Former Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam has labelled Andy Robertson the best left-back in the Premier League and Champions League.
Robertson has made 26 appearances across the two competitions so far this season, with 19 in the English top-flight and six in Europe’s premier tournament.
Is Robertson the UCL’s best left-back? Five things to know…
- Robertson broke into the Liverpool team last season, making 30 appearances across all competitions and playing in the Champions League final.
- He has carried this form into the current campaign and was appointed the Scotland national team’s captain in September.
- Real Madrid’s Marcelo and Barcelona’s Jordi Alba have led the way when it comes to Europe’s best left-backs in recent years.
- Robertson has provided six league assists so far this season; Marcelo, 2018’s left-back entry in Fifpro’s World XI, has three and Alba has nine.
- The Scot is yet to yet to win a trophy with Liverpool; Marcelo (4) and Alba (1) have won the Champions League five times between them.
Robertson’s rise has been a surprise, to say the least. Liverpool signed him for just £8m from Hull City in the summer of 2017. Three years earlier, he was still playing for Dundee United in Scotland.
And Adam, who played for Liverpool 37 times between 2011-2012, believes his countryman is the best around in his position.
“If Liverpool won the league, he’d be a cult hero,” Adam told the Scotsman.
“The players love him, the fans love him – Liverpool have always had a tradition of Scottish players and the one thing they always love about them is how hard they work. We have the most endeavour, we want to win, we have a passion and they’ve related to him in that way.
“But don’t forget he’s also a quality player. His assists, the link-up play he has with [Sadio] Mane is fantastic.
“Although it took him three or four months to get the opportunity, he hasn’t been out of the team since. Jurgen [Klopp] had him on the sidelines, but he did well in training, got his chance and has never looked back.”
Here Adam went so far to say Robertson has “probably” overtaken the likes of Real Madrid’s Marcelo – who has been out of form this season – Juventus’ Alex Sandro and Jordi Alba, of Barcelona.
He added: “He’s been the best left-back in the league, probably the best left-back in the Champions League as well. He’s proof that it’s not where you start your career that matters, it’s where you finish.
“No disrespect to Queen’s Park but Andy knows where the low point is, part-time, working on match-days at Hampden – to get to where he is now is incredible.”
Did Stoke City pass up on Robertson?
Robertson’s career could have been very different had Charlie Adam gotten his way.
Adam claims he told Stoke City to sign Robertson for £8m before Liverpool lured him from Hull 18 months ago.
“I said to Stoke at the time we should have bought him for £8 million – it was cheap,” Adam added.
“Liverpool could afford to throw that at him though, and if it hadn’t worked it wouldn’t have been a gamble for them. What’s that £8m worth now? Put a five in front of it at least – it’s probably £60m, £70m, for a left-back.”
Stoke were relegated from the top-flight last season and currently sit 14th in the Championship, while Liverpool are four points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The post Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson touted as Europe’s best in his position appeared first on Squawka News.
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