Challenging a world-class fullback for minutes in the Liverpool first-XI isn’t a challenge suited to everyone – it’s seen Neco Williams, for instance, head for the exit door in a £17m deal taking him to Nottingham Forest.
Competing for playing time with Andy Robertson on the opposite flank is a task ‘too much for every left-back in the world’ Kostas Tsimikas admitted, though one he’s more than committed to.
“When I came here, I know I have to challenge Robbo,” the former Olympiakos man told liverpoolfc.com.
“This is too much for every left-back in the world, but they give me the extra push all the time to work even harder if I want to win something for [my] personal goals.
“That’s what I did for these two years, and that’s what I will do for the next one also.”
It’s a major credit to the Greek international’s ability that there’s hardly ever been a drop-off in quality down the left-flank when the player has been given the nod and he’s already secured a place in club folklore with his winning penalty shootout spot-kick against Chelsea in the FA Cup.
Evidently, the lack of a clear alternative to Trent Alexander-Arnold was made all the more glaringly obvious by Tsimikas’ success down the left with us successfully pursuing the addition of Calvin Ramsay as our No.66’s understudy.
One can only hope that the highly-rated youngster will take to the challenge of pushing our world-class 23-year-old as fervently as his fellow backup fullback on the opposite side.