For starters, rather than Kostas Tsimikas having overtaken him in the pecking order — which was suggested after Robertson started the Carabao Cup game against Brighton rather than the Greek — it could simply be that the Liverpool left-back is being lined up to start against Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa this week.
Those two games are the most difficult of the next three. If he can't play them all, Slot might simply be picking and choosing. "I think his current situation is what you can expect if a player misses out on pre-season and a new manager comes in, so you miss quite a lot," Arne Slot clarified ahead of the weekend.
"And then when you start to play, maybe he thinks a bit too much because there are not so many things different, but in some situations, we ask for a bit different positioning from a left full-back. For me he is a bit in that period of time where he is thinking ‘OK, I’m here now, should I be here or there?’. That’s something I’ve seen a lot from other players in the past."
Slot isn't overly worried about Robertson, even though Tsimikas could start ahead of him against Brighton this time around. In the bigger picture, however, there could be a decision to make.
Sooner rather than later, left-back is a position that Liverpool will need to think about strengthening. Only under contract at Anfield for another 18 months, according to Transfermarkt, a call on what happens to Robertson will need to be made one way or another. And it would be fair to say that he doesn't have the speed that he once did, even if writing him off right now would be premature.
Kostas Tsimikas and Andy Robertson of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre
Kostas Tsimikas and Andy Robertson of Liverpool during a training session at AXA Training Centre
Tsimikas has impressed this season when he has played, but Robertson has started all but one of the Premier League fixtures. The only one in which the understudy was preferred was Crystal Palace, a few days after Robertson started in the Champions League.
Signing a long-term solution at left full-back — possibly even a versatile option who could play a bit there and a bit at center-back — seems logical. And in time, Robertson could slowly be phased out. Turning 29 a couple of weeks after this season, Tsimikas isn't going to be the answer forever, either.
Wolves' Rayan Ait Nouri, according to TBR Football, has been scouted. Other options will be out there too. And while Robertson missing out on the starting XI this weekend — if indeed that is what happens — shouldn't be viewed as a changing of the guard, plans for what that might look like might need to be drawn up sooner rather than later.
Getting ahead of a problem before it becomes an issue has always been the best way to succession plan.
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