I think we’ve taken Andy Robertson for granted.
For years, we watched him bombing up and down Liverpool’s left flank, winning tackles, chasing lost causes and delivering crosses into the box. It became so normal that perhaps we forgot just how difficult it is to find a left-back who can do all those things consistently.
Now we’re watching Milos Kerkez struggle to reach those standards, and I’m beginning to appreciate Robertson even more.
I’m not writing Kerkez off. He’s still got plenty of time to make the position his own, and I know Liverpool signed him because they believed he had the qualities to become Robertson’s long-term successor.
But there’s a difference between having the potential to replace somebody and actually replacing what they gave the team.
And Robertson gave Liverpool an awful lot.
Robertson made the difficult things look easy
One of the things I loved about Robertson was his consistency.
He wasn’t just an attacking full-back who occasionally produced a brilliant cross. He worked relentlessly for the team, tracked runners, competed in challenges and rarely stopped moving.
When Liverpool needed an outlet down the left, he was there. When the winger needed support, he provided it. When the opposition threatened on the counter-attack, he was often racing back to help his defenders.
And he did it for years.
Robertson won the Premier League twice and the Champions League during his Liverpool career, becoming one of the most important players of the Klopp era. His attacking contribution was significant too: he became one of the Premier League’s most productive defenders, with his assists and chance creation forming a major part of Liverpool’s attacking threat.
That is quite a legacy for a player who arrived from Hull City for a relatively modest fee.
Perhaps we became so accustomed to seeing him perform that we expected his replacement to arrive and do the same things immediately.
Football doesn’t work like that.
Kerkez is struggling at both ends
This is where my concern comes in.
Kerkez arrived from Bournemouth with an excellent reputation. He had energy, pace and the willingness to attack the space ahead of him. Under Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth, he had shown that he could be an effective attacking full-back.
That is precisely why Liverpool wanted him.
But so far, we haven’t seen enough of that player consistently at Anfield.
Defensively, there have been moments when opponents have found space around him or got beyond him too easily. Going forward, the final ball hasn’t always been good enough, either.
And that is frustrating because Liverpool need both sides of his game.
It isn’t enough to get forward regularly if the cross doesn’t find a teammate. Equally, a left-back cannot afford to leave his side exposed simply because he wants to contribute in attack.
Liverpool need balance.
Recent assessments of the team’s full-backs have highlighted problems with defensive security and end product from wide positions. Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong have both had difficult moments as they adjust to their roles under Iraola.
I think Kerkez has the ability to improve, but at the moment he isn’t giving Liverpool what Robertson gave them at his best.
We miss Robertson’s delivery
For me, this is one of the biggest differences.
Robertson could deliver a cross at pace, pick out a teammate with a cut-back or send the ball into dangerous areas from deeper positions. He understood when to overlap, when to support the winger and when to hold his position.
His attacking output was never just about running quickly.
It was about knowing what to do when he got there.
Kerkez has the athleticism, and we’ve seen glimpses of his attacking ability, but he needs to turn those runs into more meaningful chances.
Sometimes the pass is too safe. Sometimes the cross doesn’t beat the first defender. Sometimes he gets into a promising position and the move simply fizzles out.
That’s the difference between getting into the right areas and actually hurting the opposition.
And Robertson did the latter time and time again.
I’m not blaming Kerkez for everything
I do want to make that clear.
Liverpool’s attacking problems cannot all be pinned on one full-back. The winger ahead of him, the midfield’s positioning and the team’s overall structure all influence how effective a left-back can be.
Kerkez has also had to adapt to a new club and a different tactical environment. His best football at Bournemouth came under Iraola, so there is every reason to believe the manager can help him rediscover that confidence.
But being a Liverpool player brings pressure.
When you follow somebody like Robertson, the comparison is inevitable.
And it is a particularly difficult comparison because Robertson wasn’t simply good for a season or two. He delivered at an incredibly high level over a long period, helping Liverpool win major trophies while maintaining the intensity required to compete with the best teams in Europe.
That is the standard Kerkez is being measured against.
It might not be entirely fair to expect him to reach it immediately, but Liverpool cannot ignore the difference in performances either.
Perhaps we only appreciate Robertson now
I keep coming back to this.
We watched Robertson for years and became accustomed to his energy, his commitment and his ability to contribute at both ends of the pitch.
He wasn’t perfect, and there were periods when his form dipped. But his overall contribution to Liverpool was outstanding.
Now that we’re looking for those same qualities in Kerkez, we can see just how difficult they are to reproduce.
I still want Kerkez to succeed. I want him to become the left-back Liverpool thought they were signing, and I would love nothing more than to see him grow into the role over the coming months.
But he has work to do.
He needs to become more dependable defensively, improve his decision-making in the final third and start creating the sort of opportunities that make his attacking runs worthwhile.
The potential is there. The consistency isn’t yet.
And that is why Robertson deserves so much credit.
We weren’t just watching a good left-back for all those years. We were watching one of the best in Liverpool’s modern history.
Perhaps we were spoiled.
Because until Kerkez can defend with that same reliability and create chances with that same quality, I think we’ll continue to appreciate just how special Robertson was.
And I suspect we’ll appreciate him even more with every difficult performance we see from his successor.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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