Marco Silva hailed Antonee Robinson’s man-of-the-match display at Anfield – admitting the American international’s outstanding performance left him speechless.
Robinson made both of Fulham’s goals as the Whites twice went ahead against the league leaders, but Fulham were denied victory when the ten men of Liverpool equalised through substitute Diogo Jota with four minutes of normal time remaining.
Silva told his post-match press conference:
“What a performance. It’s difficult to express in words. This season he is so decisive. He was brave, assertive and aggressive in the right way when he came up against Salah. He had a yellow card after 27 minutes yet he stayed really aggressive in the right way. He was up and down every time and he’s one of the greatest in our dressing room with the way he works and the way he is playing.”
The Fulham head coach agreed with the assertion that Robinson is the best left back in the Premier League.
“You are asking a Fulham manager but of course I am going to say yes. I don’t want to talk too much about him because I know in January the same story is going to follow about Robinson. I don’t want to go in that direction. He’s really focused in the way he plays, so let’s keep him like that. It’s crucial for us. If he’s the best or not, that’s not for me to decide, my players are always the best!”
The Portuguese boss outlined how impressive the ex-Everton defender’s improvement has been since he took over at Craven Cottage from Scott Parker.
“Even when I arrived at Fulham four seasons ago, the way he has improved off the ball has been exceptional. If you create the right areas for him, he is going to be decisive going forward. Going up and down is not easy for any winger to follow him the way he plays, but also he has improved in defensive set up. He’s open-minded to learn and is a player who is always ready for us because he’s a great athlete.”
Still has a lot of improvement margins, especially defensively. If he had closed on Salah, as his position dictated, the first goal wouldn’t have come.