The Athletic’s Everton correspondent Greg O’Keeffe has discussed Liverpool defender Andy Robertson following the recent Merseyside derby.
During the 2-2 draw at Goodison Park, the Scottish full-back bagged an assist and earned a 7.19/10 performance rating, making him the Reds’ fourth-best player on the day (per WhoScored).
The defender had the fourth-highest passing accuracy percentage (90.4%) of any Liverpool player and also made the most key passes for Jurgen Klopp’s side (three).
While Robertson’s passing ability was on show, he also made the joint-most fouls for the Reds with two, alongside Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk.
During the latest episode of The Athletic’s Everton podcast Gwlad Tidings, O’Keeffe discussed Robertson and aired his belief that he was lucky to stay on the pitch. (27:00)
He said: “Robertson [was] very, very fortunate, I think, for getting away with the challenge on Allan. You can talk about potential calls for a penalty, he [was] tugging on Richarlison’s shirt.
“You know, not to conflate it with what happened to Van Dijk, but I thought the challenge on [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin was cynical.
“I thought he knew exactly what he was doing on [James] Rodriguez, Everton’s best player and he was trying to intimidate him and he was throwing his weight around, let’s say.
“You never know what can happen when you do that but, again, I’ve got to be clear, I’m not conflating that with what happened to [Van Dijk].”
TIF Thoughts on what Greg O’Keeffe had to say about Andy Robertson…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he clearly believes that Robertson could have been endangering Everton players by “throwing his weight around”.
Do you think Andy Robertson can be too reckless on occasion?
Yes, he needs to calm down
No, I don't see a problem
The Scotsman has been no stranger to overenthusiasm on the pitch previously, with the defender having openly admitted that “you have to make cynical fouls sometimes” (per Daily Mail).
However, following Jordan Pickford’s ‘reckless’ challenge on Van Dijk, which has left the imperious Dutchman with a long-term injury (per The Times), the effects of throwing your weight around are abundantly clear.