A SIGN OF GOOD THINGS TO COME
McGhee delighted Liverpool captured Robertson
LIVERPOOL supporters looking for positive portents following the £8million signing of Andy Robertson should note that when their club was last crowned champions of England 27 years ago, a Scotland international played left-back. Steve Nicol’s fifth English top-flight title of a golden era was earned in 1990 to continue a proud tradition of Scottish achievement at Anfield.
However, it is not what the country can once again do for Liverpool, rather what Liverpool can do for the country that was exciting national team assistant manager Mark McGhee as he welcomed the rarity of a Scotland player signing for one of England’s top four.
Robertson’s big-money move makes him the first Scotland international since Darren Fletcher’s Manchester United heyday to entertain realistic ambitions of challenging for a Premier League title while playing Champions League football. The 23-year-old’s life will be spent in elite company from now on and there can only be knock-on benefits for Scotland, according to McGhee.
‘The fact he’s going to be a Liverpool player is just fantastic for us,’ said McGhee. ‘We’ve all been convinced that, at some point, Andy was going to move on. Not just by the talk but by what we’ve seen and known about him ourselves because he’s always had that ability to be better.
‘But I don’t think we necessarily thought for sure he’d go to a club at that level. These guys at Liverpool do their homework. There’s lots of due diligence, they’ll have taken their time to make sure he is what they thought he was. They won’t be disappointed.
‘For Scotland, it’s not just about the boy himself now. He will be no different in terms of attitude, which has always been first-class. He will be different in the sense that he’s playing with better players and at a higher level.
‘So the psychological factor is that everyone else gains from the fact he’s a Liverpool player. Everyone else is raised by that. He’s going to be playing with a Champions League club. What a benefit that he’s going to be comfortable in these environments when it comes to our big games.
‘Andy will start the new season in a different environment, so when it comes to the likes of the last two games in the section — if we’re still in it — that bit of experience he’s had will be a bonus. He will come with a confidence knowing that he belongs in those places.’
The place for Robertson, whose fee is dwarfed by other Jurgen Klopp signings, was filled last season by the versatile James Milner, who is predominantly rightfooted yet ousted Alberto Moreno from the left-back berth. While Moreno has been linked with a move away, Jon Flanagan remains an option to switch from the right to left side of defence if required.
Klopp has been at pains to stress Liverpool players must be prepared for rotation to operate within the squad this season. That, says McGhee, presents the former Queen’s Park and Dundee United man with the test of becoming the go-to guy for the bigger occasions in a hectic season. ‘If he never plays, then it’s a problem for us,’ said McGhee. ‘But that won’t be the case. I think that there will be a day when it’s him and a day when it’s someone else, going by the way Klopp is talking. There’s a lot of games from Champions League to League Cup for these top clubs to play. ‘Andy is not going to be a player who plays in the League Cup at Shrewsbury and Cheltenham, though. He’s going to be a lot more than that. Really, that is the challenge to him. He’s got to step up now and make himself the man who Klopp rests. Not the guy who steps in for the guy being rested. ‘Liverpool having such a proud tradition of Scots is a terrific element to it as well. There’s Kenny Dalglish there and Gary McAllister is around as a club ambassador, so a contingent will be there backing and encouraging him.’
Perhaps Robertson has already raised his game up a level thanks to the emergence of competition at international level. Kieran Tierney’s arrival to the senior Scotland side makes the left-back position endowed with top-class talent like no other in Gordon Strachan’s provision.
The national coach has dealt with the dilemma by shuffling Tierney to right-back against Slovenia then using the Celt on the left side of a central three for England’s visit. McGhee believes there is another plot brewing which would ensure neither player’s talent is lost on an international night.
‘I think that Gordon demonstrated in the games how important both of them are because he found a way of getting both in the team,’ noted McGhee. ‘Both would have appreciated that and it’s something we have to look at going forward. ‘It might not be every day that we play with a five, so how do we play those two? It will be interesting to see how his role develops and does it give you a clue in the fact Andy can play a bit further up the park. I’ve had discussions with him about this because I believe that he can. And I know that he believes that he can.’ McGhee (left) suspects long-time admirers Liverpool may have had the brakes on their pursuit of Robertson before making him the 45th Scot to wear the famous red. An injection of pace in wide areas and his lethal delivery are obvious additions to aid one of Liverpool’s issues of last season — breaking down teams built to frustrated them at Anfield.
McGhee hopes that his increased physical presence has now given Robertson greater confidence to win one-on-one contests.
McGhee said: ‘There was a time when we were doing marking at set-pieces and he was last to be considered. He would be stuck somewhere and might head the ball but not needed to pick someone up. Last time, although admittedly we didn’t have many big ones, we felt some justification in including him.
‘He was involved in that group of those we could put on someone, he could stick with someone. We felt that had to come before he made the next step. And I feel he’s become much stronger and much more prepared to put himself one v one.
‘Becoming physically stronger has made him more capable defensively.’