Robertson: It is so important that we stick together during this period

Andy Robertson says the team need to fix their current flaws and get back to basics before even thinking about a potential title challenge.

The Reds produced a disjointed and sloppy display in their 2-1 defeat to Man United at Old Trafford on Monday night.

The build-up to the fixture focussed on the woes of the home team and the continued disillusionment among the fanbase with their current ownership.

While Liverpool had not tasted victory in their opening two fixtures, there were promising signs in their last outing against Crystal Palace that things were starting to click.

And after thumping their bitter rivals 9-0 across two games last season, there was a quiet confidence that this was the fixture to get things going in earnest.

However that did not come to fruition and while there are some mitigating circumstances in terms of injuries and suspension, the truth of the matter is the large majority of available players are performing well below their usual standard.

Speaking after the defeat, Andy Robertson said the team had to address their bad trait of conceding first and generally starting matches very sluggishly.

“We need to very quickly. We need to come together, we need to address it as a team because we can’t keep going out there… it is easy talking about it in the changing room, it’s easy talking about it before the game, but we have to go out and do it. We can’t keep conceding goals. We have to be a team that starts the game well, that puts pressure on the other team, not the other way around. That’s three games this season now.

“Maybe Crystal Palace was a wee bit different, we started really well there and then got hit with a sucker punch, but Fulham started better than us, they’ve definitely started better than us today.

"Even when you go back to the end of last season, Wolves, Real Madrid, Southampton, teams like that, that was the back end of last season and it had already kicked in. So, it needs to change.”

Over the Jurgen Klopp era, one of the main strengths has been the ability of the team to stick together and show great strength through any adversity and challenges that comes their way.

Robertson said that sort of commitment is needed more than ever with the team still striving for their first win of the new league campaign.

“Look, of course we are frustrated, we are a team that wants to win games and just now that is not happening. But it’s so important that we stick together. The team is tight, we’re a really close unit and obviously things need to be said but we also we need to stick together and we are all in it together.

“We’re far behind where we want to be and in this league it’s very unforgiving. So we need to get results quickly, we need to start kicking into gear and if we do that I’m sure we’ll look back on this as what kickstarted it. But we need our first three points, that’s for sure.”

The last thing on the mind of Robertson after this defeat was how this slow start to the season would affect any potential title challenge.

“It’s early on in the season but even if we were at the top of the league we wouldn’t be thinking about the title race. We’ve always been consistent with that every season, you don’t really think about it until you get closer to see where everyone’s at. The start of the season is always a bit messy where you just try to find your feet. 

“This season we haven’t done it and yeah, we’re not thinking about that. We need to get our first win on the board, we need to get our first win, we need to try to get ahead first in the game and try to put in a good performance, get our first clean sheet and get back to our basics."