“That’s their right…” – Ex-Chelsea midfielder on likely Anfield reception for Alexander-Arnold | OneFootball

The Liverpool fans in attendance at Anfield tonight have a ‘right’ to express how they feel about Trent Alexander-Arnold following his transfer to Real Madrid earlier this year.

That’s according to former Chelsea midfielder Jody Morris, who’s been speaking ahead of the 27-year-old’s return to Merseyside for tonight’s Champions League showdown between two powerhouses of European football.

The pontificating from some quarters has already begun in the hours and days before kick-off, with Stephen Warnock insisting that an ‘incredible servant’ to LFC deserves a purely positive reception from supporters of his former club, irrespective of how he effectively ran down his contract and left for Spain on the cheap.

(Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

Morris: Liverpool fans have a right to show how they feel about Alexander-Arnold

Some individuals have already made their feelings on Alexander-Arnold unmistakably clear by defacing his mural at the corner of Sybil Street and Anfield Road, and although Morris feels that the Real Madrid player should be warmly welcomed back to L4, he understands that match-going Liverpool fans might feel differently.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, the 46-year-old said: “You always have to give the credit to the paying fans. They’re the ones who are turning up and inside the stadium.

“I think Liverpool have some of the best fans in this country, and that’s why I personally would be slightly disappointed [if they boo], because I think they’re quality fans. They get behind their players.

“The flip side of that is, that’s their right, and because of the way in which he left, that’s why they’re so annoyed or some of them even heartbroken. For me, it’s their right.

“However it goes, whether it’s on the plus side or the negative side, I think that’s how it is. They’re the ones who are at the stadium and have paid their money to go there. Whatever way it goes is how it should be, because they’re the fans.”

Image via Sky Sports News

Many Liverpool fans have already made their stance on Alexander-Arnold quite clear

Whilst many Liverpool supporters will surely disagree with Morris’ belief that Alexander-Arnold would merit a positive reception on his return to Anfield, at least the ex-Chelsea midfielder recognises that the fans who go to matches consistently may see it rather differently.

Plenty of Kopites already made their feelings on the right-back quite clear when jeering him in the 2-2 draw at home to Arsenal towards the end of last season, which came just days after he announced that he’d be leaving Merseyside.

Jamie Carragher was among the pundits to condemn the booing of the 27-year-old at that time, and in the highly likely event that the reaction towards him tonight is similar, there’ll probably be no shortage of talking heads queuing up on Wednesday with lectures for the Anfield faithful for which nobody asked.

We’re not here to instruct Liverpool fans on how they feel about Alexander-Arnold; that’s entirely up to you. What we would say is that those with no affiliation to LFC shouldn’t be pontificating or preaching, as quite simply they don’t get how the fan base feel about the whole affair.

If the Reds are to beat Real Madrid for the second season running, we just hope that they get due credit from the mainstream media for a result which’d certainly have the rest of Europe sitting up and taking notice of Arne Slot’s side in this season’s Champions League.