This is a big season for Trent Alexander-Arnold, but he has begun it on the bench. Fourteen months since his move to Real Madrid from Liverpool and approaching two years since he stated his ambition to win a Ballon d’Or, Alexander-Arnold has not been selected to start in either of José Mourinho’s first two games in La Liga.
This summer’s right-back recruit Denzel Dumfries has been preferred instead and while Alexander-Arnold was brought on for the final 11 minutes in a win at Espanyol last weekend, on Wednesday night he was an unused substitute against Real Sociedad. It would be rash to draw firm conclusions from the second match of the season, but it was curious that Dumfries played for 90 minutes.
Unlike Alexander-Arnold, Dumfries was selected for the World Cup and played all 390 minutes of the Netherlands’ four-game tournament. The assumption was the 30-year-old was brought to Real from Inter Milan to challenge Alexander-Arnold for the starting right-back slot, or possibly allow him to move into midfield. So far he has relegated the Liverpudlian to the margins.
This is a brutal club which waits for no man and it was a patchy first season for Alexander-Arnold, with injuries limiting him to 21 league appearances and nine in Europe, with just three assists and no goals. There is an expectation he will emerge as Mourinho’s preferred option at right-back, particularly for bigger games, but if he still wishes to class himself as one of the world’s best players he is going to need to play remarkably.
Pre-season was a success and assiduous Madrid-watchers believe he is in the shape of his life, which makes an unused sub snub even more confounding. Mourinho has said only positive things about Alexander-Arnold since returning, but it would be fair to say he is not the sort of player he typically warms to.
There was a positive first impression in Spain when Alexander-Arnold spoke Spanish impressively in his first press conference, but linguistic goodwill fades quickly and little of what followed in a sporadic campaign bolstered his standing among fans. You may imagine that the Spanish footballing public are slower than English to criticise the defensive failings of such a talented attacking player, but it has not helped Alexander-Arnold that he was effectively replacing Dani Carvajal, a classically tenacious defender.
There is, though, a fine tradition of Real full-backs who prefer to attack. “You go back to Roberto Carlos,” said Real fan Mario Valverde. “Could he defend? He could. But did he like to defend? No, he liked to join in attacks and get up the wing. Do we want an out-and-out full-back who doesn’t go across the halfway line? Probably not, I don’t think. That’s not what defenders do these days.”
Nevertheless the next few months feel crucial for defining Alexander-Arnold’s future. Jackie Willcox is well positioned to analyse his situation, as part of the Madrid Reds Liverpool supporters group. “I did think Madrid was a strange choice for him, from a cultural point of view,” she said.
“Liverpool is a working-class club with a strong fan culture, it is very much community-based. Real Madrid is more galactico. It’s more about success but also far less patient than Liverpool. Real like the shiny new thing and their fans are already focussed on what Dumfries might bring.”
That was a sturdy and mobile performance in Wednesday night’s 4-1 win over Real Sociedad, Mourinho’s first game back at the Bernabéu. There was one slightly embarrassing nutmeg, but Dumfries was bailed out quickly by Alexander-Arnold’s former Liverpool team-mate Ibrahima Konaté. There is no need to change a winning team, and no urgent justification for swapping the right-back on this evidence.
It was a better night for Jude Bellingham, who made two goals, for Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior. The first was a devilishly quick one-two. Bellingham was so satisfied he celebrated with his trademark arms-outstretched pose as if he had scored. The second was all his own work, with dribbling so determined you wondered if social distancing was back in vogue.
No Sociedad player could get close to him, until he turned one too many times and his shot was blocked. No matter, Bellingham recovered and squared to give Vinícius a tap-in. Bellingham was showing his immense class in the final stages, becoming the main man, ball-carrier, pace-setter and torturer in chief of a tiring defence. When he was subbed off there was a standing ovation and a deep “Juuuuude” from 83,000.
There is an undisputed pecking order with this many stars in a team, and Mbappé is clearly top of it. He completed a hat-trick with a particularly delicious finish yet there have been concerns about he, Bellingham and Vinícius operating in the same team. Yes please prepare for a concerto played on the world’s smallest violins. It looked easy for them on Wednesday night, but it is a harder road ahead for Alexander-Arnold.