Trent Alexander-Arnold has been told to focus on putting his time into the training pitch rather than the gym after a poor run of form this season.
Since first breaking into the Liverpool first team as an 18-year-old, Alexander-Arnold has bulked up considerably, but former England striker Darren Bent thinks this may have had a detrimental effect on the right-back.
The Liverpool man missed out on Gareth Southgate's latest England squad for the March internationals and he admitted he spent the time off in the gym at the AXA Training Centre.
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Bent, who earned 13 caps for England during his playing days, thinks the muscle Alexander-Arnold has developed does not help with his style of play for Liverpool.
"I always look at Trent and think, with the football he’s still exceptional," Bent said on TalkSPORT. "His range of passing is still there, you don’t lose that.
“But his whole physique of getting around the pitch, getting sharp up to the attackers. One thing he used to do, even though his defensive responsibilities have been questioned for a little while now, he still used to get up against the wide man and at least make it look a little more difficult for him.
“But now he’s not even doing that, so he’s almost allowing the wide men to turn, run at him and then all of a sudden he’s struggling a little bit. So I definitely agree, the regime whatever he is doing, he needs to change it. Maybe less time in the gym lifting weights and maybe more time on the grass.”
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