I was talking about Robbo to a mate the other day when watching the City vs Hoffenheim match, he's a Hull ST holder and I basically asked him if he had expected the lad to go on and be as successful as he has. I've been to quite a few Hull games with him over the years so had seen Robbo play myself before his move and thought he looked a cracking option but my mate had obviously seen him week in, week out.
He was kinda flummoxed by how good he's turned out, he didn't deny that Robbo had quality, said he was way too good for Hull or the championship but said he thought Robbo was a bit weak defensively to make it at as a regular at a top top side, and that he was known by the fans for being a weak crosser. He expected Robertson to be nothing more than a squad player to fill in for Moreno (lol)
I'll be honest and say whenever I watched him at Hull I didn't see any of that, I wasn't paying a massive amount of attention, I do remember being impressed at his pace and his runs forward, also thinking he looked as likely as anyone to score.
I think it's amazing someone not highly fancied has come in from a small team for a small fee (almost free if you factor in Stewart) and basically become the best Left back in England, some would even argue he's the best LB on the planet or at least on his way to being so. In todays footie world where everyone's a scout and players are under the spotlight from being a kid, everywhere from sites like opta to highly researched games like FM it's great to see hidden gems still appearing.
If Liverpool do go on to win things with this team (I have no doubt they will) then Robbo will surely go down as a legend in years to come as he'll be a huge part of it I'm sure - not bad for a lad that only six years ago was crying out for a job on Twitter.
Hopefully there's some more completely under the radar players out there, I'd love to see Liverpool bringing another one of two in, it'd be very much like the 80s with a few of the unfancied players from little clubs we brought in who are now club legends.
As for Robertson himself, I'm made up he's gone on to make himself an almost undroppable player, it says it all about the lad that given a choice to swap him for another LB from any club I wouldn't, I'd maybe umm and ahh on Marcelo for a while given his quality going forward but he's not great at the back AND he's getting old.
I'm not one for really favouriting players, last time I did that really was Fowler, but Robbo and Trent are the two in the current side I'd really hate to lose and enjoy seeing get better and better. The rest of them, great players as they are I wouldn't be gutted for long if they left for Real/Barca but I hope Andy and Trent stay here for the rest of their careers.
