Alan Shearer has ‘no doubt’ that Trent Alexander-Arnold will bounce back after his ‘disappointing’ debut for Real Madrid at the Club World Cup.
However, the legendary striker is not convinced that Real can win the tournament after they struggled in their opening game in the USA.
Following his highly-divisive Liverpool exit, Alexander-Arnold make his much-anticipated debut for Los Blancos on Wednesday against Al-Hilal.
The Spanish giants were expected to ease to victory against the Saudi Pro League side but were held to a 1-1 draw after Federico Valverde had an injury-time penalty saved.
Withdrawn after 65 minutes, the England right-back was solid yet unspectacular, struggling to make an offensive impact, though Shearer doesn’t believe there’s any cause for concern.
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‘I think it’s clearly going to take time to get used to a new manager, new sort of ideas, what he wants to do,’ the former England captain said on The Rest is Football podcast.
‘Obviously, Trent is going to take time to understand and to get used to his surroundings, that’s only normal. But he’ll have bigger and better days than that.
‘I think he’ll be pleased that it’s out of the way. He may be disappointed that he didn’t do so well, the team didn’t do so well, didn’t get the right result. It’ll get better there’s no doubt.’
The Al-Hilal draw also marked the debut of Real’s new manager Xabi Alonso, who replaces Carlo Ancelotti after winning an invincible league and cup double with Bayer Leverkusen.
Real went into the revamped Club World Cup as the favourites, with Shearer adding: ‘They obviously want to do well and go deep into the tournament and win this tournament.
Trent Alexander-Arnold reacts after Real Madrid debut
‘Incredible day. To have made my debut for Real Madrid, it’s something that I think almost every player dreams of. To be able to achieve that is huge for me,’ the 26-year-old told DAZN after the Al-Hilal draw.
‘Of course, there’s some disappointment in there to have not won the game.
‘That’s the mentality you need to have as a Real Madrid player, to want and expect to win every game we play in.
‘We’re disappointed not to have done that, but there were a lot of positives, especially in the second half.’
‘Whether they will have enough to win it, whether he [Alonso] will have enough time to get his ideas across to win it is another thing. I suspect maybe not.
‘But they’ve hired him for how successful he’s been. One of the big things that he has to get across is how he can manage the big superstars, the big egos at one of if not the biggest football club in the world.’
Fellow England legend Gary Lineker concurred, saying: ‘It’ll be interesting to see if a relatively inexperienced manager, although a successful manager, can stand up, because you’ve got some big players there with huge egos and you’ve got to get them to buy into something.
‘He has a certain way of playing, I’m sure he’s flexible on that and you have to make do with what you’ve got. But it will be fascinating to see how it pans out, just in this tournament let alone the season to come.’
Alexander-Arnold will next be in action when Real Madrid take on Mexican side Pachuca on Sunday before their final Group H clash against Red Bull Salzburg of Austria.
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