ESPN pundit says £12m Liverpool player was so poor against Toulouse last night

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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will be worried by the form being shown by back-up left-back Kostas Tsimikas.

Tsimikas has been given the chance to step up over recent weeks, with Andy Robertson ruled out until the New Year.

However, the Greek hasn’t been able to grasp his opportunity, culminating in a terrible mistake to gift Toulouse the opener in last night’s Europa League match. And according to ESPN FC pundit and former Liverpool player Steve Nicol, Klopp will be concerned about Tsimikas.

“I think that [Tsimikas] would be a worry for Klopp,” says the pundit. “Since Tsimikas came to the club he’s been trying to oust Robertson and has never had a run of games to prove it. And of course when Robertson gets injured all of a sudden it’s on Tsimikas now – ‘okay, there you go show us what you’ve got’ and actually from the very first game to this one here he has not responded in the right manner.

“He got substituted in the very first game at Anfield [against Everton] because he was poor and he cost Liverpool the first goal in this game, poor play again. I think for Klopp who right now is trying to sort out that back four, it’s not quite the back four of old. Without Robertson and having to play Tsimikas and him performing the way he is, yeah that would be a worry.

“Does he stick with Tsimikas, I don’t know does he switch [Joe] Gomez over there, what does he do? That would be my only concern.”

Tsimikas fails to step up

All things told, it has been a really difficult season for Tsimikas so far. Even before Robertson’s injury, the £12m man didn’t look quite himself.

But with the Scotland captain injured, you might have expected Kostas to sense his opportunity and up his game accordingly. Instead, the former Olympiacos man has pretty much gone backwards.

Sloppy and lethargic in his general play and at times calamitous, Tsimikas no longer looks capable of playing a significant role for Liverpool.

As Nicol mentions, there have been signs of that leading up to last night. But his mistake in France was confirmation that this is now a player who can’t be trusted.

If the 27-year-old’s mistake to allow Aron Donnum to score had been a one-off, then that wouldn’t necessarily be a problem. All players have lapses in concentration and Tsimikas was far from alone inbeing someone in red to have one last night.

But the issue is that the left-back has been having moments like this all too regularly.

Perhaps it’s unfair to put too much of a spotlight on Kostas, though. After all he is not supposed to be playing quite so often. He is a back-up.

Nevertheless, the standards are high at Liverpool and right now, Tsimikas isn’t meeting them. With Robertson still out for a while, there is time for him to put things right. But for now, that left-back slot remains a real concern.