Andy Robertson has lifted the lid on the real reason his famous Liverpool battle with Trent Alexander-Arnold became such an important part of Jurgen Klopp’s great team.
The assist competition between the two full-backs became a huge talking point during their peak years at Anfield, but the Scotland captain has now made clear that the numbers were only part of the story.
Robertson and Alexander-Arnold helped redefine what full-backs could do for us, with Liverpool’s width, intensity and creativity so often coming from two players who refused to settle for what they had already achieved.
Speaking to Ian Wright on The Overlap, Robertson explained that the relationship with the Scouser was built on standards rather than personal statistics.
The 32-year-old said: “Everyone focuses on the assist competition, but it wasn’t that. It was more the fact that we were just pushing each other to new limits.”
That feels like the better way to view one of the most iconic full-back partnerships in Liverpool history.
Yes, the assists mattered, because both players were judged on output as well as energy, but what made the pair so special was how they dragged more out of each other every week.
If Trent produced a brilliant pass from the right, Robertson wanted to respond from the left.
If Robbo set the tone with a press, a tackle or an overlapping run, Alexander-Arnold had to match that level.
Klopp’s Liverpool was built on many things, but the attacking ability of those two full-backs was central to how we overwhelmed teams.
That hasn’t really been present this season, with Trent no longer at the club and Robertson now preparing for his final game as a Liverpool player.
The captain of his nation has discussed the drop-off and feels responsible for how this season hasn’t met our normal standards, after the Villa loss.
Steven Gerrard has already admitted that he “wished and hoped” Alexander-Arnold didn’t leave us, while also calling the England international “world-class”.
Robertson, meanwhile, is leaving in a very different way, with Anfield ready to give the Glaswegian the farewell he deserves against Brentford.
His latest comments are a reminder that the best Liverpool sides were not just about talent.
They were about internal competition, standards and players pushing each other until greatness became normal.
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