Struggling Andy Robertson is no longer a firm favourite in the eyes of the Liverpool manager, according to a club legend.
The former Dundee United full back has been in poor form in the last couple of months – with supporters calling for Kostas Tsimikas to start in his place. The Greek defender came on for the Scotland captain against Nottingham Forest, making an instant impact by assisting Diogo Jota’s equaliser.
Robertson has not been as consistent a Liverpool presence since his red card against Fulham in mid December. Since then he has completed 90 minutes just twice and was benched for the recent English League Cup and FA Cup fixtures against Tottenham Hotspur and Accrington Stanley respectively. Calls from fans on X, formerly Twitter, are now growing for Tsimikas to start instead of Robertson.
One account wrote: “Robbo is one my favourite ever players but Klopp leaving and Slot coming in felt like the perfect time to gracefully phase him out of this side. The signs have been there for a while now, and it’s a very tough watch. I’d like to see Tsimikas from the start vs Brentford.”
Another added: “How bad must Tsimikas be in training if he can’t get in the team ahead of this version of Robbo.” While, this fan commented: “I’ve seen enough of Robertson to know Tsimikas needs to take his place & I’ve seen enough of Tsimikas to know he has to start.”
One ardent supporter even felt selling the defender to Celtic in the summer would be good for all parties. He explained: “Sell Robertson to Celtic in the summer. A great servant to the club but he looks done at this level. He won’t get a new contract off with 18 months to go and I don’t think he’d like being 2nd choice (or 3rd choice) left back if/when we buy a new one.”
Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who won the Champions League with the club in 2005, has come to the defence of Robertson but believes Arne Slot does not see him as a long term solution. Speaking to BestOffShoreSportsbook.org, he said: “Andy Robertson has the sending off and a few mistakes but I think he has just been a bit unfortunate. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way and that doesn’t mean that you’re not an exceptional player.
“We know how good he is going forward and that is what he likes to do, I think he is still decent although there are a lot better players defensively out there. I think the system makes things a bit harder for Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, but what we have seen is Konstantinos Tsimikas playing so Arne Slot doesn’t see Robertson as one of his key players.”