Robinson has come into his own this season, and now offers a world-class presence for Marco Silva's side
Left backs aren’t cool these days. It’s up for debate if they ever really have been. Such are the tactical tweaks in modern football, and the interchangeability of positions, that a traditional outside back – the kind of player who runs up, runs down, tackles and crosses – doesn’t really exist anymore.
Everyone tucks in, plays sideways passes, crosses from deep. They are all converted midfielders or bruising center backs pushed out wide.
And so we arrive at Antonee Robinson. He is, in some ways, a throwback. Here we have an athlete, who always did all of those traditional things – those runs, crosses, duels – very well. But this year, he’s elevated himself into the elite. He’s made old fashioned look exciting and traditional look modern. Suddenly, both Fulham and America have a world-class left back at their disposal.
Fulham fans might tell you that he’s been this good for a while – or at least that he has been progressing toward it. USMNT fans who remember his failed medical at Milan in 2020, or full senior debut assist in 2018, might also make a case. But few could really claim to have seen this coming, a diligent, mid level player being mentioned alongside some of the best in his position.
Still, after an excellent start to the season, he deserves every compliment, and is good value for the big money move that many have him tipped for.
Getty Images SportThe Numbers
To understand what, exactly, has made Antonee Robinson so good this year, you need to watch all 97 minutes of Fulham’s Premier League clash with Liverpool last Saturday. Zoom out, and the stats look pretty good: 2 assists, eight duels won, the impressive feat of keeping Mo Salah off the scoreboard (yes, that’s what success is against the Egyptian these days.)
Defenders are hard to analyze statistically. There are so many variables at play: how a team sets up, whether a manager wants his full-backs to attack, or, in general, the relative quality of an opponent. The numbers will tell you, for example, that James Tarkowski of struggling Everton is better in some ways than Virgil Van Dijk. Watch even 20 minutes of football, and that is fairly easily dismissed.
Still, there are some numbers at play that work. Last year, Robinson totaled seven assists in all competitions. This year, he already has six. His chances created, pass accuracy, shot creating actions, and progressive passing numbers are all up.
On the other side of the ball, things are equally impressive. According to , he’s in the 88th percentile among all full backs for tackles won, 95th for interceptions, and 94th for clearances. Caveats aside – yes, there are a fair few of them – that has all the makings of an elite left back.
AdvertisementAFPThe vibes
Get caught in the number trap all you want, and there’s still a lot to work with. For so long, Robinson was hailed for his pace and work rate. It was always known that he was a live wire on the left, a relentless runner capable of keeping up with most wingers. The raw athleticism needed to play his position was never in question.
But this season, the little things are more in place than they have ever been. Robinson’s one-on-one nous is apparent. He seldom gets caught square against opponents, and is harder to dribble past. The list of wingers that Robinson has been able to contain makes for fine reading: Salah, Bukayo Saka and Savinho.
And then, going the other way, there are the tiny adjustments. Marco Silva has Fulham – yes, Fulham – playing expansive attacking football this season. This is a quick, entertaining side. And Robinson plays a key role in the attacking setup.
The rapid left back is ordered to scamper forward, and knock crosses into the box. It’s something, historically, he has been mixed at. Balls have been shanked out of bounds, or overhit. Groans have echoed around Craven Cottage. This year, though, Robinson has figured out two key passes.
The first is a low driven ball to the near post, the exploitation of the “corridor of uncertainty” with a skidding drive to cut through the grass. It’s how Fulham scored their second against Liverpool. And then there’s the delicate floated pass to the far post, one for Raul Jimenez or a late runner to knock in to the net. It’s how the Cottagers got their first.
Sure, there are still mistakes. But there is cutting edge to be found.
Getty Images SportThe armband
It was the 96th minute of Fulham’s Premier League clash with Tottenham, and Robinson was sprinting after the ball. Really, it didn't seem possible. Everyone else on the pitch in an unfriendly, barely-watchable 1-1 looked exhausted. But here was a defender, tearing up the pitch in stoppage time, with his team trying to hold a result. Sprinting 70 yards, sorted in no time, dispossessing an opponent before seeing out a hard-fought draw. It was, in many ways, the standout moment from the game.
There are two reasons for that. The first is the English obsession with work rate and football – the idea that footballers, above all, should be passionate runners. And then, there was the significance of the band on his arm when he did it. The decision to make Robinson captain after fellow American Tim Ream left the club seemed a questionable one. Players of his position aren’t typically leaders. Full backs are good soldiers, “servants to the club.” Moments like that, though, prove his credentials.
There’s also something quite American about the guy. Robinson may play for the USMNT, but he was born in Milton Keynes, played in the Everton academy and holds eligibility for the side through his father, who was raised in White Plains, New York. Listen to an interview, and this is not a man who would seem to belong next to the twang of Matt Turner or drawl of Weston McKennie.
But he does have the scrappiness that came to define a generation of American players. There’s an inspirational sort of ruggedness here – the kind of thing that Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and so many USMNT players before him fed off on the international stage.
GettyMauricio Pochettino's influence
There was much talk, when Mauricio Pochettino first took the USMNT job, about how the manager might improve individuals. Could he get the most out of Christian Pulisic? Is there some version of Harry Kane hiding somewhere in Folarin Balogun? Can a line be drawn from the two years of brilliance of Dele Alli to an injury-stricken Gio Reyna?
Some of this was initial excitement, fanciful thoughts that ignored the more apparent reality of international football – players don’t typically develop when they’re away with their country.
But that doesn’t mean that they can’t change, or hone what they’re good at. Pochettino’s first four fixtures in charge offered some interesting insights about what his U.S. tenure might look like. Perhaps what stuck out the most, though, was his insistence on tactical flexibility.
No one really just played one position, or occupied one role. Robinson was the poster child of that principle. At times, he played like a left winger in a 3-2-5 build up structure. At others, he dropped deeper, tucking in to become a de-facto center midfielder, making things happen from the middle of the pitch. It was unfamiliar territory for a footballer once regarded as little more than a runner.
But he pulled it off with aplomb.
Of course, different managers require different things. For Fulham, Robinson stays wide. Football, though, is an increasingly skillset-based game. This is all about what a player can do in a given system – and the skills that come with it. So, no, Robinson won’t be an inverted full back in the ilk of Trent Alexander-Arnold, or a tidy ball player like John Stones. Still, under a new manager, his skills have developed. Something has been unlocked. That can only be considered a good thing.