Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson has told FourFourTwo of his challenging first few months at Anfield, and admits that he needed the support of those close to him to make it through.
The Scot arrived as an £8m signing from Hull in July 2017, but played in only two of the Reds’ first 14 Premier League games of the season, stuck behind Alberto Moreno in the pecking order.
The turning point of Robertson’s season came in December’s 5-1 hammering of Brighton, when he was handed his first appearance in three months and shone on the south coast. From there on he started 26 of Liverpool’s remaining 31 games across league and Champions League, and was a standout performer as Jurgen Klopp’s side reached the final of European football’s showpiece event.
So good were the 24-year-old's displays, in fact, that he was a serious contender to make the PFA Team of the Year.
Things had been tough for Robertson up until that point, though, as he recalls in the October 2018 issue of FourFourTwo – out in shops and available digitally from Wednesday September 5.
“It was tough,” Robertson told FFT. “It was a new situation for me and I probably didn’t deal with it very well initially. I hate not being involved.
“I believe in myself and I always felt I could be out there contributing, so being up in the stand, watching the game with my family, wasn’t a nice experience.
“I was a real pain to be around, to be honest. My girlfriend probably hated me for those first couple of months but she was one of the people who kept me going. I hadn’t come through an academy system, where boys are used to being in and out; I’d worked my way through the ranks and was used to playing matches.
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“When I got my chance, I knew I had to take it.”
Read the full interview with Andrew Robertson in the October 2018 issue of FourFourTwo – part of our 12-page cover story on Liverpool’s quest for glory – out in shops and on iPad/iPhone from Wednesday, September 5. Meanwhile, we go One-on-One for a fascinating career reflective with Dimitar Berbatov, remember Manchester City when they were bobbins, give England 22 tips for 2022, meet Marlon Harewood: ride pimper – and much, much more.
Joe was the Deputy Editor at FourFourTwo until 2022, having risen through the FFT academy and been on the brand since 2013 in various capacities.
By weekend and frustrating midweek night he is a Leicester City fan, and in 2020 co-wrote the autobiography of former Foxes winger Matt Piper – subsequently listed for both the Telegraph and William Hill Sports Book of the Year awards.
