even greater teams also failed in the Anfield fortress.