Andy Robertson has faced criticism after another high-profile mistake against Fulham, but are discussions about his future premature?
I LOVE Steve Nicol.
I’ve never shied away from that view, though, whenever I’ve mentioned it, some have assumed that it includes his views on the current game which often rankle with many.
To be honest, I’ve never read or heard any of his proclamations so I’ve no idea why he appears to be so divisive. Instead, I always play safe with these things by sticking to memories of the player rather than the media incarnation.
The past never lets you down. See ‘Lawro.’
Steve’s is the first name that comes to mind when discussing Liverpool’s greatest ever left-back. I’ve had to go through an awful lot of left-backs to come to Steve and selecting him is an easy ask. Steve Nicol had everything. Steve Nicol was everything to Liverpool.
This is where age, prejudice and stubbornness can taint opinion.
It’s taken me a long time for me to come to terms with the fact that Alisson Becker might be Liverpool’s greatest keeper. I feel I’m betraying my younger self by even thinking that never mind typing it. That younger lad worshipped Ray Clemence. That was an age where The Reds genuinely seemed Godlike.
I suppose everyone does that to some extent. Even Ronnie Moran told John Barnes that he couldn’t hold a candle to Alf Arrowsmith. Alf Arrowsmith played his last game for The Reds in 1968.
Like Clem, Nicol too has a contemporary rival in my heart.
Andy Robertson might be our greatest left-back. I mean, at least I think he probably is, but I don’t want to write that in ink in case I let any of the old guard in my heart down.
I love Andy Robertson. Adore him. Oh, I’d hate him if he played for someone else, but he’s ours and I love him for that. Surely, we all do.
Despite that there have been calls to reduce his game time, for him to have more time on the bench than on the pitch. I quite agree. Rest him wherever you can. Not many players deserve afternoon naps more than him.
Look at the facts. He plays a high-octane game and has done so 318 times for Liverpool, captains his country and seldom gets a day off. He’s also 30 – an age where full backs slow down a little. Conversely, it’s an age where centre halves and goalkeepers hit their prime. Maybe he is slowing down a little.
But put him out to pasture?
I can see the argument. The squad has to come first. If he’s slowing down, then sentimentality has to take a back seat. The club comes first. It’s time to move on. You have to be ruthless.
However…
No, hang on. Let’s bring in the Fulham game.
This came to a head on Saturday with his red card. A card which put the result in jeopardy and made a home draw a decent result, all told. People will always look at the one incident that changed the game, so the Robbo naysayers raised their eyebrows in his direction.
The case for the defence, then…
One thing that’s hardly been mentioned in mitigation is that he’d almost had his leg sliced off minutes earlier. Robbo tried to run that off and still wasn’t right by the time he made his brainfart. Maybe a sharper Robbo would have done a better job, and we’d have ended the game with 11 men. Who knows?
If the ref had found his card a few minutes earlier when he should have, we might have had an advantage. No doubt Howard Webb will defend yet another awful ref in another TNT Sports benign show trial.
But it didn’t end that way and somehow, we struggled from being a man and a goal down after 17 minutes to gaining another point on City just 26 hours later. This season is nuts.
Get rid of Robbo, though? Seriously?
I know what’s coming. A few weeks ago I was accused of being Mo Salah FC rather than LFC and I suspect the same may happen again. Liverpool have to be ruthless. No one is bigger than the club.
But like the Salah situation, you can’t always replace like for like. I’d rather have a rested Robbo than a new signing who will need time to settle in and who very probably won’t be in the running for the ‘Greatest Ever’ category.
Fair enough if Robbo was 37 with no knees, but 30 is hardly past it. The man just needs a rest. The man just needs to not be scythed down with impunity.
I mean, he’ll leave one day and deciding when isn’t easy for a manager. It’s difficult to move players on regardless of form if you trust them in the role. Kyle Walker is an example of this. Slower, prone to the odd error and a very fragile forehead, but Pep Guardiola trusts him despite having more money than God. You go with what you know.
At the moment, we don’t have a fit recognised left-back and it looks like Joe Gomez will line up there against Southampton. That’s fine. Joe’s underrated as a full back, but Robbo plays left back for Liverpool.
What’s more Arne Slot tends to agree which is the important thing.
I suspect he’d have Robbo ahead of ‘Bumper’ too. Not sure on his views on Alf Arrowsmith, though.
