Andy Robertson is still not doing what Tottenham paid him to do
Although there was optimism that Destiny Udogie could return to the Tottenham Hotspur starting 11 against rivals Chelsea on Saturday after suffering yet another minor, nagging injury, the Italian international was unable to make it for Roberto De Zerbi, so the manager had to go back to his second string option Andy Robertson.
And although Robbo has teased a few better appearances this season, by and large, the free agent Scottish international has been a real blight for Spurs this year. Even though he was signed for free in terms of the transfer fee, Robetson is making a hefty 8.3 million pounds per season and is one of the highest paid players on Spurs.
The thing is, he is nowhere near being one of their top five players despite his high wages. Robertson struggled again and was even hooked off in the 64th minute as Spurs brought star right back Pedro Porro back into the fold for some key minutes off the bench vs. Chelsea as the Spanish international works himself back to full fitness.
Andy Robertson is not good enough cover for Destiny Udogie
Tottenham Hotspur did not sign Andy Robertson to be a star or to even compete with Destiny Udogie as a starter, but knowing Udogie's injury history and the fact that Djed Spence was likely to be sold, Spurs still have some expectations for Robertson. But instead of being a competent backup who ensures not too much of a drop off on the not so rare occasions that Udogie can't play, Robbo has been a massive, massive downgrade.
He was quite useless against Chelsea and comfortably one of the worst players on the pitch for either team. If Cole Palmer were actually more up top it, Robertson certainly would have been more exposed by the Blues on the road.
Robertson did not progress the ball at all for Tottenham and missed a few great opportunities to get his teammates like Mathys Tel and Omar Marmoush in on goal. He had only one key pass and was quite inaccurate with his passing overall.
Defensively, Robertson did not have a single intervention and was pretty disastrous, again, saved by the fact that Pedro Neto and Palmer had very ill disciplined days. But even then, the duo had Robertson on skates defensively a couple of times, and he had to be bailed out by covering midfielders or Micky van de Ven almost doing his job for him.
Tottenham are not getting their money's worth out of Robertson, and they may not be admitting it right now, but clearly they are having some buyer's remorse and probably should have signed someone younger and more versatile like Neco Williams.
