Liverpool vs Brighton: Why Robertson should fear losing left-back spot to Tsimikas

 

Andrew Robertson epitomised Jurgen Klopp’s early Liverpool teams.  

 

The Scotland international wasn’t the best in his position but he worked the hardest. He was relentless and had a never-give-up mentality and attitude. The Reds would suffocate the opposition as a collective, and Robertson’s high energy was key to this.   

 

In fact, one of the first times he endeared himself to the Liverpool faithful was in the 4-3 win over Manchester City in January 2018.  

 

 

The Scotland skipper had not long broken into the team following an injury to Alberto Moreno. The former Hull City man closed down Bernardo Silva and forced the Portuguese midfielder to go backwards to Kyle Walker. The Manchester City right-back was then pressured by Robertson and he was rushed into playing it back to John Stones. The former Everton man didn’t even have time to set himself before the Liverpool No.26 was swarming him. Instead of progressing play, Stones played it back to Ederson. The goalkeeper had to quickly get the ball out from under his feet with Robertson closing in.  

 

Nicolas Otamendi eventually picked up possession and was eventually brought down by, yeah, you guessed it, Robertson.  

 

In the space of 10 seconds, the Liverpool left-back had pressed five players.  

 

Every time he moved onto a new player, the noise in Anfield increased.  

 

Robertson bought into the Klopp plan. It didn’t matter who he was up against, he truly believed he would be able to unnerve them and have a negative impact on their ability to influence the game.  

 

And Robertson wasn’t technically brilliant. You wouldn’t consider him to be world-class either. He was just prepared to work harder than every player he went up against. More often than not, work rate trumps ability, especially when the entire team follows suit.  

 

The 30-year-old, like many others from the all-conquering Liverpool team under Klopp, was a product of the system developed by the German tactician.  

 

With Klopp now gone, there are question marks over Robertson’s suitability to this current Liverpool team. Arne Slot shares some similarities to his predecessor but he wants more control. He’s much more measured in his approach and this highlights some of the left-back's weaknesses. Not everything has to be done at 100mph and the slower the game, the worse No.26 appears to be.  

 

In a recent match against Chelsea, Gary Neville accused Robertson of not looking right.  

 

The Sky Sports commentator said: "There’s something not quite right about Robertson in these opening 15 minutes or so."

 

The former Manchester United full-back continued: "Usually he is right in the face of his winger but he’s standing off Madueke. He’s sitting off him five or 10 yards. It’s really strange watching the Liverpool left-back. He’s struggling. I don’t know why because he’s a great defender but Madueke has got in his head."

 

 

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Now, the stats don’t necessarily back this up. He won 75% of his ground duels and two of his three tackles against the Blues, but he did look reserved against the Chelsea winger. He was standoffish, tepid and timid. He wasn’t full throttle like we’ve become accustomed to seeing over the years.  

 

It was the same against Arsenal. Robertson simply could not cope with Bukayo Saka. While he was a little unlucky to slip as he raced back to defend the Arsenal No.7 just before the goal, he looked slow in his recovery and that alone is a concern.  

 

At the Emirates, Robertson attempted just one tackle and won just 50% of his duels. He was dribbled past twice and really didn’t have a handle on the Arsenal skipper. His poor showing actually had an impact on Alexis Mac Allister who had to cover a lot of ground on the left to assist the full-back who was clearly struggling.  

 

Robertson is only 30, he should have years left in the tank, but the concern will be the amount of football he’s played over the years.  

 

Since displacing Moreno at left-back, Robertson has practically been an ever-present for the Reds. Since the start of the 2018/19 campaign, the No.26 has racked up 202 appearances in the English top-flight and a combined 279 across all competitions. Exclude this season and he’s averaging 45 appearances per season. At some point, all of that football was destined to catch up to him. He’s picking up more injuries now and appears to be slowing down.  

 

Having been rushed back into the team following a condensed pre-season, he's looked off the pace. He displaced Kostas Tsimikas in the starting XI but he appears to have allowed the Greek international to reclaim the spot.  

 

The No.26 was named in Liverpool's shadow XI for their Carabao Cup tie against Brighton. It was a team made up of players needing minutes. It was a team missing the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah. Tsimikas joined the first team players on the bench.  

 

 

If the game on Wednesday is an indication of what is to come on Saturday, with the Reds again coming up against Brighton, Robertson could well have lost his place in the starting XI to Tsimikas.  

 

And unlike in previous years when the former Olympiakos man has come in as relief for the Scotland full-back, this time he'd in the starting XI on merit. His form warrants a place in Slot's first choice XI and it is up to Robertson to prove he can reclaim the role.  

 

If he can't, he might not only lose his place in the team but his place in the squad could be up for grabs. Liverpool are already being linked with left-backs.

Liverpool vs Brighton: Why Robertson should fear losing left-back spot to Tsimikas