Is an Andy Robertson Replacement the Priority for January?

In the aftermath of Liverpool’s deserved 2-2 draw away to fellow title challengers, Arsenal, comes the dissection of what went wrong and what must be done to ensure any issues are resolved. It took just nine-minutes for Arsenal to take the lead at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon, as their returning England superstar, Bukayo Saka, turned the Scotland skipper, Andy Robertson, inside out to score a scintillating opening goal.

For the past two summers (and under two completely different regimes) on Merseyside, there has been talk of Liverpool signing a hybrid left-sided defender to operate on the outside of the red’s defence. In the warmer months of 2023, there were continual links to the up-and-coming Chelsea star, Levi Colwill, who had just returned to his parent club following a brilliant season long loan at Brighton.

The England International defender was clearly targeted by the Anfield recruitment team and up until the moment he negotiated a better deal (to remain at Stamford Bridge), it seemed like the England under-21 European Champion would join his fellow tournament winner, Curtis Jones, at Anfield.

Unfortunately for the then Sporting Director, Jörg Schmadtke, that deal did not materialise and it would be Joe Gomez which became the operating left back who enjoyed the best form last season. It must also be noted that there were tentative links to Micky van de Ven, before he himself signed for Tottenham Hotspur last year.

In this most recent summer of 2024, the new Liverpool Sporting Director, Richard Hughes, appeared to be linked with a plethora of similar type assets. The exciting names of Gonçalo Inácio, Castello Lukeba, Alessandro Bastoni, Piero Hincapié, Willian Pacho, and Jarrad Branthwaite, were all similar recruitment options who are left footed and could offer a more physically powerful entity that is able to operate at both left back, as well as in a back three in transition.

This is the type of endeavour which has seen both Nathan Aké, and Joško Gvardiol, prosper for the 115-time charged Etihad giants, Manchester City. Sadly, for the expectation heavy fanbase on LFC, none of these links came to fruition and the 2023/24 season was undertaken with Andy Robertson, and Kostas Tsimikas, as the starting left back options for the new Liverpool head coach, Arne Slot.

Is A New Left Back the First Priority for Richard Hughes?

Outside of the need to get certain individuals signed to new and extended contracts agreed, the signing of new assets must also be considered as high priority within the offices at the AXA Training Centre.

Given the emergence of Ryan Gravenberch and the stable of viable alternatives to play the infamous no.6 position, I suspect that following another suspect performance (by Robbo) at the Emirates on Sunday, all recruitment executives and indeed the new head coach, will be meeting this week to reaffirm their desire to sign a new left sided defender in January.

I have written numerous articles over the past two years stating the need to upgrade that specific area of the side, essentially when it became clear that the club vice-captain, Trent Alexander Arnold, would be afforded more freedom as the primary playmaker of the team. The evolving landscape of modern football is seeing the common back four (in Europe) become a more flexible back three (in possession), thus allowing one of the fullbacks to move forward and into the midfield.

This initiative was undertaken at the end of the 2022/23 season (by the former Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp), however, despite that initial uplift (which energized a tired Liverpool group), the following campaign produced repetitive failings in transition. When reviewing the reds on ball shape yesterday, I frequently saw a back three rearguards emerge, housing the 6ft 4inch presence of Ibrahima Konaté on the right, the towering 6ft 4inch skipper, Virgil, van Dijk, in the central area, whereas the left-hand side of that trio was occupied by the 5ft 10inch fullback, Andy Robertson.

It is in no way my intention to sully the reputation of a legendary figure, merely an attempt to state the obvious limitations at hand. Ultimately, it is the 30-year-old’s slight physical frame, weakened rearguard positional sense, and lack of defensive capabilities, which is struggling to translate into what is needed under a new leadership.

Following a career that is approaching 600-senior appearances, the best game of the former Hull player is now deep in the rear-view mirror and even his most beloved supporter and former manager, Jürgen Klopp, saw the writing on the Anfield wall, when attempting to regenerate in the same way he did with his former captain, Jordan Henderson.

Who Could Liverpool Target in The Winter Months?

I suspect that the long list of targets will be narrowed in the coming weeks and as we enter the final two months before the next transfer window, the tentative inquiries will become firm approaches for players they believe can assist a genuine title challenge. Though the 78-cap Scotland star, Robertson, could still act as a valued squad member, the below list should be looked upon as starting calibre players who would increase solidity.

Gonçalo Inácio – Sporting Lisbon

Castello Lukeba – RB Leipzig

Piero Hincapié – Bayer Leverkusen

Jarrad Branthwaite – Everton

Each of these players would cost upwards of £50m and immediately offer a physicality and assurance in the desired left back position. Each listed player possesses slightly differing fundamentals, however, both the analytical team and the former Feyenoord manager, Arne Slot, will surely have undertaken a thorough inspection of what is needed most to thrive in the second half of the season.

With Liverpool just one point behind the sports washing entity, Manchester City, as well as being four points clear of the north London giants, Arsenal, year one of Liverpool’s new enterprise could well become a glorious chase to leases ultimate success. There are two positions of need that cannot be failed upon once again, which is why I suspect after the transfer disappointment in August of this year, the club will ensure these upcoming winter months are more prosperous. Priority one must now be to sign a left-sided defender, shortly followed by specialist defensive midfielder.