Liverpool had to be thankful to left-back Kostas Tsimikas for getting them ‘out of trouble’ last night against Ajax.
That’s according to TalkSPORT pundit Jamie O’Hara. Speaking after last night’s game, O’Hara admitted that he’d been impressed by the Liverpool player’s defending throughout the match.
“Tsimikas… his defensive runs, his recovery runs were brilliant. He was the best player on the pitch and he got his team out of trouble,” said the pundit.
As well as his steadfast defensive duties, Kostas also found time to lay the winning goal on a plate for Joel Matip. All in a night’s work for Greek.
Tsimikas comes to life against Ajax
After a slightly wayward first-half, Tsimikas really sprung into life after the break last night. The 25-year-old looked to enjoy the physical battle with Steven Berghuis and Dusan Tadic, which seemed to really wake him up.
He was indeed important defensively on several occasions as he put a halt to dangerous looking attacks.
With Andy Robertson now injured, Liverpool are likely to be heavily reliant on Tsimikas until the World Cup in November.
Klopp with a decision to make at left-back
From Kostas’ point of view, the almost three-week break until the next fixture comes at a bad time. He hasn’t really got going so far this campaign, but injury to Robertson presents him with a chance for regular football.
Unfortunately, Sunday’s postponement now means that he won’t get the chance to build on last night’s impressive display. It remains to be seen just how long Robertson is out for, though. If he’s anything short of 100% fit after the international break, then Tsimikas should play.
As we’ve seen in the past, Jurgen Klopp does have a tendency to be loyal to Robertson as his first-choice left-back.
Given what the Scotland captain has achieved at Liverpool, that’s only fair. But with Robbo starting to look a little leggy and Tsimikas firing on all cylinders, maybe the time for a changing of the guard is getting closer.
It will be interesting to see how Klopp handles the situation when both are fit once again.
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