OPINION
Andrew Robertson has quickly found stardom since joining Liverpool from Hull City.
The Scottish international has cemented his place at Anfield as Jurgen Klopp decided against bringing in senior back-up for the left-back after the summer departure of Alberto Moreno.
Robertson has been faultless in the past year or so in Merseyside and has established himself as one of the best-attacking wing-backs in the world, delivering 11 assists in the league last season.
Despite all the praise he has received, the 25-year-old was blasted by fans for his performance against Napoli in the 2-0 Champions League defeat, with one calling him “horrendous.”
Speaking in his Chelsea pre-match press conference, as quoted by GOAL, Klopp jumped to the defence of his flying Scotsman after that display in Italy, after the criticism he received after the game.
“The criticism has nothing to do with the expectation,” he said.
“It is to do with the world out there. He has played well for weeks and months and then you take it for granted.”
“If there is one game less than another, you start asking what has happened to Andy Robertson. Nothing, it’s completely normal. The game before, he was maybe the best player on the pitch.”
Klopp shouldn’t have to defend his left-back who has been one of the Reds’ standout performers in the past year or so in Merseyside and simply had a single off-day.
The 25-year-old has been phenomenal in defence as well as attack, averaging 1.4 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per game according to WhoScored, despite his side averaging 58.3% possession in each outing.
Robertson is also a constant threat going forward, and offers the Reds another dimension in wide areas, averaging 1.4 shots and key passes per game – impressive for a defender.
Klopp is right to defend his key player, but the German shouldn’t have had to publically do that as all of the criticism is underserving for the 25-year-old.
