Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has spoken for the first time since Andy Robertson announced he would be leaving the club in the summer
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot addresses the media at his pre-Fulham press conference
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot addresses the media at his pre-Fulham press conference
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Arne Slot has delivered a glowing tribute to the departing Andy Robertson and hinted the left-back has chosen to leave Liverpool in pursuit of regular first-team action.
Robertson confirmed on Thursday evening that he will leave Anfield after nine years when his contract expires at the end of the season.
The Scotland international, who almost joined Tottenham Hotspur in January, has fallen behind summer signing Milos Kerkez in the pecking order at left-back and has been restricted to just six Premier League starts this campaign.
And Slot believes Robertson is a prime example of the intensity his squad need to show as they continue to head into a new era with Mohamed Salah also leaving as a free agent in the coming weeks.
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"First of all, he had many great seasons over here as a player," said the Reds boss. "But people got to know him as a great person, I got to know him as a great person, every team mate will tell you how funny he is and how great of a person he is.
"That has been shown a lot on social media as well from our social media people.
"What I remember most about him is the intensity he is always playing with, we have seen and learned something about intensity two days ago but I can also remember Robbo making a press from left-back to right wing a few years ago, I showed that to the players I was working with back then.
"(He has) won everything over here, served this club over so many years, really loves this club. It has been a great nine years.
"We saw this season he didn’t play as much as he is used to. Still a lot but not as much. As a result of that, he is leaving.
"It is difficult to be in that position longer than a season. Every player wants as much regular first team football as possible."
Robertson could be in line to start in the Premier League visit of Fulham on Saturday evening with Slot poised to rotate his resources, with the game coming only three days after the 2-0 Champions League quarter-final defeat at Paris Saint-Germain and three days ahead of the Anfield return.
"Yesterday was a recovery day and let's see where a few of our players are because I'm not telling you for the first time that not all of our players are capable of playing three days later another intense game," the Liverpool head coach said. "Let's see what the line-up brings this time.
"We don't get the player back yet but Alisson (Becker) is working hard to find his way back into the squad. That's really positive, but he won't be in the squad this weekend."
Alexander Isak made his return to action after more than three months out with a late cameo from the bench at Parc des Princes, with Slot hinting the £125million striker will be given more minutes at the weekend.
"That Alex is available for us again is vital, of course," he said. "It has been hard for us to convert chances into goals and he's been a goalscorer all his life. To have him back is really nice. It was only 15 minutes but good to have him back.
"Hopefully we can progress his minutes and he can grow to his form as soon as possible. The last time of course it took him a while which is completely normal, but now we're hoping after the great rehab period we can bring him faster to the level we want him to be at."