Liverpool hero John Aldridge has blamed the English media for the collapse of Trent Alexander-Arnold's form and confidence.

Aldridge wrote for the Liverpool Echo: "People are talking about Trent. He's a fantastic player, we all love him to death, but what's happened with England - and I've been there - it's wrecked his head. He's now in a position where you stick with him or bust. He did do some great things on Saturday. But the national media have put so much pressure on this lad, (Gareth) Southgate has made decisions and as a result he (Alexander-Arnold) is all over the place in his head and you can see it in his game.

"It's worrying for the lad but he'll come out of it the other side. It's got to be sooner rather than later but it's easier said than done. It's the first time that he's had this type of exposure and pressure put on him and it's not easy. Take it from me, I've been in the same position and loads of other footballers have.

"As a young lad he's been magnificent and he will be again, but he needs help now from people around him - the management and the staff - to get him out of this mental situation that he's in. The English media have caused it.

"The manager knows what he needs. Players react differently. He's had a break already, because he didn't play for a couple of weeks, so I think taking him out of the side is probably not the answer. We haven't got an awful lot of other options either so he probably just needs to come out of it at the other end.

"While he goes forward he'll always be a threat, making and scoring goals, but defensively he needs people to rally round him at the moment and get his defensive confidence back because he's shot to bits. Your saw his reaction when he smashed the ball and nearly hit the referee. But he's a mentally strong lad. He comes from West Derby, has been brought up with his feet firmly on the ground with good parents. He just needs to come out of it now.

"The English media have done it for years and years. They build people up to knock them down and they've done it again with this lad."