Andy Robertson to Reap Rewards of Full Pre-Season

The Scottish fullback is looking to build on an impressive debut season.

Pre-season is in full swing, and as usual, there is going to be a trickle of players into Melwood over the course of the coming month as World Cup participation gradually ends for the remaining members of the squad. It’s a system that sees players arrive in varying states of condition and ensures pre-season match day squads are a mish-mash of first teamers, youngsters and no-hopers, but also guarantees that every player is given a full three weeks of recovery after a long and arduous season.

One player who is done with his recovery for the summer and is raring to get on with his work for the upcoming season is Andy Robertson. The Scottish fullback arrived in late July last year and began the season behind Alberto Moreno in the pecking order, but following the Spaniard’s injury in December, Robertson ruthlessly seized the spot, never relinquishing it.

With the benefit of a full pre-season under Jürgen Klopp, the 24-year old hopes to make his sophomore season even better than his debut.

”[Last time] I came in a bit late and missed the trip to Hong Kong, which I was a bit gutted about,” the fullback told the club’s official site.

”I think I did the first three weeks with Hull so it was a lot different - it’s always good to get a full pre-season with the team you’re going to be with. I knew I was leaving Hull last season so it was a tough one but this season I’m settled and I can really focus on pre-season.

He continued: ”Over the close season I’ve been working on getting fit and now I want to get fitter until August and it’s all leading up to that West Ham game now.”

“The pre-season here is intense but I think it shows when the boys are flying in the first game of the season and then throughout. It’ll be tough on the legs but it’s all worth it when the season comes and you need to be raring to go instead of at maybe 80-85 per cent.”

While the supercompensation model is applied nearly universally in modern football, optimising if for every individual player on a 25-man squad, all with varying levels of baseline fitness and work capacity is a formidable task. Hopefully, Liverpool’s sports science team will hit the mark with as many of their players as possible, ensuring that the opening game with West Ham on August 11th sets a superlative precedent for the rest of the year.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com