Look at today for example. Yes Doku completed some dribbles, but most times Trent funneled him to the byline or inside and Doku wasn’t really threatening for the most part. Yet the prevailing narrative is that he got destroyed by Doku.
He has actually been decent to good at defending this season yet people say he’s been a horrific defender. I don’t think this is quite true if you watch him play.
I won’t claim that he’s an amazing defender but he’s not a bad one either, he’s just a perfectly average to good defender but the narrative is that he’s a liability. It’s frustrating to see.
Being the best player is about more than being the best at a certain part of the game.
If a DM who is the best player in the world at tackling has awful positioning then they aren’t the best player at DM in the world. The best player at DM is the one who is elite at both tackling and positioning and anything else you need to be a good DM for your team.
If a striker is the best at shooting in the world but has awful positioning and can’t get into places to score lots of goals (e.g. always being offside, can’t find space in the box, doesn’t have the pace to get in behind etc) then they aren’t the best player at striker in the world.
For some reason when it comes to passing people really forget/don’t care about anything else. Not saying passing is the only thing Trent’s good at. His shooting, set pieces, vision etc is all great. Technically, he’s a brilliant footballer. So I get why people say he’s the best “player” at RB. But for me the best player at RB is the player who has the combination of skills that makes them the best RB. The best RB is the best player at RB.
None of this is hate on Trent. He’s a phenomenal player. I just think he has weaknesses and those weaknesses mean he’s not the outright best in the world.