PL Talking Pts: Wild stat after Gunners\u2019 $49m gamble; sleeping giant\u2019s shock charge<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n\u2018HE CAN\u2019T BE JUMPING OUT OF COTS AT NINE MONTHS OLD\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
They looked around the house for what it could have been, but nothing could be found.<\/p>\n
All of a sudden, \u201ca little shadow\u201d appeared at the door: it was Alexander, who was only nine months old.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d actually scaled out of the cot that he was sleeping in, jumped out and was able to manoeuvre his way through,\u201d Mark told foxsports.com.au<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Alexander was then popped back into his cot, only for Mark and Lucia to scarcely believe what they\u2019d see next.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he\u2019s pacing up and down in this cot,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, monkey-like, he\u2019s just up and he\u2019s over and the boom, he\u2019s down on the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we looked at each other and thought, \u2018He can\u2019t be scaling and jumping out of cots at nine months old.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Alexander Robertson has impressed throughout his time in Manchester City\u2019s academy. Supplied<\/span>Source: Supplied<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt wasn\u2019t just his remarkable ability to escape the confines of his cot at such a young age either that had Mark thinking his youngest child had something special about him.<\/p>\n
As an Australian footballer playing overseas in England, Mark had just about every bit of sporting equipment you could imagine in his backyard.<\/p>\n
Footballs, cricket bats and balls, golf clubs and balls, trampolines; you name it, Mark probably had it.<\/p>\n
A young Alexander took a keen eye to the golf equipment because, according to Mark, \u201ckids tend to use their hands more than they do their feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had this golf club and he was swinging a ball,\u201d Mark said. <\/p>\n
\u201c90 per cent, 95 per cent of the time he was hitting the ball, whereas a lot of kids would just miss the ball. It was quite fascinating.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just remember thinking, \u2018OK, that\u2019s interesting.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, Mark even thought he might have had a little Greg Norman on his hands.<\/p>\n
But, as he\u2019d learn in the coming years, his son would go on to forge a vastly different sporting career.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Mark (left) and Alexander (right) Robertson after a match for Manchester City. Supplied<\/span>Source: Supplied<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHOW \u2018A LITTLE FEATHER\u2019 BUILT THE FOUNDATIONS FOR A FOOTBALL CAREER<\/b><\/p>\n
Mark\u2019s playing days in the United Kingdom soon wrapped up, returning back to Australia in 2006 with Perth Glory before moving to Sydney FC in 2007.<\/p>\n
The harbour city would then become where the Robertson\u2019s would set up their roots, building a house in Sydney\u2019s eastern suburbs.<\/p>\n
Mark knew he had to get his son playing some sort of sport, with football the obvious answer.<\/p>\n
But he couldn\u2019t enrol Alexander with the local club, Pagewood Botany FC, because children weren\u2019t insured to play football until they turned five at the time.<\/p>\n
Thus, Alexander tried his hand at rugby league with the Mascot Jets, with Mark hoping it would \u201ctoughen him up\u201d given it was full contact, even at such a young age.<\/p>\n
Yes, little Alexander, who Mark described as \u201cjust a little feather,\u201d would attempt to take down significantly larger kids his age whilst also learning how to run in straight lines.<\/p>\n
The multi-sport background continued at Bunnerong Gymnastics, a venue run by Mark\u2019s parents, where Alexander would participate in various classes which helped to improve his balance skills.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>A young Alexander Robertson celebrating after scoring a hat-trick for Maroubra United. Picture: Supplied<\/span>Source: Supplied<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nEventually the youngest Robertson would have a ball at his feet once he was old enough to play for Pagewood before moving to Maroubra United, Mark\u2019s first grassroots club, for two years.<\/p>\n
But it would be in Mark\u2019s very own coaching academy, known as Mr. Soccer, where Alexander got endless amounts of time with the ball.<\/p>\n
He would be at the afternoon session run by his old man every day of the week, no matter the level.<\/p>\n
Then there was a select group of players, who Mark described as \u201cthe most elite footballers that you could get in the Eastern Suburbs,\u201d that Alexander would train with.<\/p>\n
Despite being a year or two younger than his peers, Alexander held his own in a group which included Zach Sapsford (now with the Western Sydney Wanderers), Oliver Jones (Macarthur FC) and Ryan Teague (Famalicao in Portugal) among others.<\/p>\n
They would train four nights a week and have two games on the weekend, providing plenty of football for Alexander, who had also joined Hakoah Sydney City East\u2019s under-12 team as a 10-year-old.<\/p>\n
For all of the football Alexander was playing, it would prove to be nothing quite like the education he was about to receive.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>A pint-sized Alexander Robertson chases the ball alongside Maroubra teammate Ryan Teague (right). Picture: Supplied<\/span>Source: Supplied<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWRESTLING, A CROSS-CITY DIVIDE AND THAT <\/i>GUARDIAN ARTICLE<\/b><\/p>\n
While Alexander enjoyed some time off from Westfield Sports High in the September school holidays of 2015, he and his dad went to English giants Manchester United for a number of training sessions.<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t be long before all parties sat down for the conversation that would change the Robertson\u2019s lives forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey [Manchester United] said, \u2018Do you want the good news or the bad news,\u2019\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, \u2018Let\u2019s start with the good.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cUnited said, \u2018He\u2019s one of the best players that we\u2019ve seen for a long, long time. The bad news is, you don\u2019t live in the country.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
As Mark says, \u201cthe rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Robertson clan made the full move over to England, but Alexander was unable to play structured football with the Red Devils just yet because he needed international clearance from FIFA.<\/p>\n
So, how did the father keep his son fit?<\/p>\n
By doing sessions on days off in the park.<\/p>\n
Oh, and some sessions in the local leisure centre to improve his balance and core involving plenty of medicine and exercise balls.<\/p>\n
As Mark says, \u201cit was an important time for Alexander to really pick up on some of the stronger exercises\u201d because he had to compete with boys far more physically mature than he was.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Alexander scored goals for fun as a kid but found things a bit tougher at Manchester United. Picture: Supplied<\/span>Source: Supplied<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nYet there was another, more unconventional method, Mark employed to prepare his son for the physical rigours of English academy football.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just started doing a few different things with Alexander, then I started doing some wrestling with him, because I could see where it was going,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe only had an older sister, he didn\u2019t have any boys around him. It was just me and him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d start doing a bit of wrestling and grappling, not MMA, but it was quite full-on just to try and help him a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from a rude awakening on the physical side of football, Alexander had to rapidly pick up some technical aspects of the game too.<\/p>\n
When Mark and his father, Alex, decided what would be the best way for the youngest Robertson to succeed, they decided it would be best if they \u201cjust allowed him the free ability to be on the ball\u201d and \u201cnever, ever put shackles on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019d embark on mazy runs past two, three, even four opponents at a time which, by Mark\u2019s own admission, \u201cmight have been a little bit frustrating for some of the players that played with him or some of the families that were standing on the sideline.\u201d<\/p>\n
But once he got to Carrington, United\u2019s famous training facility, it was a whole different ball game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of having the ability to scan fields and look for the next pass, Alexander was way off it when he got to Manchester United,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the biggest thing they said to me. They said he was an unbelievable player, but he just doesn\u2019t have that understanding of where that next pass is going to go.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Will Alexander one day get to hold the famous Premier League trophy aloft? Picture: Supplied<\/span>Source: Supplied<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAlexander wasted no time in picking up the technical skills needed to thrive and even though he was at a grand club like United, it didn\u2019t stop the sharks from circling in the hopes they could prise him away.<\/p>\n
As it turned out, it was United\u2019s noisy neighbours, Manchester City, who convinced father and son to make the cross-city divide in 2017.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had a whole host of reasons why they wanted to sign him,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019d seen him on a nice pathway going through the academy and what he offered was a little bit different than to what they already had in the building.\u201d<\/p>\n
The switch has seemingly been the perfect fit to help Alexander realise his immense talent, although a number of lengthy spells on the sidelines due to injury at United and City have hindered his progress.<\/p>\n
Primarily operating as a box-to-box midfielder for City who enjoys getting into the attacking third, he\u2019s provided numerous goals and assists throughout the various age groups.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Alexander Robertson has scored plenty of goals for Manchester City’s academy teams. (Photo by Charlotte Tattersall\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSuch eye-catching form saw Alexander included in The Guardian\u2019s <\/i>list of the 60 best young talents in world football in 2020 alongside names like Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Xavi Simons to name three.<\/p>\n
Did the praise ever get into Alexander\u2019s head?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t even give it a second look, mate,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s never spoke about it, I\u2019ve never spoke about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just said to him, \u2018That\u2019s what it is mate, it\u2019s a newspaper article that no-one will remember unless you hit Google.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would never, ever go to his head or my head, no chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
With plenty of hype surrounding Alexander, at least externally, there would be calls for him to move out on loan and log some minutes in senior football.<\/p>\n
What transpired provided him with yet another brutal education in life as a footballer, but also one that perhaps taught him even more about himself as a person.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Mark and Alexander celebrate pitchside. Picture: Supplied<\/span>Source: Supplied<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u2018PROMISED THE WORLD AND DELIVERED AN ATLAS\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
In July 2021, Alexander would get his first real taste of what it\u2019s like to live out his dream, signing for Scottish Premiership side Ross County on a season-long loan.<\/p>\n
By doing so, he became the second-youngest in the nation to go out on loan, beaten only by his City academy teammate Callum Doyle.<\/p>\n
It also seemed like an ideal switch given Ross County boss Malky Mackay said he\u2019d been tracking Alexander for \u201cfour years\u201d upon signing the teenager.<\/p>\n
For Alexander and Mark, they viewed the move as \u201cwork experience where you\u2019re into a win-win situation,\u201d but not purely for footballing reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to have conversations with men,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not able to talk about music, if you\u2019re not able to talk about cars or politics or fashion, if you can\u2019t hold a conversation with adults, for me, you\u2019re not going to make it as a footballer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of kids at Alexander and Callum\u2019s age that couldn\u2019t do that. They\u2019d have crumbled if they were put in a changing room or cafeteria or a restaurant with adults, day-in, day-out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thankfully, Alexander proved his value in the changing room.<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Robertson didn’t get the playing time he wanted at Ross County. (Photo by Jan Kruger\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cEveryone loved him, mate,\u201d Mark said. \u201cEveryone in the squad loved him. He really picked up some top, top friends that he\u2019s still friends with now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, everyone but Mackay.<\/p>\n
Robertson logged just five appearances in all competitions for Ross County for a combined 143 minutes in a deeply frustrating loan spell that was cut short in January 2022.<\/p>\n
In the words of Mark, that was \u201ca disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor whatever Malky promised and for whatever he delivered, he may have promised the world and delivered an atlas,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut hey, that\u2019s football. You\u2019ve just got move on. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure later down the line Malky will say, \u2018I\u2019ve had a big part to play in his development,\u2019 but at the time it wasn\u2019t easy, it wasn\u2019t nice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very difficult for the kid to be told that he\u2019s going to have opportunities to play and, it\u2019s public knowledge that if you go through the stats, he never actually got an opportunity to play.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Ross County manager Malky Mackay certainly doesn’t have one admirer in Mark Robertson. (Photo by Ian MacNicol\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nTHE SOCCEROO COMPARISON DRIVING TEENAGER FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE<\/b><\/p>\n
An impressive cameo for the Socceroos, should he see any minutes in the friendlies against Ecuador, will only amplify those same calls.<\/p>\n
The mere fact he\u2019s in the Australian camp for these games is monumental given his international future has been a hot topic for a number of years.<\/p>\n
Having played for England\u2019s under-16, under-17 and under-18 teams there may have been a fear he could have stuck to the Three Lions pathway.<\/p>\n
There were also loose reports in 2022 he had committed to Peru but those turned out to be incorrect, while Scotland were also on the table as an option.<\/p>\n
Mark revealed his son had received a number of invites from different nations to train and perhaps even play for them, but there was one key issue: Alexander was never at full fitness.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d always relucantly look at me when he was invited,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d tell him, \u2018You\u2019d be crazy to join any of these because you\u2019re not really going to give a good account of yourself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately it was Australia who won the four-way tussle as Socceroos boss Graham Arnold\u2019s persistence paid off.<\/p>\n
Arnold was in contact with Alexander for \u201cover 18 months\u201d in his attempts to bring him into the national fold, noting it was \u201ca matter of one step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great that the kid, I do believe, is aligning himself with Australia,\u201d Arnold said in his squad selection press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure once he puts that Socceroos shirt on and feels the emblem on his heart, there\u2019s only one nation he will play for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/amp-img>Mark and Alexander Robertson would be “stoked” to have a career like Aaron Mooy. (Photo by Julian Finney\/Getty Images)<\/span>Source: Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOne player who Alexander would no doubt have been excited to speak with was Celtic midfielder Aaron Mooy, but he was forced to withdraw from the squad due to a back injury.<\/p>\n
Mark, Alexander and his agent Paddy Dominguez, who used to count Mooy as a client, have used the Celtic midfielder as a case study to chart Alexander against to see where he was and how he looked at the City youngster\u2019s age.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always said that if Alexander ends up with a career of Aaron Mooy, we\u2019d be totally stoked,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone\u2019s got their own journey, but the three of us always talk about Aaron.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a twist of fate, Mooy\u2019s absence may open up a spot for Alexander in the Socceroos lineup given Arnold planned to use the 32-year-old in a more advanced role compared to his usual position at the base of the Aussie midfield.<\/p>\n
Whether Arnold\u2019s team selection plays out in that scenario remains to be seen, as does Alexander getting any Socceroos minutes at all.<\/p>\n
But, for the teenager who shocked his parents as early as nine months old, perhaps we must expect the unexpected when it comes to the career of Alexander Robertson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With such a strong footballing bloodline, it seemed like destiny for Alexander Robertson to forge a career in the beautiful game, a feat easier said than done. But that\u2019s exactly what the Scottish-born, Maroubra-raised teenager is now doing. Watch the world\u2019s best footballers every week with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. LIVE coverage from Bundesliga, Ligue 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