It doesn’t matter what a player has achieved in the past. It doesn’t even matter if his club builds him a statue outside its stadium.
At a certain stage of any player’s career, he simply can no longer deliver the level of performance necessary to maintain his status as a mainstay in his side’s first team.
This is the stage at which Andy Robertson now finds himself at Liverpool. At 31 years of age, the left-back is entering the twilight years of his career.
Harder to Match the Past
The clearest indication of that, however, is not the number that appears adjacent to the word “age,” on Robertson's bio on your football website or mobile app of choice, but the Scotsman's notable struggles to reach the standards he’s set throughout a glittering career at Anfield last season.
Going forward, his impact was unrecognizably tame. Throughout his career Robertson’s superb crossing ability has seen him amass 60 Premier League assists to date, second in total for a defender only to his now-former teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold as he brilliantly reinforced Liverpool’s attacks down their left channel.
However, while sizeable portions of his assist count came in seasons in which he produced 11
(2018/2019), 12 (2019/2020), 7 (2020/2021), 10 (2021/2022) and 8 (2022/2023), Robertson could muster only one to his name throughout the last campaign.
Even as dependable as Robertson has been at the back for Liverpool, there is similarly no escaping the reality that he was too often a liability there for the Reds last season.
Between his red card against Fulham, the penalty he conceded against Southampton, and his uncharacteristically frequent failures to clear danger in his penalty area, the left-back position was the most vulnerable it’s been for Liverpool since Robertson’s arrival in 2017.
In a tighter contest for the title than any of Liverpool’s competitors could offer last season, Robertson’s error count could have proven far more corrosive to his side’s campaign.
A new Challenger Arrives
Next season, however, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all making some notable upgrades to their squads, Liverpool can expect far more formidable challenges to their seat on the throne after what was a fairly straightforward stroll to their 20th league title last season.
That Liverpool finalized the transfer of left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth before the transfer window even officially opened and after they already made two massive signings in Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz is as clear a statement as it gets of how pressing they felt the need to fortify their ranks at left back was.
Kerkez will likely begin his Liverpool career as the first-choice left back at his new club.
This of course means that unless Robertson departs Anfield this summer, the Scotsman, whose place in his side’s first XI has been effectively cemented since he made the leap to Merseyside, will have to settle for a reduced role in the squad.
At the same time, Jarrel Quansah’s move to Leverkusen does leave a void open at center-back. At the moment, Joe Gomez is the only senior center-back to cover for Virgil Van Dijk and Ibrahim Konate and Arne Slot may therefore consider Robertson as a viable option at center-half when he deems it necessary to rotate his squad.
Preseason and cup fixtures early on in the season against sides lower in the English football pyramid could offer an opportunity to assess how suitable Robertson is in a more central role at the back.
However, even as Robertson’s time as a first-team regular draws to a close, the Liverpool left-back remains a key voice in the dressing room.
A member of the club’s leadership group along with Allison Becker, Mohamed Salah and skipper Virgil Van Dijk, Robertson offers a wealth of wisdom and experience-two qualities that will maintain their immense value for as long as he is at the club.