Andy Robertson is adamant Liverpool belong at the summit of European football…but to prove it, they have to be in the Champions League next season.
That means turning around the catastrophic form which has seen them tumble out of all four competitions already, which is a tall order given they trail fourth-placed Spurs by seven points, and play top two Manchester City and Arsenal along with rejuvenated Chelsea in the next nine days.
Yet Scotland captain Robertson says if his side believe they still have that champion mentality then the time has come to play like champions…and treat the next three matches just as they did three finals last season.
“Going into April, not being in the Champions League, FA Cup or League Cup, and then not being in a title race is so disappointing - it’s a position we don’t want to be in,” he explained.
“We are out of every competition, but we still believe we are a team that can compete in every competition. So to fix that, we have to be in these tournaments again next season, and the only way to do that is finishing in the top four. So we’ve got 12 games to fix it, and we are determined to put our all into those next 12 games.”
It is a daunting prospect though, with Newcastle also five points ahead of them in the table, and a tough schedule kicking off with the hardest of the lot - a visit to perennial rivals City. Yet Robertson believes the task is now simple: to channel the mentality that saw them compete for all four trophies last season, and treat these massive upcoming games just the same.
Can Liverpool sneak into the top four? Have your say in the comments below
“The motivations are the exact same. We want Champions League football, and so the motivation is the exact same as though we were going for trophies,” he said.
"It is obviously a big week, we are playing against three big teams and yeah it is going to be an intense week but it’s what you look forward to when you come to this club. These are the big games you want to be involved in.
“We don’t want to be in this position, and it’s no denying it’s a big week ahead, but we don't really have time to waste, we don't have any mistakes left in us if we want to achieve top four."
Roberston is always honest, and he candidly admits Liverpool have fallen short of their standards this season. Now the challenge, he says, is to find their consistency for the Premier League run in…and create the right platform for next season.
“It has to be on the highest level when you play at this club - you don't get an option not to do that, the people around the club demand that. I think we do that, but we have just lacked a little bit of consistency this season.
“In the last five or six years consistency is the one word that would be put next to our name, as we always showed up and even when not at our best we still managed to grind out results. We haven’t done that this season, and we have to fix that.”
