Jamie Carragher: Trent Alexander-Arnold “Unfit to Start” for Liverpool

So Jamie Carragher’s been chatting about Trent Alexander-Arnold and, honestly, it’s a bit like trying to read the tea leaves, but in football form. Picture this: only five matches left in the season, and Trent’s sitting there, contract unsigned. Pretty wild, right? It’s like when you’re down to the last episodes of a binge-worthy series and the lead character’s future hangs in the balance.

Now against Leicester, some kid—Conor Bradley—starts, then bam! Trent’s back on the pitch and does something with his left foot he’s never done before (like ever!) and scores the winning goal. Carra, though, thinks—more like insists—that Liverpool should keep Bradley playing and Trent should chill on the bench unless they desperately need him. Which is an opinion, I suppose, but this is Jamie Carragher, the guy’s basically a Liverpool encyclopedia, so maybe he’s onto something.

And speaking of Spurs, Carragher’s answer to who should start is as clear as mud. He straight-up says, “Conor,” but it feels like he’s thinking, “If awards were up for grabs, maybe Trent, but we’ve got the league in the bag, so let’s not.” It’s like Carragher wants to give Bradley a chance to screw up, learn, and, hopefully, not ruin everything.

I read somewhere that later on, while getting Trent slowly back into the game, Carragher talked about some plan involving someone named Arne Slot. No clue who that is—maybe a coach? But it’s definitely interesting to ponder the potential conspiracies when the player hasn’t renewed his contract yet.

Micah Richards, who’s also on the pundit squad, tries to make a point about giving Trent a “send-off” on the field. Carragher politely—or not so much—pushes back, saying as long as Trent’s not signed for next year, Bradley gets to be the star of the show. Call it tough love, I guess.

And let’s talk about Trent’s post-goal celebration. Carragher, this guy who bleeds Liverpool red since he’s been there forever, ponders if it was joyful or an “in-your-face” to the critics. Trent, booed by some folks and then responding with a celebration that’s supposed to match its passion, is maybe a big “up yours.” Or maybe he was just elated. Even the crowd in the stands was living for the moment. Hard to say, but sometimes it isn’t all bad to relish the drama it brings.

Anyway, Leicester lost to Liverpool, one-nil—just because it bears spelling out when telling tales of football action. Trent got that goal, obviously, and for whatever reasons, remains one of the more complex and perplexing elements of Liverpool’s current saga. Wonder where this circus heads next, especially for Trent? Guess we’ll stay tuned.