8 months ago
120 Stephen Warnock has suggested that he found what Jurgen Klopp said about leaving Andrew Robertson out of the starting lineup interesting as Liverpool drew with Manchester City on Sunday.
The Reds and Pep Guardiola’s side played out another 1-1 draw this season. Liverpool really took the game to the Cityzens at Anfield. And it is Jurgen Klopp’s side who will perhaps feel that they missed a greater opportunity to get the three points.
Klopp made a couple of big calls ahead of the game. Both Andrew Robertson and Mohamed Salah started on the bench. Of course, in previous years, there seems to be absolutely no chance that that would be the case if they were fit enough to be in the squad.
Pundit confused as Andrew Robertson starts on bench for Liverpool
Salah came off the bench against Sparta Prague on Thursday, so it was not entirely surprising that he did not start. But Robertson’s absence was a little more perplexing as he has been back for a while longer.
Speaking on The 2 Robbies podcast, Stephen Warnock suggested that he was a bit confused by Klopp’s explanation after picking Joe Gomez ahead of Robertson – unless the decision was not down to fitness at all.
He said: “I found it interesting. He said that it was just that he couldn’t play back to back games. And I’m thinking well, wouldn’t you want one of your senior players to play in this game, so why not not play him against Sparta Prague in midweek and have him ready for this game?
“Quite possibly [that he thinks Joe Gomez is a better defender]. And I think that might have been one of the reasons for it. Also as well, I don’t think Andrew Robertson’s hit top form. I don’t think he’s in that form that we’ve seen for the last four, five years from him. And whether that injury has just caught up with him a little bit and he’s just finding difficult to get fit, because he’s been out a while with the shoulder injury, and it’s not an easy one to come back from.
“So it was another big decision. Or was it a tactical one and he’s tried to mask it by saying he can’t play back to back games? Because you’ve got Phil Foden who likes to come inside.”
Left-back still has huge role to play
Robertson reminded everyone of his quality once he came on during the second-half. Gary Neville was full of praise for a cross Robertson put in for Darwin Nunez. Unfortunately for the Reds, Stefan Ortega was able to block the shot.
The 30-year-old is going to have a big role to play over what remains of the season. Liverpool’s squad has been decimated by injury. And they are still waiting for a number of key players to come back.
They remain in three competitions. So the £10 million man is going to get the chance to make plenty of starts before the campaign concludes.
And it would be no surprise if he proved a real point over the coming months.
The post 'I found it interesting': Pundit intrigued by what Jurgen Klopp said about £10m Liverpool player on Sunday appeared first on TBR Football.
