ODE TO ANDREW ROBERTSON

News broke this afternoon of Liverpool left back Andy Robertson signing a new five year deal with the club. It is just reward for a player who has solved the club’s previous problem in the position and then some. We take a look at his Liverpool story so far in an ode to the best left back in the world.

In the summer of 2017, Liverpool signed Robertson from relegated Hull City for £8 million. He made his debut in a 1–0 win over Crystal Palace, winning the Man of the Match award. He however wasn’t seen again for a few months after that, as the form of Alberto Moreno saw him cement the left back position as his own.

Robertson bided his time and got a run of games when the Spaniard got injured in December. His performance in the 4–3 victory against league leaders Manchester City in January earned praise from the Liverpool supporters and is remembered to this day for a run in particular, where he pressed the City team from his left back position all the way to a centre forward position.

He continued to impress for the remainder of the season and even kept the spot upon Moreno’s return from injury. The season unfortunately ended in heartbreak as Liverpool lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid in Kiev. Robertson scored a goal and provided five assists in 29 appearances in all competitions and was named in the Champions League Breakthrough XI.

The following season, he set about establishing himself as the best left back in the world and was a cornerstone of the Liverpool team that won the Champions League in 2019. He was rewarded for his performances with a new five year contract in January 2019.

In April, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year and ended the season without scoring but provided an astonishing 13 assists and 75 chances created from 48 appearances. He became the first Scot to win the Champions League since Darren Fletcher in 2008 and was named in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season as well as UEFA Team of the Season.

His meteoric rise continued into the 2019/20 season as well. He was again an ever present as Liverpool finally brought thirty years of pain to an end by winning the Premier League title, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Over the course of the campaign, Robertson contributed 3 goals and 12 assists in 49 appearances for Liverpool as he was again named in the PFA Team of The Year.

In the 2020/21 season, as injuries engulfed the defence line, Robertson was the mainstay and took on a leadership role as he started all 38 league games. The Scottish captain went through peaks and troughs with the whole team but made it out the other side as they finished third to secure Champions League qualification.

A goal, seven assists and eighty five chances created from a total of fifty appearances in all competitions read his season statistics. There was a lot made of Robertson’s minutes last season as most felt he was overused. His energetic style and relentless running means he needs to be saved from himself at times. Jurgen Klopp admitted he couldn’t afford to give Robbo much rest due to the myriad of centre back partnerships the club had to use.

The plan is to rotate him a lot more this season, especially considering he had a busy summer as well with Scotland at the Euros. Ankle ligament injury in a pre-season friendly against Athletic Bilbao saw him miss the start of the season and gave backup Kostas Tsimikas a chance. Excellent performances from the Greek makes it easier for Klopp to rotate as planned.

A rotated Robertson is a fresh Robertson, and that can only mean one thing, more world class performances. Still only 27, he has more years ahead of him and with Tsimikas offering up competition for his place, we can expect the Scotsman to even go up an extra gear. Here’s to five more years of greatness.