Now that the match is over, how do you both assess him strictly in the attacking sense? For me I honestly think the quality of his delivery (crossing, crossfield passes, general passing, the lot really) bears comparison with the best I've seen in his position, for all that he's far from the complete package at this point overall.
It's hard to argue against the quality of his delivery, it's really outstanding however you look at it. But then Marcelo is yet to make his mark on those drafts, even though he appears from time to time and I have a strong dislike for picking current players myself, simply because my judgement on their level still shifts week after week. There are some exceptions, but those are very rare and Trent didn't get there yet, neither did Azpilicueta (not sure if the latter with ever make it, while A&A is almost guaranteed to do so). It's unfair, but that's how it is — and him being a scouser doesn't help, as he won't get any sympathy points that can speed up this process.
And the one thing that can be criticised about him which is his 1v1 defensive ability against tricky players
It's not something that can be criticised about him. It's a serious weakness — not in a PL season, where he faces great wide player a few times a year and struggles with the likes of Zaha, but in an all-time draft against some of the best dribblers that ever played the game. You can criticise defensive game of Dani Alves or Roberto Carlos — Alexander-Arnold is very far from that level at the moment.
David Alaba had similar, possibly a bit lesser, contribution at a similar age in a weaker league domestically as well as his great showings in the CL and he was hailed as the next Paolo Maldini. Not sure what this guy could have done more
Alaba had impressed everyone because he didn't only contribute offensive and scored a screamer against Buffon, but also because he looked equally assured at the back. It's not a surprise that he often plays as a center back these days. Alexander-Arnold's contribution going forward outshines Alaba's, but he's a very raw player at the moment. Klopp found a great use for him, he has 3 water-carriers in midfield that unleash him and Robertson (so Pat doesn't actually add additional player to cover for him, as he has less players compensating for his freedom centrally). What he could've done more? If he would've defender better, he'd already be considered the next Cafu — not in advance, but right this second. And yeah, I know that people have already been comparing him to Cafu.
When you look at how Ole had played against Klopp recently (and we have a surprisingly decent record against Liverpool under him despite the obvious gulp of quality), you'll see that he exploited those zones that Trent and Robertson left behind, which limited their game massively as they were either forced to sit deeper than usual or to concede multiple dangerous counters per game. Trent was unsurprisingly more in focus, as we have more players that are comfortable on the left than on the right.
I can't be bothered to redo those myself, so Джеймс is James & Рэшфорд is Rashford. And those were not the only time when these situation happened. And while they have an additional man here, I'd bet my money on Rensenbrink beating both of TAA and Azpilicueta on more than one occasion, especially since he probably receive the ball further forward than TAA would be. More so, Kalle is probably the best possible player in history to act as this free-roaming forward that overloads vulnerable zones, like Rashford does in our games against scousers.
If he won't get any serious injury, it's hard not to see him becoming
at the very least a generational great (quite possibly even better — but then look at Alaba). But if I want to pick a current player, he has to be flawless — like De Bruyne had been for years now. A&A is magnificent at some aspects and not great at others, so for me he doesn't make the cut yet.