Andy Robertson: “It’s Always Nice To Put Yourself At The Top”

Andy Robertson has become a fan favorite since taking over the left back spot for Liverpool in 2017. The garrulous but hard-working Scot has often been overshadowed by his Scouse fullback compatriot on the right side, Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Robbo has consistently played at a world-class level for quite some time now.

Against Aston Villa, Robbertson broke the Premier League assist record for a defender after setting up a Mohamed Salah goal. Robbo surpassed Leighton Baines with his 54th Premier League assist, doing it in almost 200 fewer matches than the former Everton player.

After the match, Robertson spoke to Amazon Prime Sport about what it meant to break the record. For him, it’s nice to be recognized for an offensive record despite his main focus of being a defender.

We started really well. I put the ball in for Darwin and he just couldn’t put it away. Then we got a corner and Trent’s played an unbelievable ball to me and I’ve just seen Mo at the back post. Look, full-back has evolved a lot and it’s about going forward now as well as defending. But first and foremost, I want to defend and things like that – but it’s a big part of our game. I equalled it just before the break and I knew I did that [with] two against Southampton. During the break I just wanted to try to get back and beat it. First game back, it’s always nice. Look, I’m not really into individual things and things like that – I’m all for the team. But when you do stuff like that and you’re in the Premier League against some unbelievable defenders, it’s always nice to put yourself at the top there.

While Robbo was glad to get the pressure of the record off his back, what he really was excited about was getting a win as they returned to Premier League play. The Reds have struggled mightily away from the friendly confines of Anfield this season, so getting three points on the road was a good way to kickstart the league campaign.

Our away form hasn’t been good enough this season – we know that. A big result against Tottenham before the break and it was important to back that up. Tough place to come – new manager, buying into the way he plays, really good squad, always a tough place to come – so [it’s] a really important three points for us. The first half couldn’t have gone much better for us. We dominated the game, had some really big chances, could’ve been more in front. But we knew they were going to react, they were going to come out a bit more positive and try to get after us – they did that. Obviously a tough start to the second half, conceding a goal, 2-1, making it interesting. We had to dig deep and sometimes you have to do that, especially away from home. We showed a different side to us today where we dug in. And then obviously we hit [them] on the counter-attack and it was brilliant for Stefan. He’s been around the first team long enough now and he’s really stepped up his game. He was brilliant when he came on.

Hopefully Robbo and the crew can keep the momentum going as they return home to take on Leicester City on Friday.