Why Robertson is right to be worried by Kerkez arrival

The 21-year-old has long admired the Scot from afar, turning himself into the perfect replacement at left-back.

Photo: IMAGO | Anfield Index

Few would have expected Milos Kerkez to go out of his way to use his first interview as a Liverpool player to praise fellow left-back Andy Robertson.

Speaking to the club’s official website, the Hungary international said: "For me personally, Robbo is the best left back that played in the Premier League. To come and be next to such a player that has [so much] experience… is important for me.”

But make no mistake, he is not coming to Anfield simply to admire the Scot at closer quarters than he could at Bournemouth.

No, Kerkez is coming to steal Robertson’s place in Arne Slot’s team, which is exactly why a departure to Atletico Madrid remains a possibility for the latter.

And a look at the numbers suggests Liverpool’s current first-choice full-back has every right to be concerned.

While Robertson’s struggles last season were arguably overblown (you can’t carry a true liability in a title-winning team), there is no question he has dropped some way off his defensive peak.

Using volume statistics to measure the quality of defensive output is risky given that players in worse teams do more defending for obvious reasons.

But it feels telling that, over the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, Robertson made 201 tackles and interceptions combined, while the last two campaigns have seen a less intense version of the player clock up just 108.

Kerkez, meanwhile, posted 164, and what is also notable is that he is not only making more challenges, but also succeeding at a better rate, as shown below.

That superiority in both volume and success is spelled out even more clearly in this map of each player’s ground challenges from last season, too.