“Why would you go to a match and boo a lad who has played 260/270 games?”

Speaking on The Overlap, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane didn't hold back on the rapturous jeers that hometown boy Trent Alexander-Arnold faced on his return to Anfield on Tuesday evening.

Liverpool had just secured a narrow 1-0 victory against Real Madrid, a result that seems to have finally called an end to the terrible run The Reds endured in October. Despite the victory, the atmosphere was soured by the hostile reception for a player who, until recently, had been a local hero.  

Keane went on to say:

“You don’t have to wish him luck in Madrid but to go to the effort of thinking, I’m going to boo this kid’ as a local lad... Liverpool fans for some reason think ‘we’ve got class’, no, Liverpool fans have to have a good look at themselves.”

The Sting of Abandonment

Many Liverpool fans will argue that the feeling of abandonment is all too raw to react otherwise. TAA ran his contract down to leave the club on a free transfer, and had it not been for the modernised Club World Cup tournament structure, Liverpool would not have received the £10m consolation fee.

“For a young player to go and try something new, to boo the kid [scoffs], bloody hell, you don’t have to cheer him on but don’t boo him,”

Keane proclaimed, highlighting the visceral nature of football tribalism. Contrast the situation to Luis Diaz, who left Liverpool this past summer after three and a half years on Merseyside for the same exact reason: wanting ‘a new challenge’. The Colombian would almost certainly not receive a reception half as hostile. The question begs,  why the difference?

Dreams Beyond the Bubble

We often constrain ourselves to the idea that a player who achieves the boyhood dream of playing for their hometown club can have no other ambition. But as Robin Van Persie once put it, the little kid inside can scream for other desires as well. For Alexander-Arnold, after achieving every major trophy possible with his local club, a move to Real Madrid represented a change in scenery rather than a dissolving love of Liverpool or the money.

This reality should be recognised by everyone in football, yet even former teammates struggle to accept it. Captain Virgil Van Dijk, for example, fueled the fire when recently asked about Trent, simply squashing any notion of a healthy relationship by insisting he had not spoken to the full-back since his move to Madrid.

The Verdict

It is time to accept that players are justified in having dreams outside of the bubble. When looking at it from the lens of an employee and an employer, it is quite understandable that this pursuit does not take away from everything Alexander-Arnold achieved at Liverpool Football Club. 2 Premier League titles, 1 Champions League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Super Cup and Club World Cup winner medals later, Trent Alexander-Arnold is embedded in the club’s history as one of the greatest full-backs to ever wear the shirt.

The sting of a free transfer departure will take time to heal but watching the young boy from Merseyside go on to conquer a new league should, in time, be a source of pride, not hostility. The player's legacy was built over years of service, and the boo’s will have stung Alexander-Arnold. Maybe one day all parties can learn to love each other again.

Just not yet.