Liverpool failed to win at Anfield for just the second time under Arne Slot over the weekend, with the Reds needing to come from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Fulham while playing with 10 men.
Andy Robertson was sent off early in the game for the denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity, bringing down Harry Wilson when the Welsh winger got on the wrong side of him. And with the Scotland full-back going through a tricky patch in terms of his form at the moment, he has drawn some criticism for the error.
“Robertson again…” pundit Robbie Mustoe said on the Two Robbie’s show on NBC. “Weakness might be too hard a word for Liverpool… a weakness at left-back. There’s been a couple of challenges now and a couple of mistakes.
“He’s been a brilliant, brilliant player, but I’m wondering now if he’s lost that step and is now making a few errors. Maybe I’m out of order, maybe it’s just a bad little period for him, but again, it’s probably cost his team a couple of points.”
The Scotland captain has not had an easy season so far but he did miss much of pre-season with an injury. Robertson also took a bit hit from Issa Diop early in the game which Virgil van Dijk suggested contributed to the mistake before the red card.
“I’ve maybe got doubters for the first time in a long time at this club, so I’m just trying to prove people wrong again,” Robertson told reporters including from Liverpool.com last month. “I missed pre-season which is never ideal for any player and then with the ankle, I was struggling and got another knock on it which took a bit of time to settle down.
“But I feel good. Taking a couple of games out was frustrating — of course you want to play every game — but that wasn’t possible. I knew the next time I got a chance, I would try and take it.”
Robertson has drawn criticism for some of his performances but has always insisted that he is unmoved by that. His focus remains on getting back on track.
“I’m a lot older and a lot wiser now,” Robertson said in November. “I’ve been here for seven years and I’ve won everything and played in a lot of big games. I’m a lot more experienced and a lot better at switching off from everything.
“I had a bad 45 minutes against Arsenal and everyone had pretty much written me off after that so that’s football these days. People can write me off all you want, but I’ll always try and keep working and keep improving.”
Robertson is 30 now and Kostas Tsimikas is only a couple of years younger, so some long-term thinking in that area is likely to be on the agenda sooner rather than later. The likes of Milos Kerkez and Rayan Ait-Nouri have been linked.
