GRAEME SOUNESS: Liverpool’s Andy Robertson has a helluva lot to say for himself

Like everything else in football today, the moment Liverpool’s Andy Robertson approached the linesman at Anfield last Sunday has been analyzed in microscopic detail – but I wouldn’t say it’s all that complicated.

Maybe it’s because he’s a wide player, in close proximity to an official, but Robbo has a lot to say for himself and that was certainly the case in that game against Arsenal.

There had been a previous conversation between him and the official, Constantine Hatzidakis, and you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist — or a lip reader — to understand what he was saying when he approached him again, as the teams left the field. pitch at halftime.

Let’s say Robbo didn’t inquire about the health of that official’s family. It was adult language only.

Robbo is one of the culprits when it comes to Premier League players leaving it to the officials. And to complicate matters, he then laid an arm on Hatzidakis.

I don’t care how light that contact was, you never touch an official in a moment of criticism or aggression. Not in my time. Not now. And that’s why I have sympathy for the linesman in this case. I don’t see him throwing an elbow.

What I see is a reflex that says, ‘Go away. Go away’. In the days that followed, this official was hung to dry by his colleagues.

I wouldn’t like to be on the receiving end of a proper elbow from Hatzidakis, by the way. He’s clearly someone who spends a lot of time in the gym.

But I don’t think there has been a sensible response to this incident. That’s exactly where we are in the world, not just football. Everyone goes overboard with their reactions.

I also have to say my heart sinks when I see the quality of some of our umpires and I have no qualms about saying I am their biggest critic.

I would like us not to constantly talk about VAR, as all commentators and pundits do, as if the technology is somehow the source of shocking decisions rather than human error.

Let’s do it right. Far from being a tool, this technology is an embarrassment to referees’ lives and puts some in a very bad light.

But that still doesn’t justify the physical contact. As a player I might have put my arm around a referee to say, ‘Well done ref’, but never in the heat of the moment. We were told at Liverpool that you should never be given a card for talking, only for making a borderline or wrongly timed challenge.

I always felt I had a good working relationship with the referees when I played. I’ve been booked a few times. I was sent off once in my English football career for punching Stan Ternent when he played for Middlesbrough against Carlisle.

He was a midfielder who could hold his own against anyone. I deserved to go. No complaints.

Back then umpires were allowed to talk to you, but looking at their body language now is like looking at politicians. When they talk, it’s an open palm. They never point at a player and when they book one they always back off. They are all clones of each other.

This seems to be the way they are coached. If you said to one of them when I was playing, “That was a decision, ref,” they gave you something back. “Yes, and you play well too.” You laughed. You respected them for that.

Those relationships on the field no longer exist and I wonder if it was different in the past because the referees let us go through a bit more? To me, they’re now taking on the role of the interfering adult, rather than just letting players keep going. How come in the lower leagues they let more things go? Is it because the higher you go, there are more cameras and surveillance?

We will be far from any kind of laissez faire attitude this weekend. While it is right and fair that the FA has decided not to take any action against Hatzidakis, events at Anfield will make scrutiny more intense than ever. Officials will be more aware of the all-seeing cameras. But the basic principle applies. You never – never – point a finger at officials when you approach them in anger.

Reds shouldn’t budget Jude Bellingham, but they DO need midfield upgrades

I never had the feeling that Liverpool would bring Jude Bellingham to the club this summer.

The idea that they would push the boat out that far for one player didn’t make sense given that they need more than one midfielder in my opinion. And then you have to take into account that the club is for sale, with the American owners looking for an investor or a buyout.

It will cost more than £100 million to buy Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund, which is a lot of money for a 19-year-old’s potential. Liverpool are not the only club on the market. Real Madrid has a 37-year-old Luka Modric and a 33-year-old Toni Kroos in midfield. Looking in from the outside, that’s who Liverpool will be battling for Bellingham’s signature.

It was on 13th August that I highlighted in these pages why I thought midfield was the part of the Liverpool team that needed reinforcements and my opinion on that has not changed. But I still don’t expect Liverpool to suddenly change course and start spending the kind of money that Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have spent in recent years. They are hugely to their credit to have won a Champions League and Premier League trophy for a fraction of what those clubs spent.

Since 2017, United have spent a net £681 million in the transfer market, Chelsea have spent £723 million and City £449 million, while Liverpool’s net figure was £276.83 million. There is no better illustration of how Liverpool works. United and Chelsea have spent about three times more than them and City twice as much.

From 2018, Liverpool went through a golden period of buying players who showed up and performed immediately. Taking £142m from Barcelona for Philippe Coutinho, buying Alisson and Virgil van Dijk and still getting a £40m chunk of change was arguably the best trade in Premier League history.

Can they do the same thing again? Well, they still have a transfer committee that oversees the purchase of the players they want to bring in. And Jürgen Klopp still has the last word. They need to make some smart moves and need some of what everyone in football needs: a big dose of luck.

It was a fantastic result for Manchester City on Tuesday night against a Bayern Munich side who looked very good early in the game. But then Bayern’s two central defenders Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt imploded in spectacular fashion. Watching the game reminded me of that age-old football saying, “You’re only as strong as your weakest link.”

It surprises me to see managers who have been banned from the sidelines getting involved in the press conferences afterwards. That’s football it wants from both sides. Forcing managers to watch from the stands will suit some – I loved watching the start of matches up there – and if you really wanted to ban them you wouldn’t have them in the stadium at all. The suspensions, like many of the managers’ sideline antics, are window dressing.