Michael Owen questions Arne Slot signing after Liverpool resurgence - 'Did they need him?'

Owen

Michael Owen has questioned Liverpool’s signing of Milos Kerkez after Andy Robertson’s recent resurgence.

The Scotland international has been instrumental in the Reds picking up back-to-back wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid over the past week, following on from what was a dismal run of six defeats in seven games.

Robertson has found himself having to play back-up to Kerkez for much of the season so far, with the Hungarian starting Liverpool’s first nine Premier League games following his summer transfer from Bournemouth.

The 21-year-old though has struggled so far, leading to some harsh criticism of his performances from pundits.

Despite defending Kerkez’s start to life at Anfield, Arne Slot has taken him out of the side for the past two games, with Robertson reclaiming his spot at left-back after being the Reds’ first choice almost since the moment he joined the club in 2017.

Kerkez wasn’t called upon at all from the bench against Villa, while he made just a cameo appearance against Real on Tuesday,

with Robertson the favorite to retain his spot for Sunday’s trip to Manchester City.

Owen has now questioned whether Kerkez’s signing was even needed during the summer, having insisted that Robertson was written off too quickly by some

The 31-year-old endured a tricky campaign during the Reds’ title triumph last season, having recorded just one assist in the league, while questions were raised over his defending.

Kerkez was therefore signed as a long-term option as Liverpool seemingly lined up Robertson’s replacement.

The Scot was linked with a move away from Anfield during the summer, although he would ultimately choose to stay put, with fellow left-back Kostas Tsimikas heading out on loan to Roma.

Owen

“Did they need Kerkez for example?”

“People pensioned Andy Robertson off pretty early in my opinion and now everyone is saying ‘well, maybe they should revert back to that.'”

Robertson has certainly made a difference since returning to the starting line-up, helping Liverpool to back-to-back clean sheets - although he insists that should only be the start for the Reds.

Robertson

“Too many times this season we’ve had to score three goals to win games and stuff like that and you can’t keep doing that,”

“At the start of the season we were doing that well and still winning the games but that’s not sustainable.

It’s sustainable when you win games with clean sheets and win 1-0 or 2-0 and things like that.

“Of course, you’re going to concede goals now and again but it’s about having that control and I think we’ve got that back in the last two games.

“It’s important now that we have to be consistent: that was the message today before the game, we need the consistency back in the game, and I think we really brought that.

“But we’ve got another massive game on Sunday and it’s going to be tough.

“We’ve put a lot into this week already and it’s going to be difficult, but we obviously go there with more confidence than we had last week so that’s pleasing.”

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