Andrew Robertson is one of the Premier League’s top full backs, becoming a star at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp in recent years.
It’s hard to imagine this Liverpool side without Robertson’s marauding runs up the left flank, with his endless energy just perfect for the Reds.
Yet on the international stage, Robertson has been unable to recapture that kind of form, and finds himself under pressure despite being Scotland captain.
Robertson played as a left wing back and left back against Israel on Sunday, but wasn’t quite at his best, with some now believing that he should be dropped and Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney should be given the nod as first-choice left back.
That seems unlikely given Robertson’s standing as Scotland captain, but the questions over his performances have left boss Steve Clarke frustrated.
Clarke has told The Scottish Sun that he thinks the criticism of Robertson for his performance against Israel has been ‘really poor’, believing that he played well in tandem with Tierney.
When quizzed on whether Robertson plays better for his club than he does for his country, Clarke hit back by saying the questions are ‘unfair’, sticking with his assertion that the duo can play in the same team for Scotland.
“I think it’s a problem more for the media, pundits and the fans, not us,” said Clarke. “I thought our left-hand side, with Robertson and Tierney, whether Kieran was at left centre-back and Andy at left-back, or Kieran left of a three with Andy left wing-back, worked well in Israel. I thought the criticism of Robbo the other night was poor. He had a good game, so judge the player. It was really poor as Andy Robertson had a good game for us. He played well the other night in both the first and second half.”
“I think that’s unfair, it’s a different team. We’ve spoken about this one before, with everyone saying you can’t get Tierney and Robertson in the same team. But we can do it. We’ve done it consistently for Scotland. And maybe that’s one of the reasons we’ve qualified for a major tournament. Both of them were decent that night in Belgrade. For me it’s no longer a discussion. We can play them both. They can play in the same team. Kieran likes to play on the left as well as Andy. I think we have found a way to do that,” he added.
With Arsenal facing Liverpool this weekend, Tierney and Robertson will face off against each other on Saturday night – but Clarke is still really searching for the right formula to truly get the best out of both players for Scotland.
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