Former Liverpool midfielder and Premier League winner Adam Lallana says he is "irritated" by claims surrounding Andy Robertson's form last season.
Lallana 's final season at Anfield was crowned with the Reds' first triumph in the English top-flight for 30 years before he made the move back down to the south coast to play under Graham Potter at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Back on Merseyside, as Liverpool were plagued by injuries and torrid home form, their title defence was quickly derailed at the turn of the year as Manchester City turned their standards up a notch.
As the results became negative, fingers were pointed and often the analysis would look into how Robertson fared as the Scot played tireless amounts of football under Jurgen Klopp, only recently noticed as he was named one of the most played players in Europe.
The title-winning season saw the 27-year-old's full-back partner, Trent Alexander-Arnold, lethal from out-wide which saw them collectively rack up 25 assists in that season alone.
"People will point to last season and suggest he was not as good for Liverpool. That really irritates me," Lallana, 33, said in an article published in The Times.
"Firstly, what is that being measured against? Producing 15 Premier League assists from left back a season? Those numbers are out of this world. Incredible. So judging him on that output all the time is ridiculous."
Robertson became the first Scotland captain to lead the team out at a major competition in 23 years against the Czech Republic on Monday.
Despite them facing an uphill battle to qualify for the next round, Lallana insists that it is no surprise they got to the tournament under his captaincy, however, he had a warning for Jurgen Klopp and the Reds.
"It is no coincidence that Scotland should qualify on Robbo’s watch.
"When I was at Liverpool, you could see how much he invested into going away on international duty; how difficult it was for him at times and how much pressure he put on himself to try and make sure the team delivered to create new history.
"You cannot change anything on your own but he would come back to the club physically drained because, during that week-and-a-half away, he had been trying to ingrain a certain culture within the Scotland camp.
"When you are at Liverpool you are privileged to be part of an elite group. He did not want to be the player at Scotland who expects things done in a certain way to suit him because you are with a set of lads from different clubs with different philosophies.
"But Robbo was intent on driving new standards."
