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When looking back at 2020 through the lens of Liverpool Football Club, it breaks down into three distinct blocks.
There is the period from January to March, the normal old man before the world was turned upside down and the 2019/20 season was suspended for three months as a result. Then there’s the reboot of the project from mid-June to late July, and then there’s the 2020/21 season so far.
As such, it is an unusually difficult task to assess how teams and individual players have performed throughout the calendar year, particularly from Liverpool’s perspective given the fact that seven of those games at the end of last season took place after the title. of the Premier League. it has already been finished and therefore cannot be judged by the same standard as normal competitive accessories with everything at stake.
In a context of unprecedented circumstances, therefore, how is the Liverpool player chosen in 2020? A reasonable case could be made for a variety of candidates. Mohamed Salah is obviously one of them, having scored 26 times in all competitions this year at the time of this writing (the most in the team at 12), many of them crucial game-defining moments. Sadio Mané has also been relentlessly brilliant from the opposite flank, if not quite as prolific so far this season (although his overall contribution remains huge, regardless).
Jordan Henderson would certainly be in the conversation having risen to a level where he must now be unequivocally considered one of the best central midfielders in Europe, while Fabinho has recovered from a slow and injury-troubled start to the year to resurface as a figure. Immensely influential, whether it be to anchor the midfield or slip into the center without problems. The two Dutch Virgil van Dijk and Gini Wijnaldum cannot be overlooked either, and neither can Trent Alexander-Arnold, despite the former having his season cut short in the most cruel way.
However, there is one player who is perhaps not regularly talked about in the same terms as some of his teammates, but has arguably been the most consistent of all in the last 12 months, and that is Andy Robertson. He was obviously outstanding in the second half of 2017/18 after establishing himself as Liverpool’s first-choice left-back, and played an integral role in Liverpool’s 97-point Champions League-winning campaign in 2018/19 before leading that level of performance to 2019/20.
This year, however, it appears that Robertson has taken his game another team completely. As Ollie Connolly pointed out in a great article earlier this month, it’s a paradigm shift for the position in that it combines so many aspects of what the previous greats did, it does them all absolutely brilliantly, and he also does a lot of things wingers have rarely seen before in terms of chance creation and ball progression.
It’s not just a phenomenal overlapping winger who will hit the baseline and throw a wicked ball into the area; he will happily step onto the field and advance through the core areas when the opportunity presents itself. You can choose a teammate with a precision cross or cut, but you will also play neat and quick one-touch passing combinations in and around the edge of the area, while also possessing the ability to change the play in an instant. with a 60-yard raked pass to Alexander-Arnold or Salah on the opposite side.
And now, with increasing regularity, we see him share set piece responsibilities with Alexander-Arnold, translating his laser-guided throw from open play into dead ball situations, making him a multifaceted attacking threat from virtually every player. players. part of the pitch. His 12 assists in all competitions in 2020 is the most for Liverpool’s team, two ahead of Salah and three ahead of Alexander-Arnold.
Like Alexander-Arnold, he essentially operates as an offensive midfielder from the left back, while also having the defensive knack to discharge his duties with poise at the other end of the field (aside from one or two uncharacteristic mistakes).
Given the sheer volume of soccer he’s played, starting every but three league games in 2020 (and playing every minute in the league so far this season), and considering the extreme physical intensity that his particular role entails, it’s still most astonishing thing I could ever do to maintain such extraordinary levels of performance at all times. Even in games where the team as a whole has been far below average, he has often been the bright spark looking to take the team onto the field and make something happen.
There is something intangible about Robertson’s importance to this team beyond their exceptional soccer prowess, as he perfectly embodies the collective mindset that makes them such a formidable beast. Not only is he technically excellent, but he has the courageous determination to hit the ground and leave absolutely everything on the field for the cause every time he plays. He may be the best player in the world at his position, but he’s still remarkably humble and down to earth, never satisfied with what he’s already accomplished, always looking for ways to improve.
When the going gets tough, Robertson never stops. Even in the 7-2 humiliation at Villa Park, he was one of the only Liverpool players who was able to walk away knowing he would still make a reasonable trade. When his mistake led directly to Arsenal taking the lead at Anfield earlier this season, he didn’t flinch or feel sorry for himself; he came up the other end and made up for it with a magnificent goal of his own, eventually emerging as one of the best players in the game.
This season there is even a credible argument that can be made that he is among the Premier League players of the season so far, such is the way he helped Liverpool overcome so many obstacles to stay firmly on the path to his primary purpose of retaining title.
In a year that has been so deeply marked by unpredictability and uncertainty (both in football and in the rest of the world), Robertson has been a constant thread of magnificence that runs through everything. I wouldn’t bet against him being even better in 2021.
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