Whilst many heroes might be forged in our youth, Andy Robertson – Liverpool’s greatest ever leftback – is an exception to that rule…
THE OLDER YOU get the more entrenched you become in the past.
Take those ‘Greatest Ever XI’s’ which pop up on the socials from time to time. You’ve got your own, of course, and it’ll probably be the same in twenty years time
We’d have to include John Barnes of 1987-88 on the left, surely. Yeah, I love Sadio Mane too, but I was 18 when Barnes signed and couldn’t believe what was happening before my very eyes.
18 is an age where experience and emotion is heightened to the extent that it forms all subsequent opinions. It’s not just what he could do; it’s how he made us feel. It’s the yelps and sighs of surprise as he tore team after team apart
So, John Barnes for the left-wing.
No. Sorry, but no
It is and shall always be Ray Kennedy. Oh, stop rolling your eyes.
Nowhere near as electric as John and playing in a more withdrawn role but the big Geordie wins it unopposed simply because he was my first hero and first heroes always win. Ray Kennedy made me want to play football when I was seven years old. Fifty years later I wear the number 5 shirt for my local team in his honour. Yes, I know it’s pathetic.
And it’s hard to make changes on those conversations. It took me years to accept that Steven Gerrard would make the team. Next to Graeme Souness, of course. He could never replace him. Equally, Alisson rivals Ray Clemence but I’m not prepared to accept the idea of a better keeper than Clem, emotionally at least. This has nothing to do with logic.
The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there.
Leftback: Andy Robertson.
Andy Robertson makes that XI with little argument from me. Yeah, Steve Nicol, but Bumper could play all over which is sort of against him.
Andy Robertson is my favourite Liverpool leftback of all time. You can write that down and use it against me in years to come if you wish, though I doubt you will. I can’t imagine thinking otherwise.
Admittedly, he’s not up against the equivalent of Barnesy or Sadio. The leftback has long been a problematic role for the Reds and I think it is again. We’ve had some turkeys and we’ve had some who are alright, but nothing to define a generation
It helps that he’s clearly a sound lad. A bit mad at times, maybe even over-confident but I like that he has little eccentric rules for himself. He doesn’t drink tea or coffee because it goes against his ‘hot food/cold drinks only’ tenet.
A bit mad, but passionate, vocal and, most importantly, a phenomenal footballer. The best ever in that role. Yes, even better than Andrea Dossena. Yeah, I said it!
And it looked like he was off to Spurs. He was and then he wasn’t. Good. It might be the wisest thing we’ve done all season
This view isn’t just borne of sentimentality. Liverpool’s left side is largely lacklustre and open. When Robbo came on at Bournemouth Liverpool looked a little better. Still too slow, ponderous and a little unsure of itself but a little better. The captain had a calamitous first-half but seemed to relax more with the Scottish captain next to him. Trust is everything in a back four.
I wonder what he makes of this about turn. One minute he’s packing his bags and now he’s looking at Qarabag at home. I wonder too if one of the factors about him going/wanting to go is the empty space in the dressing room which clearly still affects him to this day. No one could begrudge him a change of scenery come the end of the season but I’m glad it’s not now.
When he does go it’ll be with the best of wishes. That’s important. Suarez, Torres, Trent, McManaman and Owen all had their legacies tainted by their departures. To my mind, anyway.
I hope he gets more game time. I’d like a few more memories of him. There are plenty to add to: his closing against City in 2018 which made the Kop sing his name for the first time and his late equaliser against Villa. Oh, and laughing in the face of Jordan Pickford. I couldn’t hug him hard enough for that.
I’d also hate him if he did that to us and one day he may have the opportunity, but not just yet.
But one day there’ll be another leftback. Maybe even a great one.
They won’t be making my XI though. No chance.
