Liverpool starlet Trent Alexander-Arnold called his mum with shock news he was starting against Manchester United and went on to dominate £50million star Anthony Martial
The teenage right-back faced up against the left-winger for 65 minutes before the France star was hauled off
TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD got the best advice imaginable when Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp gave the 18-year-old the shock news he was starting his first Premier League game against Manchester United in just four’s time hours – from his mum.
Injuries meant the German boss was short of right-backs last week but he waited until the final few hours to deliver the news to the academy star that he would be lining up against the planet’s most expensive footballer, in Paul Pogba, as well as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and £50m-man Anthony Martial.
The boss was spot on delaying the news and avoiding causing the teenager a sleepless night and the phone call he made instantly to his mum also helped settle his nerves, before going on to play all 90 minutes of the 1-1 draw.
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On that emotional call to his mum, : "When I called her and told her she just started crying.
"That’s when I realised, it’s not just me who it’s happening to, it’s everyone around me as well. It was a good feeling to have.
"She just told me to go on and do the best that I can and don’t worry about what happens – and that’s what I did.
"The day before, we travelled to Manchester and stayed over in the hotel and I think about 12 in the afternoon the manager asked me if I was ready to start.
"I said 'yeah' and he said, ‘OK, you’re starting’. That’s when I knew and I think it was a good thing knowing so late on because if I knew the day before I wouldn’t have had the best of sleeps.”
After spending the first half of the season in and around the senior side - and making four appearances in the League and FA Cup - Alexander-Arnold felt no anxiety once he knew he was in the starting XI.
The local hero looked like a first-team regular once the Premier League clash got going and he even saw off left-winger Martial who was hauled off after 65 fruitless minutes up against the youngster.
The only time the enormity of the occasion caught him off guard was when he was stood in the famous Old Trafford tunnel, waiting to walk out in front of 75,000 fans.
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He revealed:"I wasn’t too nervous travelling to the stadium or even in the changing rooms, it was just in the tunnel before the walkout when you can hear the crowd but you can’t really see them and you don’t know what to expect. That was when the nerves started.
"But as soon as the game started I completely lost the nerves and I was just focused from then on.
"Maybe if it was at the very start of the season, when I wasn’t really used to being around such big players and big names, then I think I would have been a bit more nervous and starstruck than I was.
"But being around them every day, you get used to it, and I think that helped me in that I wasn’t starstruck at all and I knew I had to do a job."