Can Andrew Roberston Be Scotland’s Answer To Gareth Bale?

Date: 24th May 2018

This Saturday, Andrew Robertson will line-up with his Liverpool teammates as they take on Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

It’s hard to believe that the left-back was playing in Scotland’s bottom tier just five years ago.

His phenomenal rise to fame has been remarkable but not entirely surprising for those that have followed his career since those days at amateur side Queen’s Park.

He’s a player who always meets every challenge head on and who conquers them.

He moved from The Spiders to Dundee United and he flourished in Scotland’s top flight. Then Andrew moved from the Scottish Premiership to the English Premier League, with Hull City his next destination. He once again shone and that led to an international call-up. He soon became one of Scotland’s more consistent performers.

The move to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool happened last summer. The German manager made the full-back wait for his regular chance at Anfield. Once that chance arrived, Robertson grabbed the opportunity with both hands and never looked back.

We’ll all watch on in Saturday and see if Robertson can handle the pressure and keep the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Isco at bay.

But I wonder if the Scotland team can offer yet another huge challenge.

Can Alex McLeish convert the twenty-four year old into an attacking left-winger?

Another Real Madrid rival, Gareth Bale, also started off as a left-back but he was then pushed forward into a wide forward role and he impressed. He’s now a world class attacker, who is also a talismanic figure for his country. His top notch performances helped Wales qualify for the 2016 European Championships.

Now I’m not suggesting for a second that Robertson can copy Bale’s journey to the letter but he could become extremely important to our squad if he can be given more licence to attack.

With Scotland, we have a great amount of talent that can play at left-back. So there should be nothing stopping Big Eck from using Andrew Robertson as a left winger.

In the first friendly of McLeish’s second term in charge, the Scots gaffer went with three at the back and he had the Liverpool man as an attacking wing-back. He was our best player that night!

It would be a dream seeing Robertson and Celtic’s Kieran Tierney working in tandem on the left-hand side for the Tartan Army.

Andrew is a smart player, he times his runs well and get’s away from his opposite number. He can also put in some fantastic crosses into the area and create great chances for teammates.

He could do with improving his shooting skills, he only grabbed his first strike for Liverpool in the final Premier League fixture of the season. But if you look at that goal, the defender took it with some aplomb. If he can do that more often, then that would be brilliant for Scotland.

Here’s hoping that Andy Roberston can help Liverpool clinch the Champions League title this weekend, it would be superb to see a Scot lifting that famous trophy again.

Then who knows? Maybe he can then star for his nation as an attacking force and help us get to a major international tournament!

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