Andy Robertson has found a new way of winding up Trent Alexander-Arnold. When their paths cross, he just utters three words and they need no elaboration for either of Liverpool’s flying full backs. “I just say to him ‘by a mile’,” the Scot smiled. “I just keep saying it to him. I walk past and that’s all I need to say.”
Those three words have given Robertson a chance to gloat in a friendly rivalry that has helped drive Liverpool to greatness. There are two times in recent weeks when former full backs have brought a sudden influx of messages to Robertson’s phone. One is a Liverpool icon, in Alan Kennedy; another was long a hate figure at Anfield, in Gary Neville.
When it became apparent that, as in 1981, the European Cup final would be Liverpool versus Real Madrid in Paris, it brought back memories of Kennedy. Robertson was sent footage of an unlikely scorer’s winner, often with the suggestion he could emulate a predecessor. “If we get a good basis then I will let someone else try and be the hero,” he countered.
A left back has already secured Liverpool a trophy in 2022, with Kostas Tsimikas scoring the winning penalty in the FA Cup final shootout. “I should have had my moment,” said Robertson, who hit the post with a few minutes remaining. “I obviously missed that. We have played in two finals and there have been penalties and heroes. When it comes to finals, I don’t really sit and think about scoring the winner, it is not really in my personality.”
There was no false modesty there. Recognition came instead when the former Manchester United captain Neville, often described as the Premier League’s greatest ever right back, selected his side of the season. He did not just pick Robertson; he described him as the division’s best full back. And, Neville argued, by a mile. “Quite a few people sent me it,” Robertson said. “That kind of praise is always nice. I don’t necessarily need it but when you do hear it from somebody so well thought of in the game, I enjoy hearing it.”
At least one of Jurgen Klopp’s full backs did. “Trent’s not too happy,” Robertson continued. “He obviously argues the ‘by a mile’ bit. He gets enough praise. He usually has the upper hand. I’ll take this one.”
The Liverpudlian can often use numbers to advance his case in their private duel. “Trent’s stats are always better than mine so I try and keep him away from stats,” Robertson said. “Unfortunately, he always knows the stats inside out.”
The Scot has been directly involved in 18 goals this season. It still puts him behind the assist machine on the opposite flank.
But the attacking facts and figures do not contain the full measure of a performance. Robertson’s analysis of his efforts goes beyond that.
“The goal involvements have been big,” he added. “But this season I have taken more confidence from games where I have not had goal involvements. Arsenal away is always one I go to. I know how good [Bukayo] Saka can be and I know in that game I managed to keep him quiet which was not a big factor in us winning [2-0], but a big factor in Arsenal not winning. He is the one that sets the tone for them. Maybe Manchester United at home, [for] two goals, the third and the fourth [in a 4-0 win], I won the ball back, I start the goals off but you don’t get a stat for that. A lot of people get fixated on stats now; it’s kind of a stats sport.”
Nor was a tone-setting display against AC Milan reflected in his assist numbers. If they can be deceptive, so can praise. “Maybe some people think I have had a good game and I don’t and it then makes me more determined to put it right the next game,” Robertson said. “I beat myself up, probably more than I maybe should but I can’t change that and I try make that work for me.”
It is an attitude that has taken him from Queen’s Park to, perhaps, the status as kings of Europe again. This summer marks the 10th anniversary of his most famous tweet – “Life at this age is rubbish with no money. #needajob” – and it has been a decade marked by a relentless drive to get better.
“I have never ever thought: ‘I am the finished article, this is me now, this is as good as I am going to get,’” he said. He has always been a work in progress.
“When I came to Liverpool I had a lot more improvement to do than maybe certain players. Virgil [van Dijk] came in and was probably already seen as one of the best centre backs in the Premier League so he was already closer to where he is now than maybe I was.”
Robertson went from a back-up left back bought from relegated Hull to a starter in the 2018 final against Real in a few months.
And yet years of progress threatened to be followed by sudden regression last season. As Liverpool suffered six straight home defeats, the chances of them being in the Champions League, let alone the final, seemed to be vanishing.
“People started worrying we were going to be in the Conference League,” Robertson said, pinpointing the 4-1 Anfield loss to Manchester City as a particularly bleak point. “You sit back and think: ‘This might be possible.’ We went back as far as eighth at one point.” Instead, they rallied to finish third. Reward could come a year later in the shape of glory.
Given Scotland’s World Cup play-off against Ukraine on Wednesday, Robertson may have to be more restrained in his celebrations than he was when Liverpool won the 2019 Champions League.
“Maybe a couple less beers,” he said. “In Madrid, I didn’t really go to sleep so maybe that will be a wee bit different. Maybe I’ll have to get a couple of hours in. But I think in these moments you always have to take them in, you always have to enjoy them.”
He has his country to captain, but he also has a seniority at Anfield. Liverpool did not just finish last season without their senior centre backs, but without Jordan Henderson. Robertson assumed more responsibility to help drag them over the line.
In the summer, when Gini Wijnaldum left, Klopp asked his players to vote for three members of an expanded leadership group. As James Milner collated their ballots, Alexander-Arnold and Alisson were elected along with the man who got far more support than anyone else. It was Robertson, by a mile.
