I just knew the Prem was what everyone still wanted
'There's no reason why we shouldn't be expecting to win trophies'
After three seasons of progress and success, the 2020/21 campaign was more challenging for Liverpool FC. UEFA Champions League qualification was still achieved despite an unprecedented injury crisis, but having ended 2017/18 and 2018/19 playing to win the European Cup – and finished 2019/20 as Premier League Champions – there is no disguising that last season was disappointing in comparison.
For Trent Alexander-Arnold, however, there is a major positive to take. The Reds' right-back, who missed just two league games last season but was forced out of UEFA Euro 2020 with a thigh injury, believes that the success Liverpool FC enjoyed in recent times was borne out of adversity.
Jürgen Klopp's men responded to losing a UEFA Champions League final by winning it the following season and responded to missing out on the Premier League title, despite accumulating 97 points, by becoming runaway Champions a year (or so) later. Alexander-Arnold believes that mentality will serve the Redmen well as they look to get back on the trophy trail this season.
“If you look at them three seasons,” he says, “you go back to us losing the Champions League final and then in the next season going and winning it. And then you look to us losing the league by one point and then the next season winning the Prem. It goes to show the mentality we have as a team and as a club.
“Them knock-backs can be really, really damaging. You can almost lose all your motivation and desire and think it's not meant to be. But to bounce back and use it as motivation is a really tough thing to do. It takes great mental strength and we were able to do it twice with probably the two biggest trophies you can win in club football.
“To be able to do that, especially in the manner we did it in by breaking many, many records along the way in the title-winning season, was special. Even now, thinking back to what we achieved, we won something like 25 out of 26 league games with one draw. It's ridiculous to even hear it said back now.
“When we won the Champions League it was very special and I would never take it for granted, but I just knew the Prem was what everyone still wanted and what the club needed. Just to feel satisfied. We'd kind of proved to ourselves the year before that we could challenge and when we achieved 97 points we thought we can do it, but Man City matched us and bettered us by a point. But we thought we could hit that level again, and we did.”
Missing out on England's run to the final of UEFA Euro 2020 was a blow for Alexander-Arnold, but the 22-year-old Scouser is the type of character who turns negatives into positives. While he wishes that he had been involved with Gareth Southgate's Three Lions, he feels his absence from the tournament might benefit Liverpool FC this season.
“I enjoyed seeing the lads, my team-mates, do well in the summer, but obviously I was feeling a bit like I should have been there. But also I tried to stay positive because I knew I had a chance to get fit [for Liverpool FC] and get a bit of rest in to go again next season.
“I've tried to make sure I'm in the best shape possible and I joined the group as quickly as possible. We didn't rush it and the medical staff have really done well I think. I've been really impressed with how they've handled it and I feel all the decisions that were made were really good and helped me to be in the shape that I'm in right now.”
Trent was able to join Liverpool FC's Pre-Season training camp from day one whereas like Jordan Henderson he would have missed most of the Reds' month-long stay in Austria had he been part of the England squad beaten by Italy on penalties at Wembley in the UEFA Euro 2020 final.
He was handed the captain's armband by Jürgen Klopp for the first Pre-Season run-out – a 30-minute friendly against FC Wacker Innsbruck – but isn't reading too much into that or any of the Reds' results ahead of the big kick-off with the focus being primarily on fitness and experimenting with new tactics.
“Some pre-seasons you go and win every game. Some you don't. It's just about getting your fitness up and getting your principles back as a team – playing together, getting the communication back as a unit and working on things we want to implement during the season.
“We worked on a few different tactics [in Austria] and it was important to really get our heads around that so we can adapt and apply them into the season.”
I tried to stay positive because I knew I had a chance to get fit
As excitement builds ahead of Liverpool FC's Premier League opener against Norwich City FC at Carrow Road, attention has turned towards predicting the title race contenders. Manchester City FC go into the campaign as defending Champions, Chelsea FC are European Champions, Manchester United FC progressed to be runners-up in 2020/21 and FA Cup winners Leicester City FC could also be in the mix.
Tottenham Hotspur FC will hope to improve after appointing Nuno Espírito Santo as head coach, Mikel Arteta continues to overhaul Arsenal FC and every Kopite knows what new Everton FC boss Rafa Benitez is capable of, so could this be the most competitive Premier League season in years?
“People say that going into every season – every team gets stronger, gets better, bring in more players. Five to 10 world class players come to the Prem every season, to the big teams, so of course it is going to be a bit more difficult. Towards the end of last season we saw other teams pushing on and putting up fights to win a lot of games, so I'm sure there will be a lot of competition for the top places in the league.
“We know what our targets are. We want to win trophies. We expect that of ourselves. If we put in the work then I think we've got a good enough team, an amazing manager and team spirit – and having the fans back at games for us will make a big difference. So there's no reason why we shouldn't be expecting to win trophies and have our eye on some more silverware come May.”
It is also fair to say that Alexander-Arnold and his team-mates cannot wait for Liverpool FC's first home game of the season against Burnley FC. The two Pre-Season Anfield friendlies against Athletic Club and CA Osasuna have whetted their appetites for playing in front of a near-capacity home crowd again and Trent – who recently signed a new long-term contract with LFC – believes the support from the stands will give the Reds a renewed sense of purpose.
“I think it will be quite different,” he admits. “It will be a bit weird and it's hard to think back to when the last game with a full house at Anfield was and how that felt. I feel as though we were taking that for granted so now when they all come back it will be an amazing feeling for us all.
“It's also one of them where we've still got a job to do and we need the fans to help us. That's something we've all been massively looking forward to and something that kept us going throughout the training camp in Austria. We knew that once we got back we'd be able to have the fans there and we'll have a real purpose inside the stadium to fight for everything again.”
