BBC Sportsound pundit Tam McManus has blasted Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson for his latest performance for Scotland.
Robertson, 25, wore the captain’s armband on Friday night as Steve Clarke’s side let slip of a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 against Russia at Hampden Park in qualifying for next summer’s European Championships.
Ex-Hibernian forward McManus was less than impressed with what he saw from the Liverpool left-back, who is usually so reliable when playing in the Premier League.
“Andy Robertson been poor again and to be honest I have yet to see him have a great game for Scotland. Top class player but I think he is putting too much pressure on himself to do everything for Scotland. Similar to Ryan Giggs at Wales etc. Needs to relax and just play his game,” said McManus via his personal Twitter account on Friday.
Andy Robertson been poor again and to be honest I have yet to see him have a great game for Scotland. Top class player but I think he is putting too much pressure on himself to do everything for Scotland. Similar to Ryan Giggs at Wales etc. Needs to relax and just play his game.
— Tam McManus (@The_Tman10) September 6, 2019
OPINION
Imagine going from playing for the Champions League winners and Premier League runners-up to Scotland’s international team. Imagine going from playing alongside Virgil van Dijk to Charlie Mulgrew. Imagine going from playing alongside Mohamed Salah to James Forrest. Scotland have some good players in their squad but they’re hardly ones who Robertson is used to playing with. As McManus says, the left-back’s situation is slightly similar to the one that Ryan Giggs had at Wales. He was a huge fish in a very small pond and that can hurt the performance of players who are usually on a completely different level when they are playing for their club. Robertson will find his bearing with Scotland soon enough. They are a team in transition with a relatively new manager, some young players breaking through and some older players moving on. For Robertson’s sake, Scotland qualifying for Euro 2020 would be massive.
