Left back - what to do?

[Gordopolis]

Re. Robertson, Kingsley and Tierney...really nice problem to have for a change, having two young EPL LBs and a very young and outstanding SPFL Prem LB to call upon. Seems a shame to play one and leave two on the bench/out of the squad. So who out of the trio is your first choice, and what would you do to utilise the other two as efficiently as possible?

My two cents is: Robertson is the established LB going fwd, try Kingsley at CB, give Tierney plenty of chance off the bench as a replacement for Robertson and see if he can surpass him.

[sergie's no1 fan]

Could we see Tierney at left back and Robertson at left mid in some of the tougher away games?

[Officer Barbrady]

Only in Scotland. We have three young, aspiring talents, and then try to find ways not to accomodate them.....they are all young enough, and certainly skilled enough, to be trained in the art of playing more than one position; Kingsley, in particular, plays more like a left-half than a centre-back, and Robertson could easily run a flank with Teirney behind him. 

[lubo_blaha]

Robertson should hit the gym and turn into a Gareth Bale-esque forward player, preferably becoming the world's most expensive player in the process.

[Gordopolis]

Robertson should hit the gym and turn into a Gareth Bale-esque forward player, preferably becoming the world's most expensive player in the process.

Not monkeyish enough, alas

ETA: just looked online - he is a wee bit chimpy, so hope remains

[sjc]

Remember seeing Lee Wallace perform well at CH for Hearts a few times in emergencies. Has the atributes to play there.

[kenny131]

After seeing all 3 a few times this year, Robertson 1st choice all day long,  I think Kingsley is ideal to move into CB(I am a regular visitor to the liberty). Tierney is a great back up, but he looks very scrawny at the moment, something that seems to rip through all youngsters that ply there trade in scotland.

If strachan has the baws too I would love to see Kingsley start at CB robertson LB and Burke attacking Rm or Lm against malta. As for the striker no idea at the moment we are very very weak in this position. 

Snodgrass looked the dogs baws yesterday too.  I am little more hopefull in our WC campaign if WGS picks the right team and goes all out for it.

[craigkillie]

Tierney is a better defender than Robertson - I'd pick him in the bigger away games.  Robertson can do more going forward, so I'd pick him in the home games.  We could also think about Tierney at right-back if Hutton doesn't start the campaign well.

[sergie's no1 fan]

Tierney is a better defender than Robertson - I'd pick him in the bigger away games.  Robertson can do more going forward, so I'd pick him in the home games.  We could also think about Tierney at right-back if Hutton doesn't start the campaign well.

You've got Anya and Whittaker that can fill in at right back too.

If only our options at centre back were just as good.

[Gordopolis]

Donald love for RB too - if he shows up well at Sunderland.

[haggisbeastie]

What about Stephen Kingsley at Swansea? He gets rave reviews at Swansea & can also play Centre Back?

[No_Problemo]

I would go for Robertson in front of Tierney. Allows them both to swap throughout the game too. Hopefully Ryan Fraser kicks on this season so we have another good option on the other side. With Snodgrass behind the striker we might be looking okay if anyone in central positions throughout the team decide to perform. 

[Dunning1874]

Just now, haggisbeastie said:

What about Stephen Kingsley at Swansea? He gets rave reviews at Swansea & can also play Centre Back?

The same Stephen Kingsley who was mentioned in the OP and in several other posts in thread already?

I've not seen anything of Kingsley at Swansea myself but good to hear we have another defender doing well. Discounting Kingsley due to my own lack of knowledge, I'd have the general pecking order of left backs as Robertson, Tierney, Shinnie, Wallace, Whittaker.

[54_and_counting]

robertson all day for me, the guy is an exceptional player, tierney has done well but lets be honest, he looked good in a piss poor celtic team,

[Blootoon87]

I'm all up for putting Robertson in front of Tierney, but if we stick with the 4231 formation, who does he replace? Assuming the three behind the striker will probably be Anya, Snodgrass and Ritchie, I think Ritchie is the weakest of the three.

[Gordopolis]

Anya has been quite underwhelming for a while now too

[sergie's no1 fan]

Anya is a good weapon to have for the away games where we will be sitting in deep and use his pace to exploit space the opposition leaves. We have different options for different scenarios, some will argue we shouldn't have to change our tactics/style for anyone but we aren't good enough to have that attitude.

[forameus]

I'm not a fan of playing Robertson in front of Tierney.  It could work if we're playing a 4-4-1-1 or something against a bigger team.  Maybe England.  But then we'd lose what playing someone like Anya gives us.  The ability to soak up pressure (or at least try to) and then spring Anya as the furthest forward player.  Like against Germany away when he scored his goal.  It's definitely a possibility though.

I'd have Robertson in there right now, with Tierney as the backup, taking over if the former has a drop in form.

[woof!]

6 minutes ago, forameus said:

I'm not a fan of playing Robertson in front of Tierney.  It could work if we're playing a 4-4-1-1 or something against a bigger team.  Maybe England.  But then we'd lose what playing someone like Anya gives us.  The ability to soak up pressure (or at least try to) and then spring Anya as the furthest forward player.  Like against Germany away when he scored his goal.  It's definitely a possibility though.

I'd have Robertson in there right now, with Tierney as the backup, taking over if the former has a drop in form.

Anya is no longer our quickest player and he has fairly limited technique. Robertson, Fraser, Burke, McKay and Forrest are all as quick or quicker.

[forameus]

Just now, woof! said:

Anya is no longer our quickest player and he has fairly limited technique. Robertson, Fraser, Burke, McKay and Forrest are all as quick or quicker.

True, but I'd still fancy him further up the pitch over Robertson technique wise.  It all depends on how we set up to play - if we continue to play a forward up front whose job it is to bring three players behind into the game, there's a few players I'd rather see as the left-sided one than Robertson.  If we're playing a more withdrawn four across the middle, Robertson becomes more of an option.  In my opinion.