It’s always temping to wonder “what if?” when it comes to current Liverpool and Scotland star Andy Robertson, once in the youth system at Celtic.
A Hoops obsessive in his childhood, Robertson was always technically talented. However, mystifyingly, his height worked against him [Daily Record]. That would stem his development at Celtic, but spells at Queens Park and Dundee United – under Jackie McNamara – would eventually lead to the big-time.
He’s now universally recognised as one of the finest full-backs in the world. The Scotland captain, a Champions League and Premier League winner, has come along way since his days at Barrowfield or even Hampden, at club level.
Growing up, though, that wasn’t always the plan. Because, of course, he wanted to be just like Henrik Larsson.
Well, who doesn’t?
Robertson told TV2’s Premier League Podkast: “I definitely wanted to be Henrik Larsson, I just wasn’t good enough!
“That’s the problem; my shooting probably wasn’t quite good enough to be Henrik Larsson, Tom Boyd was a bit more realistic!
“Growing up, I always loved different players. When I got to a certain age, I realised that full-back suited me best, the way I wanted to play. I started to watch people closely, pick up anything I could, and hopefully then apply it to my game. Which obviously worked well for me when I was younger.”
Andy Robertson really is like all of us Celtic supporters
Let’s be fair for a second here; if you’ve not ever daydreamed about being Henrik Larsson, what are you doing here?
We’ve all done it, surely? If you’ve never wondered what it’d be like to nutmeg Bert Konterman and chip the ball over Stefan Klos, for example, we can never be friends.
Henrik Larsson was and is a Celtic icon. But you know what? Liverpool star Andy Robertson could’ve had a career as good as Tom Boyd and been extremely happy about that, too. Still perhaps a little underrated, Boyd was a massive presence in his time, and is still very much connected to the club.
Still, for supporters who grew up idolising Henrik Larsson, there’s only really going to be one answer for questions like these. Whether you’re a defender like Andy Robertson, a goalkeeper, or you’ve somehow ended up refereeing. Larsson’s name was a mainstay on the backs of shirts for a long time.
Despite Celtic missing out on Andy Robertson’s stunning development, you can’t help but want the best for him. He’s like me or you, except he’s monstrously talented. He was like any of us growing up, trying to copy the moves of star players, dreaming of being just like them.
It’d be fair to say Robertson’s gone and done pretty well in his own right. Perhaps the best tribute you could pay is the knowledge that Larsson probably would’ve enjoyed a whipped cross from the Liverpool star were he playing back in the 90s and 00s.
Read more: “We have a saying at Glimt”; Bodo figure confirms how they’ll approach Celtic game
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