Andrew Robertson

[rb14]

5 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Absolutely agree. Robbo's contribution in the second halves in both the United and Everton games was immense,it was also very tactically clever as wide ares were the only areas where space was available. His outside to inside run was pretty much a match winner.

Anything he can contribute would be most welcome as far as I am concerned.

 

Well, I say anything. I reckon I'd particularly enjoy... 

... 

... 

... 

...wait for it... 

... 

... 

... 

...wait for it... 

... 

... 

... 

...WAIT FOR IT... 

... 

... 

... 

...his sliding tackle. 

 

BOOM. 

[Aventus]

On 25/04/2022 at 07:01, Numero Veinticinco said:

I genuinely don’t there’s a player I like more. It just feels right having a Scot in the team, and when he reacts like that… I just love the guy. 

I bet our ratio of trophies with a Scot in the team vs without is crazy.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

 

[Scooby Dudek]

7 hours ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

 

Really pleasantly surprised by 88% of those replies 

[VladimirIlyich]

15 hours ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

 

I take it Mr Byrne hasn't got kids as they are hungry every minute of every day!

[Peter Cormack]

On 26/04/2022 at 13:05, Aventus said:

I bet our ratio of trophies with a Scot in the team vs without is crazy.

Only ones I can think of are the 76 and 2001UEFA cups and 77 and 2005 UCL.

[Peter Cormack]

76 uefa cup Brian Hall played, he was a scot in the same way Steve Heighway was Irish 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

12 minutes ago, Peter Cormack said:

Only ones I can think of are the 76 and 2001UEFA cups and 77 and 2005 UCL.

Gary Mac in 2001. 

 

Did Peter Cormack play in 1976?

[Peter Cormack]

3 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

Gary Mac in 2001. 

 

Did Peter Cormack play in 1976?

No he was injured earlier that season and never played for us again

[Peter Cormack]

Forgot about Gary Mac, I think 2005 and 76-77 Euro Cups weRe the only major  trophies won without a scot in the team

[AngryOfTuebrook]

5 minutes ago, Peter Cormack said:

Forgot about Gary Mac, I think 2005 and 76-77 Euro Cups weRe the only major  trophies won without a scot in the team

2003 League Cup?

[VladimirIlyich]

12 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

2003 League Cup?

No Scots on our team but we beat a poor example of one managing the opposition.

[coachpotato]

On 26/04/2022 at 12:05, Aventus said:

I bet our ratio of trophies with a Scot in the team vs without is crazy.

Yet our first European Cup win in 1977, we didn’t have a Scot in the team.

[TheHowieLama]

Went above Leighton Baines today as defender with the most assists in the Premier League.

[DJLJ]

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/assist-king-liverpools-andy-robertson-adds-record-to-underline-status-as-iconic-modern-era-left-back-42246186.html
 

Assist king: Liverpool’s Andy Robertson adds record to underline status as iconic modern-era left-back 

Richard Jolly

---

2

Aston Villa v Liverpool - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 26, 2022 Liverpool's Andrew Robertson during the warm up before the match. Photo: Reuters

December 27 2022 11:08 AM

 

By the time the architect of much of Liverpool’s recent success took the field, Jurgen Klopp’s side were 3-1 up. Philippe Coutinho has contrived to acquire a reputation as the Pete Best of Klopp’s Liverpool, the man who left before the glory years; if, that is, Pete Best had been sold for a transfer fee that enabled the Beatles to buy a new rhythm section.

As it was, Coutinho’s reunion with Liverpool came in a match when Alisson and Virgil van Dijk offered another illustration that the £142million proceeds of his 2018 sale to Barcelona were well invested.

For Coutinho, part of the chastening element was that Liverpool fared far better when they did not replace him at the club, not directly anyway. As he took the field with a few minutes remaining, his search for a first assist of Aston Villa’s league season extending into 2023, a left-footed creator had already set up a goal for Liverpool. And not just Mohamed Salah, either, but the man who provided his opener at Villa Park.

In a sense, Andy Robertson had outstripped Coutinho long ago. His latest feat was overtaking Leighton Baines. His 54th Premier League assist was not merely 16 more than the Brazilian has mustered, but one more than the old Evertonian. He is out on his own now, the defender who has set up the most goals in the division’s 30-year history.

It is a personal achievement for one who is very much a team player. “I’m not into individual things but when you put that in the Premier League against some unbelievable defenders it is always nice to see yourself at the top,” said Robertson.

 

Given his annual competition with Trent Alexander-Arnold, perhaps there is one defender that, if only jokingly, he takes particular pleasure in seeing beneath him on the leaderboard. Alexander-Arnold’s creativity is more celebrated, his passing range more remarkable, but there is an efficiency to Robertson, a reliability that means, in a campaign when the right-back’s strangely long wait for a first assist continues, the left-back has eight in all competitions.

Robertson is part individual phenomenon, part a sign of Klopp’s tactics, and part an indication of a wider trend. “Full-backs have evolved a lot, it is about going forward as well as defending,” he said. “It is a big part of my game.” The tactical tweak Klopp implemented when Coutinho left was for the full-backs to run past his midfielders; he is a final third to final third player. Of Robertson’s 54 assists, four were for Hull, one for Liverpool before Coutinho’s sale to Barcelona, and 49 since. He is on course for a fourth season in double figures.

 

2

Soccer Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Liverpool - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 26, 2022 Aston Villa's Philippe Coutinho during the warm up before the match Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club /league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.

 

But, even in an era when full-backs are more attacking, he is the exception, not the rule. Among those who have spent the majority of their career in the position, there is a gap after he and Baines to Alexander-Arnold and Graeme Le Saux, with 45 and 44 respectively, and another to the long-retired set-piece specialists Ian Harte and Andy Hinchcliffe, twinned on 36. To put it another way, only three full-backs get within a third of Robertson’s tally.

Klopp can show a breezy indifference to the numbers but Robertson, signed from relegated Hull, is a testament to his scouting and coaching. Yet an £8m fee did not just buy Liverpool a left foot that could be trained to cross, but the sort of man with the commitment to improvement to make the most of his attributes.

The Halfway Line Newsletter

Get the lowdown on the Irish football scene with our soccer correspondent Daniel McDonnell and expert team of writers with our free weekly newsletter. 

Sign Up

 

“He is a great guy,” his manager said. “I am not so much into stats but what came to my mind is the boy we bought from Hull, we knew we had exceptional talent but personality and character make the player you can be. He was a real talent offensively but defensively he was not the player he could be.”

 

They had a couple of heart-to-hearts in Klopp’s office, discussions about his duties without the ball, and over the last five years, Robertson has been outstanding. “He is a proper defender and still sets up goals,” Klopp grinned. “It is a great number and really special.”

The greatness of the number is reflected by his peers, and not merely Baines. Coutinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gianfranco Zola and David Ginola are far behind him. Those 54 assists take him ahead of Robin van Persie, put him level with Mesut Ozil and Eden Hazard, one behind Paul Scholes, and only two off Eric Cantona.

Each might fit the image of an inventive player more than Robertson, the running machine haring up the wing and crossing time and again.

Yet if Coutinho can seem the anachronism, the throwback to the day when the creator-in-chief could be a specialist No.10, Robertson feels like the ultra-modern figure. If Coutinho was Steven Gerrard’s attempt to turn back time, Klopp forged a post-Coutinho future with Robertson.

And, with another year of his expert deliveries from the left flank, Gerrard may be the only player to have made more Premier League goals for Liverpool than the most creative defender of all.

 

 

[Red74]

The best left back the worlds ever seen and shamefully underrated by some of our fans.

[Lario]

So in our current team, we have 4 (arguably) all-time 11 players playing in defence?

 

Alisson, Trent, Virgil, Andy.

[Elite]

Looked very good yesterday. Hopefully the long rest has helped him to get back to his best.

[VladimirIlyich]

Arguably,signing the Greek helped push Robbo on to an even higher level? Nothing like a potential replacement to get the juices flowing again.

[Elite]

6 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Arguably,signing the Greek helped push Robbo on to an even higher level? Nothing like a potential replacement to get the juices flowing again.

Robbo has been poor for a while, so I don't think it has anything to do with the Greek  he just needed a long rest.

[Butch]

He's back. Great the other night. 

[VladimirIlyich]

10 minutes ago, Elite said:

Robbo has been poor for a while, so I don't think it has anything to do with the Greek  he just needed a long rest.

Good old Scotland!

[Butch]

6 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Arguably,signing the Greek helped push Robbo on to an even higher level? Nothing like a potential replacement to get the juices flowing again.

Worked wonders for the wife. 

[Kevin D]

Trent not having an assist so far this season doesn’t sound right?

[Duff Man]

Doesn't, but it is, apparently.