CHRISTMAS
... But hectic period will bring out the best in us says Robbo
ANDY ROBERTSON says when the going gets tough, he expects champions Liverpool to get going.
And despite his boss Jurgen Klopp voicing concerns about the unfair physical demands the packed fixture schedule is placing on players, Robbo says they can handle anything that’s thrown at them.
Fresh from the 1- 1 draw at Manchester City – the team many consider to be their biggest rivals – fullback Robertson believes the Kop squad will feed off the pressure as games come thick and fast between now and Christmas.
“Hopefully we can come back from internationals full of confidence and then really kick on, because we are a good team,” said Robertson.
“I hope we go and attack this Christmas period, because it’s going to be hectic.
“But we have dealt with it pretty well in previous seasons and that’s what we need this season.”
Sunday’s point at the Etihad came at a cost, with England star Trent Alexander- Arnold ruled out for a month yesterday after a scan on his injured calf.
With the full- back joining Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Virgil van Dijk and Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain in the treatment room, Klopp was understandably frustrated.
But Robertson maintained Liverpool can still keep swinging punches.
“I think when we started getting some injuries and lost a couple of players with Covid- 19 everyone expected the wheels to fall off,” said the Scot. “But we have managed to steady the ship a little bit and pick up some great results.
“Long may that continue and long may we keep building our confidence and building our performances.”
Big clubs have launched a concerted pitch to revisit the decision to have just three substitutes this season after a spate of muscular injuries.
Klopp’s plea that the relentless demands of the fixture list was “injuring the players” came just 24 hours after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insisted his side were “set up to fail” against Everton by schedulers.
Manchester United had to play at Goodison Park 48 hours after arriving back from a Champions League match in Istanbul.
Pep Guardiola, Frank Lampard and Jose Mourinho have also weighed in on a debate about excessive demands on players.
Yet while all the ‘ Big Six’ have at least one player on the sidelines with a muscular injury, the list of walking wounded is by no means an epidemic.
Smaller clubs will once again fear this is the latest concerted attempt to drive through changes to the substitution rule.
The big guns want to increase substitutes from three from seven replacements to five from nine but have twice been defeated in votes of Premier League shareholders.
Yet should they succeed in driving a third vote through, it would be a blow to the smaller clubs with less depth and quality in their squads.
Some may also detect a growing panic from big clubs fearing their places in Europe, given the bright starts from Southampton, Aston Villa and Leicester.
With just four Champions League places up for grabs, traditional powerhouses sense their place at the top table is no longer guaranteed.
For teams currently involved in Europe – Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Leicester, Arsenal and Spurs – the run through to the festive programme will be unrelenting.
Liverpool face a dozen games in 43 days, while Carabao Cup quarter- finalists City, Arsenal and United play one more in the same spell from November 21 to January 2.
BIG BLOW: Virgil van Dijk leaves the field after picking up his ACL injury against Everton
over 48 hours after returning from a Champions League fixture on Wednesday night in Istanbul.
Despite United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer claiming his side had been “set up to fail”, League bosses and broadcasters are unmoved.
United asked the Premier League about moving the fixture to the
Sunday, but while the league assured them they would “relay their concerns” to the broadcasters, the match went ahead as planned.
Yesterday the Premier League, which distributed over £ 150m to United as their share of the broadcast deal, stood firm behind the fact that no protocols were broken.
Any team engaged in