Liverpool’s Premier League season is underway, but it hasn’t been a very enjoyable first half at Portman Road for one Reds player.
Arne Slot’s team have come up against an Ipswich side with a clear determination to prove themselves in their first top-flight campaign since 2001/02, and one man who’s had a less than convincing start to proceedings is Andy Robertson, who played just once in pre-season due to injury issues.
The Liverpool Echo’s Ian Doyle bemoaned the 30-year-old’s rustiness after giving away a free kick just after the 20-minute mark, posting on the publication’s live matchday blog (12:52): “Greaves gets on the end of a free-kick from the Ipswich right but Alisson just about grabs it. Came from soft foul by Robertson.
“The left-back is definitely not enjoying himself at the moment. He looks very rusty and a number of the other Liverpool players are definitely not close to full sharpness.”
Doyle’s colleague Paul Gorst was also critical of the Liverpool left-back, posting (12:54): “Andy Robertson has started like a player has is rusty from having not played much lately.”
As much as we adore Robertson for everything that he’s contributed at Liverpool, we must concur with the two reporters in saying that the Scot has looked nowhere near his best during the first half at Portman Road.
An early miscontrol to gift Wes Burns an opening inside the first five minutes wasn’t an encouraging portent, and he was summoned to the touchline by Slot for a firm instruction shortly afterwards.
The concession of the free-kick mentioned by Doyle was another worrying moment, while BBC Radio 5 Live pundit Mark Warburton noted how Ipswich’s number 7 on the right flank has been ‘proving a real problem’ for the Reds left-back.
Robertson may be an experienced campaigner who’s proven himself at the highest level, but having played only an hour of football in pre-season, a certain rustiness has been evident in the first half against Kieran McKenna’s side.
Hopefully our number 26 can shake off those early cobwebs and show the standards that we know he’s capable of reaching.