It’s not a week Andy Robertson will look back on fondly.
In back-to-back Premier League games, he has faced Chelsea’s Noni Madueke and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and found things difficult.
The two moments that stick out were similar in how the Scotland captain was put under pressure. Both were long balls delivered over his head and both saw Robertson caught out.
Against Chelsea, Robertson was left in a heap on the ground, tripping as he tried to recover with Madueke ahead of him. He was grateful for Curtis Jones’ potential goal-saving block from Cole Palmer’s resulting shot.
He found himself on the floor again at the Emirates. Sensing a long ball in behind was imminent, Robertson began to drop, but the rest of Liverpool’s back line didn’t. In doing so, he played Saka onside, who beat him to the ball, nutmegged him and scored — Van Dijk was not in a position to cover him.
The defender will want to see neither again and as ever, those moments bring scrutiny and questions — usually more exaggerated than they need to be.
No, Robertson is not “finished”, as those who like to leap to conclusions may say after seeing those incidents occur in back-to-back games. Players are allowed to have bad games and struggle for form. There have been periods during Robertson’s Anfield career when he hasn’t performed at the lofty standards he has set himself. What happened next? He bounced back.
These weren’t just any old wingers he was facing either. Saka has started the season in sensational form, rivalling Mohamed Salah in the battle for the Premier League’s best right-winger. Madueke is a rising star full of technical quality and speed.
Yet it is fair to suggest that Robertson’s peak levels may have diminished from when he was at his best in a Liverpool shirt. The burst of recovery pace may not be as sharp, but it suddenly doesn’t mean transfer plans should be ripped up and a new left-back made the priority in January.
Since he arrived in 2017, only Salah (27,757) has played more minutes in all competitions than Robertson (24,801) among Liverpool’s outfield players. A statistic like that can generate concern alongside admiration.
It is a lot of football and that can take its toll. A Jurgen Klopp full-back needed as big an engine as anyone, particularly during his earlier years, to fly up and down the flanks.
The regression from the likes of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson — who were also part of the Champions League and Premier League winning squad — from the peak levels is easy to point to. Robertson is now the wrong side of 30 and has played a lot of football at a high level and intensity for such a long time.
It seems Slot is taking that into consideration. The Scotland captain is the only part of the back four who has been rotated frequently — although he has only missed one league game — since Ibrahima Konate replaced Jarell Quansah after the opening-day win at Ipswich. Konate, Van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have started every Premier League and Champions League game since.
Robertson is valuable on and off the pitch and a high-level defender that can be first choice in a title-challenging side. When Liverpool limped over the line last season as their title challenge went up in smoke, Robertson was one of the better performers as those around him struggled.
Robertson can look positively on the fact that he improved in both games. Madueke beat him once on the outside and then in the moment mentioned earlier, but after that, he limited him to very little.
Saka had more success throughout the first half — and will do against most full-backs — and Robertson needed help from those around him. But in the second half, Saka became a peripheral figure as Liverpool seized more of the initiative.
However, arguably for the first time in his Liverpool career, it feels like there may be a battle for the starting left-back role between him and Kostas Tsimikas. It is a hierarchy that has never shifted since the Greece international’s arrival in 2020, but his performances this season — except for the opening minutes against AC Milan — open the door to that conversation.
“We have a very, very good relationship with him,” Tsimikas told reporters after the victory over RB Leipzig when asked about his relationship with Robertson. “We are almost every day together, we laugh together, but we play the same position. Both of us, we want to play. A very healthy competition, as it had to be from the start.
“When he plays, he gives everything. When he plays, I want all the best for him. And when I play, he wants all the best for me. That’s healthy competition. We are very, very close and I think both of us want to play. And both of us, every time we have the chance, we just keep absolutely at it.”
That is not an easy thing to face for Robertson, who has been integral to Liverpool’s success since his arrival. Players declining is normal, but there is no need to look for a panic button for Robertson. This may have been the clearest indication that his powers may be waning in battles against the best, but we are far from that point in his career where his presence is a hindrance rather than helpful.
With Robertson aged 30 and Tsimikas 28, left-back is a position that should be on the radar when looking to future-proof that area. There is young talent out on loan — such as Owen Beck (Blackburn Rovers) and Luke Chambers (Wigan Athletic) — but they aren’t ready to take that leap.
Robertson’s race is not run and writing a player off after a handful of poor performances is unfair even if there are small signs of him slowing down. It is easy to draw sweeping conclusions from a moment in a game.
No defender can be perfect and losing out on one duel in a game can result in a goal. Yet, if more opponents try to target Robertson and do so successfully, then it may lead to a different conversation.
(Top photo: Edith Geuppert – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
