Andy Robertson's Liverpool problem clear as finger pointed at teammate - 'I feel for him'
Andy Robertson has endured a difficult season for Liverpool despite Arne Slot's success, with club chiefs thought to be looking for a successor to the Scotland captain
by Jacob Leeks · The MirrorLiverpool have been urged to bring in better competition for Andy Robertson to help the Scot recover from a difficult campaign.
The 30-year-old has been far from his best this season, though has largely maintained his place in Arne Slot's starting line-up. Even so, Reds chiefs are believed to be considering his future at Anfield.
Robertson is entering the final 18 months of his contract and Liverpool could now begin drawing up a succession plan. But ex-Reds star John Arne Riise believes Robertson does still have what it takes to perform at the top level.
For the Scotland captain to return to his previous heights though, Riise has insisted that a replacement for Kostas Tsimikas must be found. The Greek is currently Robertson's main competition, but Riise believes an upgrade is needed.
“I'm not sure there's a need for Liverpool to strengthen, but I think we do need a more prolific goal scoring striker. I think there could also be some more pressure on Andy Robertson at left-back," he told Oddspedia.
"To be honest, I feel for him because I was in the same position many years ago when I left Liverpool. My last season was not up to my usual standards and then people started talking about the need to sign a new left back.
“Now, people are talking about the same thing with Robertson at the club. I do think that Robertson just needs a bigger push from a player who can push him harder than Kostas Tsimikas can. Then I think we can get the Robertson back that we all know.”
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"There are so many good teams out there. Anything can change, but at the moment they are favourites to win both the Premier League and the Champions League, but it's going to be hard to do that.”
While Robertson has come under fire from some quarters for his performances this season, Liverpool boss Arne Slot remains firmly behind the defender. Back in November, he pinned the blame for the left-back's struggles on his lack of a meaningful pre-season.
“It definitely also has to do with Robbo missing pre-season, so that’s why we started rotating from the start a bit. Because if a player didn’t have any pre-season there was no time to bring him towards the situation where he could play three games in a row," Slot said.
"We tried to build up our players for that programme and for him that was difficult because he missed out on pre-season, where others were there. That’s his situation.
"I think it was good for him to play [against] Arsenal and now again the game against Brighton during the week, that makes sure that he’s getting into that rhythm of playing twice a week.”
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