Paul Merson has claimed that Jurgen Klopp may have lost trust in Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson.
Writing for the Daily Star, Merson said he thinks Klopp doesn’t fancy the Liverpool star anymore, as he keeps taking him off.
“I’m starting to wonder whether Jurgen Klopp fancies Andy Robertson anymore,” wrote the former England player. “He keeps on being subbed for Kostas Tsimikas, while Harvey Elliott looks like their best player and he’s only a kid.”
Merson is correct in one part, Klopp does keep subbing Robertson off for Tsimikas. The manager did so again today during the win over Bournemouth. But Klopp also started him again, so how do you explain that one, Paul?
Robertson still top dog at left-back
To suggest that Klopp doesn’t trust Robertson is pretty wide of the mark. In fact, some supporters may potentially think that the boss could play Tsimikas a little more often than he does.
Robertson looked a little leggy at times towards the end of last season and that form has continued into the start of this one. Tsimikas on the other hand seems to make an impact whenever he plays.
Despite that, Klopp has always stayed loyal to the Scotland captain. In fairness, Robbo has more than enough credit in the bank to justify that.
Thankfully, today’s performance against Bournemouth was much-improved from Robertson. He claimed a lovely assist for Virgil Van Dijk and his display was punctuated with more energy than we’ve seen from him recently.
Again, he was taken off for Tsimikas. But that’s more to do with the quality of the Greek than any comment on Robertson.
When you’ve got a back-up as good as Kostas, it makes sense to let him take over from time to time. Having come on in the 70th minute today, the 25-year-old ended the game with two assists. Remarkable.
However good the Greece international may be though, he knows that Robertson remains the first choice. That may change at some point, but for the foreseeable future at least, the 28-year-old isn’t going anywhere.
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