Trent Alexander-Arnold is adamant that Liverpool cannot take their recent success for granted - and used Manchester United as the perfect example of where it could go wrong.
After winning the FA Cup and League Cup this season, at just 23 years of age became the youngest English player to lift all six major club honours. He can add to his trophy collection this weekend as the Reds go in search of their seventh European crown.
Alexander-Arnold has of course already tasted Champions League success back in 2019 and can just an illustrious list of players to have done so twice, if they overcome Real Madrid at the Stade de France.
Liverpool have added impressive cup campaigns to their remarkable consistency in the league, where they have kept pace with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. And had it not been for the Sky Blues, there is a good chance Alexander-Arnold would have more than the one Premier League winners’ medal he has already collected.
But after ending the Kop’s long wait for a league title, as well as reaching three Champions League finals in five years, the full-back acknowledges the stars have aligned for the ridiculously successful beginning to his Anfield career. And having grown up through the barren years at Liverpool and the Sir Alex Ferguson-inspired Red Devils dominance, he is all too aware of just how quickly things can change.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Liverpool win the Champions League final vs Real Madrid? Let us know in the comments
Speaking ahead of the Champions League final in the French capital, Alexander-Arnold warned against complacency creeping into the Liverpool dressing room, with a nod to their north west rivals, who are now in the midst of a nine-year title drought themselves.
“It’s timed perfectly, the manager, the players we’ve been able to recruit…the infrastructure of the club; relatively new owners and it’s just aligned perfectly. The manager is perfect for the club, the players, it’s been a long time coming,” he told Blockasset.
“I remember looking at Man United and thinking what it would be like to be them, going for the league title every year, the Champions League and trophies every season. To be able to do that now and have the club in that place now is something we can’t take for granted.
“I’ll use Man United as an example again - they’re probably thinking ‘we shouldn’t have taken that for granted, that sustained period of success because now it seems like we are far away from it.’
“I think for us fans and players, we can’t get complacent and get used to it, we have to really enjoy and keep our expectations where they need to be and just enjoy the game for as long as we can. It won’t last forever sadly, at some point everyone is going to leave the club and it will be a lot different.
“Who knows when that will be, but football clubs change and evolve - new managers, new players come in and things happen, so just enjoy it as much as we can right now.”
