Robertson happy to silence critics after being ‘written off’ over Liverpool form

Andy Robertson has said he had a point to prove in Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa having been “written off” for the first time in his storied Anfield career.

The left-back produced an impressive performance as Arne Slot’s team moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday. It followed a difficult start to the season for the 30-year-old, who missed almost all of Slot’s first pre-season with a longstanding ankle problem and saw Kostas Tsimikas take his place for the wins against Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen.

Robertson admits he was well aware of the criticism that followed his display at Arsenal and, while he believes it was an overreaction, it did fuel the response against Unai Emery’s side. “The last couple of games I’ve been on the bench and I got doubters for the first time in a long time, first time at this club,” said the Scotland captain. “But it suits me in this position. I am trying to prove people wrong again.

“I am a lot older and a lot wiser now than when I came in. When I first came in I was only 23, first time playing for a big club. I have been here for seven years and won everything, played in a lot of big games. I am a lot more experienced and a lot better at switching off from everything like overreactions and things like that.

“Probably a bad 45 minutes of football against Arsenal, it was not great. I think pretty much everyone had written me off after that. That is football and that is what happens these days. People can write me off all they want. But I will always try to keep working, keep improving, I have tried to do that and hopefully I have shown that [against Villa].”

Robertson sustained a serious ankle injury on international duty in March but played through the pain barrier as Liverpool chased a quadruple and Scotland competed at the European Championship. He aggravated the problem during September’s win at Wolves, playing on again, and has held talks with Slot over his form this season.

“The manager is very open and honest,” he said. “We have spoken quite a few times and it has always been good conversations. There is mutual respect between both of us even if we don’t agree with the team lineups.

“It happened with Jürgen [Klopp], it has happened with Scotland, and I always have respect for the manager. He knows my experience in the changing room and how I try to help everyone else. And that won’t stop. But I do like playing. I like starting and being on the pitch but when I’m not I try to be as professional as I can and just try to do my talking on the training pitch and wait for my chance. I knew that the next time I got a chance I would take it and that’s what I tried to do.”

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Liverpool entered the international break top of the Premier League and the Champions League group after winning a remarkable 15 of Slot’s opening 17 matches. Robertson believes there is a straightforward explanation for the smooth transition under the head coach.

“Because we’ve won games. It is as simple as that: winning games breeds confidence. You win one and roll on to the next one. At the start we had full weeks in between games to do a lot of tactical work. We didn’t have much time in pre-season. The lads are playing really well at the moment, some have been unbelievable. It’s about keeping going and keeping winning games to breed confidence throughout the club.”

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