Fighting against the financial juggernaut that is Manchester City in England, Liverpool have had to be incredibly smart with their recruitment decisions.
One of the best calls the Reds have made in that regard was the addition of Greek international Kostas Tsimikas who, since struggling in his maiden season, has become an integral figure at the club.
Certainly, it speaks to his qualities that there has rarely been a notable drop-off in performance and quality down the left flank when the former Olympiakos man has deputised for his fellow left-back, as Fabio Aurelio rightly noted.
“I was impressed with Kostas Tsimikas again during Liverpool’s win against AFC Ajax in the Champions League earlier this week,” the Brazilian told Liverpool’s official website.
“Obviously it was a shame Andy Robertson was unavailable through injury but we’re really seeing the benefits of having such good competition at left-back.
“Getting more game time and having the opportunity to show what kind of player he is, you can see the increase in Tsimikas’ confidence massively, and that’ll be helping his performance levels.”
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Postponements have come at a good time for Liverpool and our Scottish fullback, though have perhaps been poorly timed for our backup option, who may have handed Jurgen Klopp a difficult decision with a string of top performances ahead of the international break.
As things stand, Robertson remains set to take back his spot in the starting-XI ahead of our clash with Brighton & Hove Albion on October 1.
Still, it has to be said that we’d be foolish to expect Tsimikas to give up so quickly in the fight for supremacy in the left fullback spot and we’ve no doubt competition will continue to suit us going forward.