Liverpool's winless start to the new Premier League season continued on Monday evening as they fell to a limp 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils secured a much-needed victory thanks to goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, with Mo Salah's late strike for Liverpool proving a mere consolation on the night.
After disappointing draws against Fulham and Crystal Palace to begin their campaign, Jurgen Klopp's men entered their worst performance of the season so far at the 'Theatre of Dreams'.
Undoubtedly second best throughout the entire contest, the Reds deserved to return to Merseyside with nothing to show for their trip.
Klopp, then, has plenty of work to do before Liverpool play host to Bournemouth on Saturday afternoon. After taking just two points from a possible nine, a win against the Cherries is a must.
The Anfield outfit already sit seven points behind league leaders Arsenal and seven behind reigning champions Manchester City.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 22: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool FC at Old Trafford on August 22, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Losing further ground is not something that any Liverpool fan will want to contemplate.
At the end of the last season, Liverpool took 51 points from a possible 57 in their final 19 games - and it still wasn't enough to catch City.
Frustration among the Reds' fanbase at the underwhelming start to their campaign is understandable.
With that said, it's important to keep things in perspective. Under Klopp, Liverpool have won pretty much every major trophy available to them on at least one occasion over the past four years.
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One of the key members of their highly successful squad over that period has been Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Considered by many to be the best attacking right-back on the planet less than a year ago, the 23-year-old has had a rough start to the season and things didn't improve against United as he was criticised for being caught flat-footed as Sancho gave the hosts the lead, with the general quality of his performance also coming under fire.
Apparently, his lack of form on a night where few Liverpool players emerged with any sort of credit, was enough for one Liverpool fan to call talkSPORT and demand that Alexander-Arnold be booted out of the club.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 22: Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool in action during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool FC at Old Trafford on August 22, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
"You boys want a comment on Trent, here’s my comment on Trent," raged the fan, identified only as 'Scotty'.
"Get him out my club, get him gone. £60 - £80 million, get him gone," he fumed.
Coming just moments after the station had taken another call suggesting Klopp be axed in the wake of the United defeat, former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders urged the fan to be constructive in his criticism of Alexander-Arnold.
"He’s a defensive liability, if you have someone so far up the wing, you need at least a good right centre back. Joe Gomez isn’t that.
"Joe Gomez cuts it in the Championship, not for a top side like Liverpool," the supporter responded.
You can check out the call for yourself below.
Watch: Angry supporter demands Liverpool sell Trent Alexander-Arnold after 2-1 Man Utd defeat
Would Liverpool actually sell Alexander-Arnold?
Realistically, the entire Liverpool squad must take responsibility for their recent dip in form.
The Reds aren't going to part company with one of their biggest creative assets just because they happen to be going through a dodgy spell of form.
Still in his early 20s, Alexander-Arnold looks destined to become the Premier League's most prolific defender in terms of assists within the next few seasons.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 22: Anthony Elanga of Manchester United is challenged by Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Liverpool FC at Old Trafford on August 22, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Klopp was also quick to back Trent defensively earlier this year, when he insisted: " If anyone says anything about Trent can’t defend, they should come to me, I will knock them down. Honestly, I cannot hear it anymore. I don’t know what the boy has to do."
In the unlikely event that Liverpool were to make him available for transfer, he'd also attract bids of far in excess of "£60-80m".
For reference, his current market value, per Transfermarkt, is £72m - and the club would no doubt want significantly more than that to even entertain a bid.
Liverpool fans in meltdown | Via The Football Terrace
In any case, the solution to Liverpool's tough start to the season isn't going to be to sell their best players. If a club reacted by transfer-listing their stars every time they have a bad result, they'd soon be running short on numbers.
Reactions like this really do sum up the fickle nature of the beautiful game.
If Alexander-Arnold bags a couple of assists in a dominant win against Bournemouth on Saturday, he'd automatically be back in favour with the fanbase.
In truth, Klopp's side could really do with that statement victory too.