Protect Andrew Robertson at all costs

Progress is inevitable. But by quickly moving on from Robbo, Liverpool sacrifice the team's beating Scottish heart and lose a deep connection with the fans.

Image credit: @andyrobertson94 on Instagram

When I talk to my mum about football, there are only three players guaranteed to make her face light up: Robbie, Sami, and Andy Robbo. She loves the scamps and rogues more than anyone. I think she just fancied Sami.

She’d be crestfallen if Andrew Robertson left Liverpool. And I can’t have my mum being sad.

Unfortunately, it sounds like a possibility. There’s reported interest from Atletico Madrid, and the speculation may have legs. Robbo is 31 with just one year left on his deal. We know all-too-well the football operations nerds’ attitude to offering new contracts to any player in that age group.

We’ve just spent the last two years fretting about whether our two most important players would be offered terms suitable enough to retain them. They weren’t players we were already in the process of replacing either. So yeah. We know where this is heading. Robbo is leaving at the end of next season at the latest.

But Edwards, Hughes and company are synthetic algorithms covered in human flesh. The results speak for themselves, but they’ve no appreciation for the emotional side of football. They’re building the club in that image, but data doesn’t quantify emotion, or personality, or connection.