Alexander-Arnold's surprising reaction to being named Liverpool vice-captain

After Jordan Henderson's painful departure to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq, Jürgen Klopp had to decide who would be Liverpool's new leader, the new captain. The German tactician chose Virgil van Dijk to replace Henderson in that role, something that did not surprise many, as it was expected that the 32-year-old Dutch defender would take that role, however what was a surprise for many was the appointment of Trent-Alexander Arnold as the new vice captain of the team, because at 24 years of age, there are those who think that there were other players with better conditions to fill that role.

The appointment of Alexander-Arnold as vice captain, although it is something that not many expected, is not at all a bad decision by Klopp because he knows that being such a young player, he can learn a lot about being a leader watching van Dijk, who already knows what it is to captain a team in the biggest stages of world football, as he has been the captain of the Netherlands national team for years and has led them in World Cup matches.

In addition, TAA is seen as the leader of the next generation of players in the team's long-term project, because on the one hand we must accept that players like Mo Salah, Alisson Becker and even Virgil van Dijk himself, are already over 30 years old, while Alexander-Arnold is just 24 and already knows what it is like to lift every major trophy with the club of his love, which could make him a guide and a role model for future generations of players. However, Trent himself was a bit taken aback when Klopp decided to give him the responsibility of being the new vice-captain and has admitted that he was not expecting it.

Alexander-Arnold's reaction

Jürgen Klopp told Trent Alexander-Arnold that he would be the new vice captain of the team while he was doing warm-up exercises and he admits that he didn't think the talk he would have with Jürgen Klopp would be about that. "At first when he came to speak to me, I thought he was going to tell me to stop giving the ball away!" he said. He also pointed out that his ambition has always been to captain the club and that this is just another step towards achieving it.