‘If I’m being honest’: Paul Merson says Liverpool sold a player who ‘destroyed’ teams with his ability

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Liverpool had some outgoings this season that have weakened the team despite bringing in some brilliant talent.When a team spends over £400 million in one transfer window, it does come with increased scrutiny on their individual performances and how they fit into the team as soon as the Premier League season begins.This is why Arne Slot’s team have been in the limelight in recent games, given they are the champions and some of their summer signings have not embedded into the team fully.Join our newsletter for news & smart analysis. But it is the right-back position that Paul Merson believes has had the greatest loss in the transfer window when Trent Alexander-Arnold left to go play for Real Madrid instead of sticking at his boyhood club.The reason it is not working in that position at the moment is the complete difference between a player like Trent and Conor Bradley or Jeremie Frimpong, who offer less attacking flair.Photo by Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesPaul Merson says Trent Alexander-Arnold destroyed teams with passingWhen he used to bomb down that right flank with Mohamed Salah, he used to create so many opportunities across all areas of the pitch and allowed the Egyptian to have more freedom.Now that has been taken away, which has meant Salah has had to make something for himself down the side without any help from any of the right-backs that have taken up the position.READ MORE: Paul Merson predicts when Arne Slot will figure out his ‘best’ Liverpool teamSpeaking to Premier League Friday, the former Arsenal player spoke highly of the Englishman and said that when he used to watch him at Liverpool, he was taken aback by his passing ability.Merson said: “Trent Alexander-Arnold’s sale doesn’t help Salah because when you had Trent Alexander-Arnold picking the ball up at right back, you have to go and engage with him.“If you’re a left-hand-sided midfield player, you have to go and engage because he will destroy you with his passes.

I haven’t seen anything like it if I’m being honest with his passing.”While he was brilliant, he did clearly want to leave the club, and at that point, it would be difficult to tempt him to stay with anything if he wanted to test himself in Spain.Paul Merson believes Arne Slot made a mistake in the Crystal Palace defeatThe interview on Sky allowed Merson to speak about the issues facing Arne Slot’s team from previous defeats, which he was critical of.The 57-year-old picked out the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace, which kicked everything off for Liverpool’s poor run, and specifically the manager’s choice to play Florian Wirtz on the left.While that is a stronger position for the German, Merson argued that to do it against a strong Palace side was the incorrect decision.“Sometimes I say put him out on the left, put him in that little pocket, you know, where he can play where he’s going to be hard to pick up. But they went and did that against Palace, which probably wasn’t the right move,” Merson said.“Palace are very good at the moment.

So, at the moment when I watch Slot’s teams, and I think this is going to go on for a while, I ain’t sure he’s going to know what his best team is for a long time yet.”It was a fair idea to try him out on the left, but the difficulty with that was that Wirtz was clearly moving into different areas of the pitch.Slot’s choices for the Manchester United game will be very telling and could make or break that Sunday clash.