'Out of his depth' - national media react to Liverpool player's 4/10 performance as Roy Keane fumes


Scotland endured a chastening evening in their first game at a major tournament for 26 years.
Steve Clarke's side were thrashed 5-1 by Germany in the opening games of the European Championships. Scotland were second-best from the outset and found themselves two goals behind within 19 minutes through Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. It then got worse when Ryan Porteous was sent-off for a rash tackle, with Kai Haverz netting from the penalty spot shortly before half-time.
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Hide AdSubstitute Niclas Füllkrug increased the host nation's advantage in the second period and while Scotland got a consolation goal through Antonio Rudiger's own goal, former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can restored the four-goal advantage in stoppage-time.
It was a sobering defeat, with Reds defender Andy Robertson forced to carry plenty of the burden. The left-back is Scotland's captain and will know they have to have monumental improvements if they're to qualify for the knockout stage, with games against Switzerland and Hungary upcoming.
Scotland were lacklusutre and the media included Robertson in that although he was one of the better players. The Scotsman gave the 30-year-old a 5/10 in their player ratings. They commented: "Robertson did not play particularly well, in keeping with the Scottish malaise. He was caught too narrow for Germany’s opening goal when a raking cross-field ball found Germany in space on his flank. After that it was a case of battling, scrapping against a fierce tide. Did have one or two moments going forward and did sling in the cross for Scotland’s consolation goal, which was the only positive on a depressing night for the national team. Never stopped trying."
But the Independent gave Robertson only a 4/10 and said he was 'glided past' by Musiala on a couple of occasions'. Meanwhile, the Guardian gave him the same score and commented: "Looked out of his depth against Germany’s wide men. Beaten repeatedly and could not make any impact going forward." The Daily Mail have Robertson 5/10 but agreed he struggled in wide areas. On Scotland's performance, Robertson said: First half, we just got it all wrong really, didn't show up, weren't aggressive enough, and we let good players get on the ball," Robertson said. "Second half, we're down to 10 men and I thought lads dug in really well.
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Hide Ad“We’re so well backed over here, today was hugely disappointing. We have to bounce back quickly because there was lots wrong here and it’s a quick turnaround now. Maybe it's a reminder of how tough this tournament is.
"Their big players showed up and were excellent all over the park and had an answer for pretty much everything we had. I don't think we’ve played to our maximum. We have to dust ourselves down and go again."
However, his comments rankled with former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, who was on punditry duty for ITV. He said: "If you step off against them like Scotland did tonight - and it's no good talking after the game saying: 'We had a game plan' - it's rubbish! Andy Robertson, it's all just rubbish coming out. You knew before the game what was at stake and after the game it's no good going, 'We'll regroup and we'll be angry tomorrow.'
"No, you should be angry for a long time. We spoke before the game about creating history. They are creating history all right... by playing as bad as that and letting their manager and supporters down. The tackle for the penalty and sending off wasn't aggressive that was madness, of course. Being aggressive is part of the game but they didn't lay a glove on them."
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