Jürgen Klopp might soon have to rethink Kostas Tsimikas comments as £19m Liverpool duo impress

Jürgen Klopp might soon have to rethink Kostas Tsimikas comments as £19m Liverpool duo impress

Liverpool Echo Sports·2021-08-24 06:00

Kostas Tsimikas has barely put a foot wrong in the absence of Liverpool's first-choice left-back, Andy Robertson. The Greek has looked every inch a Liverpool player against both Norwich City and now Burnley.At Carrow Road, he tired towards the end of the second half understandably, having not played a full competitive game for more than a season but at Anfield, whether that was because of the crowd being behind him, or simply the benefit of last week's minutes in the tank having an impact, Tsimikas was still fighting for everything even in the final seconds.The £11m signing from Olympiacos has now settled right in, but once Andy Robertson is fully fit again likely at some point next week before Chelsea come to Merseyside on Saturday the Scotland captain will come straight back into the starting XI.That is the tricky situation that Tsimikas finds himself in: he could not have done anything more than he has while deputising for Robertson, replicating his style of play and even producing one of Robertson's trademark assists to set up Diogo Jota's header against Burnley, but Tsimikas almost certainly will be back on the bench again next weekend.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated ArticlesGiven Robertson's durability, it could be some time before he gets another chance in the team again, with that likely to come against whoever Liverpool draw in the League Cup. Even that is still weeks away."Its not really a problem," Jürgen Klopp told Stadium Astro on Sunday. "In the last few years, we had a problem that it was quite tricky to replace Robbo and I would say its not really possible as Robbo is a world-class player, an incredible player."Its like hes the full package as a defender and an attacker you wish for that position and hes a leader in the team and all that kind of stuff. Kostas, like Robbo before, needed some time to get used to all the different things we are asking left-backs for."Absolutely, in time, he got it so Kostas is in a good moment, he played well, set a goal up with a sensational cross so thats no problem, thats just great to have them both. For a manager, its a problem when you dont have a left-back. When you have two, thats no problem."No matter what Klopp says, though, it will become a problem sooner rather than later. Left-backs are not like forwards or midfielders: there is no need to rotate them and change them too frequently, as Tsimikas' lack of minutes last season proved.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated ArticlesNapoli were interested in Tsimikas during the summer; others like Inter Milan were linked with him. While Liverpool did not entertain a move away for him, there is a recognition of his quality across Europe, and Reds fans can now see that too.Tsimikas, on the admittedly small sample size of the last two matches, has what it takes to play for a Champions League side regularly. He would get into Pep Guardiola's Manchester City team despite them having spent hundreds of millions on full-backs in recent times, and he would arguably play a significant number of minutes for Chelsea, too, with Marcos Alonso and Ben Chilwell, on the early evidence, not that much better, if better at all.At 27, Robertson is not going anywhere any time soon. Tsimikas has already proven that he would be deserving of a chance in the bigger games, but as long as Robertson is available, he will play.That, though, is a long-term issue for Liverpool to solve. For now, for a bargain price of around £19m for the pair, Klopp has two excellent solutions at left-back. As the German says, having two is not a problem at least for now.Read MoreRelated ArticlesRead MoreRelated Articles

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