The first part of this week's John Aldridge column looks at Andy Robertson's future and the psychological problem Liverpool are currently struggling to get over
Andy Robertson, pictured sitting on the bench before being brought on in Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, is going nowhere for now
Andy Robertson, pictured sitting on the bench before being brought on in Saturday's 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, is going nowhere for now(Image: Ryan Pierse, Getty Images)
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The news that Andy Robertson now looks set to stay at Liverpool is great to hear after the talks with Tottenham Hotspur in recent days.
You simply cannot replace what Robbo gives that dressing room at Anfield, keeping morale high and striking the right tone inside the squad. That's before you even mention what he is able to give you on the pitch, where he continues to be an excellent alternative to Milos Kerkez, who has had a good few weeks.
Losing Robertson this month would have been similar to when James Milner or Jordan Henderson went out of the door - these are big personalities who drive the culture and keep standards high every day.
They are difficult to replace as characters and leaders. The last thing Liverpool need right now is to lose more defenders, so it looks as though the right decision is being made.
And Arne Slot needs to be honest with him too. Kerkez, Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth aside, has been in good form and has been improving in the last month or so. He remains the future on the left side of the defence but Robertson will still have some opportunities.
Look, from Andy's perspective, I get it. He wants to play, he wants to be a starter and he wants to make sure he arrives at this summer's World Cup - Scotland's first for 28 years - in the possible condition he can; in-form, playing and ready for what will be some of the proudest days he will have in football.
But he will know the score from the club's point of view as well. He will get game-time between now and the end of the season and all he has to do is give four more months of the outstanding service he has given for the last eight-and-a-half years and then he can walk away with his pick of the clubs.
And he will deserve to have his choice. He can go anywhere and make himself an important part of a new club. That is, of course, if he doesn't want to stick around on a new contract, if those talks are continuing behind the scenes.
He is a proper player and has been since he joined all those years ago. A club legend who has given everything. But it seems his time isn't over just yet at Anfield. Quite right too.
Back to square one
After steadying the ship at the end of November, it feels like the 3-2 loss to Bournemouth has put Liverpool right back to square one. It was a performance that was something we were used to seeing before that 13-game unbeaten run.
Three goals conceded to a side who, with respect, are not Arsenal or Inter or maybe even Marseille, which all yielded clean sheets. This was a Bournemouth side who had only won one in 14 before Saturday. So much went wrong defensively.
On the ball it was neat and tidy and we're not playing at a million miles an hour right now, we all know that, but the goals conceded were just so poor. It was beyond that, even.
Blame the wind, the rain, the snow, whatever the weather conditions, you have to deal with things much better than Liverpool did, particularly the first goal that starts with Virgil van Dijk failing to clear his lines and ends with an injury to Joe Gomez. Schoolboy stuff.
After that, you have to say they did really well to get back into it at 2-2 but it's another last-gasp goal that has cost us points. It's happening too often and it, ultimately, is a mentality thing. It has to be because it is five times now where Liverpool have conceded a goal in stoppage time to take away vital points.
If you take away those late goals shipped against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Leeds United, Fulham and now Bournemouth, Slot's men would have nine more points. That would place them one point behind third-place Aston Villa, who I hope go on to win the Premier League title by the way, rather than this dogfight they are in for the final Champions League spots.
Conceding late goals so often is not a fitness thing, it's more of a psychological problem. It's like a striker going on a barren run, it can get to you at times and it can almost become a self-fulfilling prophecy as it were.
The more it happens, the more the team panics late on, which leaves them more susceptible to it happening once more.
It's a horrible cycle to be in once that panic sets in. Liverpool need to deal with that better from a defensive point of view, it could cost them a top-four spot.