Jurgen Klopp says no-one has noticed, but he’s actually changed Andy Robertson position for Liverpool recently.
Robertson will forever be known as the marauding, Duracell bunny of a full-back that he’s been for so much of his Reds career to this point. But after Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s recent switch into a more inverted role, Klopp told Sky Sports via LFCTV last night that Robertson has also had to change his position.
As he told reporter Patrick Davidson after Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Leicester City though, Robbo’s switch hasn’t been quite so obvious to the casual observer.
“You said to me Andy Robertson has a new position and nobody has asked me,” Davidson put to the Liverpool boss.
“I didn’t say nobody asked me! Nobody saw it I said!” Klopp retailated. “It’s all fine, it’s just in the build up and when he is involved in offensive stuff, it’s different to how it was before and that’s all. But I’m sure the smart guys on the tactic table will figure all that out.”
Robertson remains key for Liverpool
It makes sense that Robertson has had to pick up the slack left by Trent now being in his midfield position. To have him bombing on non-stop like before would leave the team incredibly imbalanced. Having said that though, it really isn’t all that much of a shift.
Against Leicester last night, a lot of Liverpool’s early attacking play came down their left. Luis Diaz was heavily involved and needed backing-up from Robertson.
Often during the first-half in particular, you could see the £10m man pushing forward to help Diaz get a two-on-one with Ricardo Pereira. A lot of the time it worked, although the Reds’ goals ultimately came from the other side.
But those watching closely will have seen that Robbo hasn’t been quite as attacking as he usually is. In that respect, the presence of Curtis Jones in the side is helping him out so much.
In Robertson’s deliberate absence, Jones has become the man to provide an extra body on the left-hand side. Much as Jordan Henderson does on the other side of the pitch, the 22-year-old is almost playing as an old-fashioned left winger at times.
Jones’ hard running and natural ability to know when to go forward means Liverpool can sometimes afford to keep Robertson back. It remains to be seen if Jones gets that role on a more permanent basis next season. But whoever is identified in the summer as a potential new addition will have to have the nous and quality to do this job.
Whoever is in there, one thing won’t change. Just as he always has been, Robertson will be right at the heart of the way Liverpool set up.
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