Trent Alexander-Arnold appears to be stuck between a rock and a hard place at Real Madrid.
The 27-year-old joined Real from Liverpool with high hopes of achieving greatness in the Spanish capital.
However, the move has not quite gone to plan.
A string of injuries marred Alexander-Arnold's debut campaign while he has started just one of Real's five LaLiga fixtures this term, with summer acquisition Denzel Dumfries preferred at right-back.
Adding to Alexander-Arnold's difficulties with Los Blancos is that he is now on his third manager as Jose Mourinho sits in the hot seat following the departures of Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa.
And if things couldn't get harder for Alexander-Arnold, he's now had Mourinho pump the brakes on his desire to progress into a midfield role.
Mourinho was forced to deploy Alexander-Arnold in midfield alongside Federico Valverde during Real's 2-1 midweek Champions League win over Inter as Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Guler and Bernardo Silva were all suspended.
Alexander-Arnold lasted 79 minutes before he was brought off, but it was more than enough time for Mourinho to be convinced he belongs at right-back.
But European football expert Andy Brassell has leapt to Alexander-Arnold's defence and outlined the unfairness of the scenario he found himself in against Inter.
Andy Brassell's verdict on Trent-Alexander-Arnold
"Real Madrid have been here a million times before," Brassell said on the Trans Euro Express.
"And really, who's the fall guy for that? Trent Alexander-Arnold.
"Now, you can be standing there if you're him going, 'Getting booed off isn't that bad. It happened to Cristiano Ronaldo and he scored more than a goal a game for nine years, so I must be doing something right.'
"It's because he's been put in this really, really difficult position.
"I know he has pretensions to play in midfield long-term. Maybe that's his best chance of getting a game. But I think they would have been better doing that in a game against a Rayo Vallecano.
"They did it against Inter because they didn't have an option, because they had three midfielders out with injury and suspension. That was a huge problem for them.
"I felt really sorry for Trent Alexander-Arnold, he was stuck in a spot that he didn't deserve to be in."
Despite a difficult start under Mourinho, there is still plenty of scope for Alexander-Arnold to turn the season around.
Alexander-Arnold's next opportunity to contribute comes on Tuesday evening away to Elche before a mouthwatering local derby against Atletico Madrid on Sunday.