Former England internationals Jamie Redknapp and Paul Merson heaped praise upon Trent Alexander-Arnold after his performance in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg helped guide Liverpool to the final.
Alexander-Arnold played a key role in both goals as the Reds ran out comfortable 2-0 winners over Arsenal at the Emirates Sadium.
His pass for the second goal in particular highlighted just how vital the right-back is to Liverpool's' attacking play, assisting Diogo Jota in the second half after doing the same in the first.
It was Alexander Arnold's 14th and 15th assists of the season and Merson was quick to acknowledge his 'mind-blowing' attacking prowess for a defender.
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"He’s phenomenal," ex-Arsenal star Merson told Sky Sports after the full-time whistle. "People say, ‘he can’t defend’. Why do you have to defend when you go forward like he does?
"To put up the figures and the assists that he gets is just mind-blowing, absolutely mind-blowing. Some of the balls that he plays, the weight of pass - everything he picks out he composes himself, never panics. That ball was David Beckham.
" If you’d have just had a look at his feet there and nothing else, you’d of thought it was David Beckham."
Alexander-Arnold has had to endure questions from the media and rival fans over his form and ability over the past 12 months having been dropped from Gareth Southgate's England squad before ultimately missing out on Euro 2020 due to injury.
Having bounced back this season, Merson, alongside former Liverpool captain Redknapp, highlighted how absurd it is that Alexander-Arnold is not England's starting right back.
"Can’t talk highly enough of the lad," said Merson. "He’s not even our England right-back. We’re blessed."
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Redknapp added: " It was about this time last year when he got left out the England squad. There were a lot of question marks about him, he lost his form and had to go back to the drawing board.
"No Virgil van Dijk, that was obviously a huge loss, a disruption to that back-four. He’s bounced back from it really quickly and so well. Unbelievable.
"At times, we always talk about the negatives of players maybe defensively but he realised he had a problem with [Gabriel] Martinelli early in the game and he thought, 'I’m going to take you out into areas you don’t want to go and I’m going to dominate you'.
"His passing ability and the way he can just pick a player out - he never looks under duress when he’s got the ball. An incredible footballer and still so young."
