Jürgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, recently made another Andy Robertson replacement aside from Kostas Tsimikas.
Since the full-back is having surgery for a shoulder problem, Liverpool may be without Andy Robertson for a considerable amount of time. While Jürgen Klopp has one fix, Kostas Tsimikas has another.
News that Andy Robertson needs surgery on a shoulder injury picked up on international duty was not the update that Liverpool fans wanted to hear from Jürgen Klopp on Friday.
It remains to be seen what sort of timeframe the Scotland captain is looking at for a potential return but he is going to be out for a few weeks at least, and more likely a matter of months.
Most prominently, that will present an opportunity to Kostas Tsimikas. The Greek full-back had a promising international break with his country where he laid on an assist and played well, but while he would be the obvious favorite to take on Everton this weekend, he cannot play every minute.
“He cannot play all the games from now on so we need other options as well,” Klopp said in his press conference. “That’s what we have to make sure: that we can use all of them.
Joe Gomez was another option for left-back that Klopp name-checked, with the 26-year-old having played there before. But Gomez might yet be needed at right-back to cover for Trent Alexander-Arnold and has been playing well in the center too.
That means that as well as Tsimikas, another Liverpool left-back could be set to get chances. Luke Chambers is a major talent and Pep Lijnders has spoken about him glowingly in the past. Only an injury prevented him from playing a bigger part in the summer’s pre-season preparations.
“You see the young kids really showing up and that’s good, there’s a lot of talent in there. You need options, that’s clear, and Kosti is definitely the most experienced in the position, so that’s good.”
Chambers is an ideal fit for the kind of player that Liverpool wants in the left-sided role at the back.
When Liverpool was looking for a left-sided player to cover for Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk as either a full-back or one spot inside during the summer, Chambers was stylistically a perfect fit — the only question is whether the 19-year-old is ready, and whether he will reach a high enough level.
But the potential is certainly there. Indeed, had regular observers of Liverpool’s academy fixtures hypothetically been asked a few months ago to predict one young defender who would make the step up this season, Chambers would have been the obvious pick, ahead even of the very promising Jarell Quansah.
An England youth international who is comfortable in either left-sided center-back or left-back — essentially the role required with Alexander-Arnold playing a hybrid position — Chambers has a real chance in the coming weeks to stake a claim.
In the Europa League and Carabao Cup matches, he could effectively become Tsimikas as the Greek takes on Robertson’s Premier League role.
In his last full season at Liverpool at youth level, he netted nine times and showed a real attacking prowess before winning the U19 European Championship with England and then spending the second half of last season on loan at Kilmarnock.
But if Chambers could show just the cool, calm defensive side of his game at senior level, that would be a major result, and the rest could follow.
Chambers is certainly one to watch in the coming period. There is a reason, after all, that Xabi Alonso was keen to sign him for Bayer Leverkusen.
There is also a reason that Klopp was happy enough to put his name forward as a possible Liverpool left-back solution.
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