Arne Slot claims the criticism received by Trent Alexander Arnold was too harsh and blames the contractual deadlock for scrutiny of the Liverpool star amid interest from Real Madrid.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has praised Trent Alexander-Arnold for turning his fortunes around at Anfield with a superb goal as captain in Saturday's 4-0 FA Cup win against Accrington.

A week after Alexander-Arnold was heavily criticized for a poor performance against Manchester United amid links with Real Madrid, the defender received a warm reception from The Kop and scored a beautiful goal from 20 yards to put his team ahead 2-0.

Slot said, “I could talk for hours about that goal.” Incredible.

“The biggest praise for Trent is how he handled everyone's reaction after the Manchester United game.

“Every player in the world, maybe except for a few, has a bad game and that's completely normal. But the moment Trent has one, everyone has an opinion about it.

'Maybe, maybe it's because of the contract situation. I don't know if that wouldn't have been there if people had reacted the same way.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot praised Trent Alexander-Arnold for turning his fortunes around at Anfield

Alexander-Arnold received high praise from the Reds manager after the FA Cup third round victory over Accrington Stanley.

Alexander-Arnold scored with a stunning shot to give Liverpool a two-goal lead in a 4-0 win.

“A lot of them were pretty tough on him.”

Alexander-Arnold, a local boy who came through Liverpool's academy, is out of contract in the summer. Real Madrid are interested and Liverpool have rejected a £20m offer this month.

He faced League Two Accy because the club's only other senior right-back, Connor Bradley, is recovering from a hamstring injury.

“I think it was good for Trent to play in our own stadium and feel the welcome of the fans again.

'It was special and can only help him and us.

“If you want to do special things this season, you can do it together, not only with the players, the coach, but definitely with the fans.”

Alexander-Arnold also sought out Accrington coach John Dolan, who coached him when he was six at Liverpool's academy.

Alexander-Arnold, a local boy who has gone through the Liverpool academy, ends his contract in the summer

“I said before the game that I coached Trent when he was six or seven years old and I don't know if he remembers it,” Dolan said.

'Diane, his mother, would probably remember him as she used to take him to training sessions.

“At the end of the game I didn't see Trent. I walked up to our fans and he appeared behind me in flip flops and a big coat and just said, “I remember.” Then we started chatting as if I had been talking to him last week.

'He is such a wonderful and humble guy. He is a top level player. Doing that shows the class he has.”