The Long Read: Antonee Robinson

The United States Men’s National Team is an exciting place to be right now.

With the likes of Sergino Dest, Giovanni Reyna and Christian Pulisic all playing regularly for Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea, respectively, there’s plenty of optimism ahead of next year’s World Cup. And considering their age – Pulisic is the oldest of the three at 22 – the 2026 tournament on their own patch also holds a lot of promise.

Antonee Robinson can count himself among the United States’ hot young things, though there is one glaring difference between him and his international colleagues – the presence of a Liverpudlian accent.

It’s quickly clear from speaking to the 23-year-old which side of the Atlantic he grew up on, but he tells fulhamfc.com that he never had any doubts about representing the US.

“When I was younger coming through Everton’s academy, I was quite a late developer, so I wasn’t at the forefront of the players who were getting called up for England,” he explains.

“I remember there were lads coming through my team like Jonjoe Kenny and Ryan Ledson who, from the age of like 15, were playing for England. And I was never considered by any international team.

“The first call-up I got was for the US for an Under-18 camp when I was 16 or 17. That spurred me on to think that this was a massive opportunity and it gave me a massive confidence boost, so I decided that this was the team I wanted to commit to.

“It’s where my Dad grew up. When he was young they moved to White Plains, New York, and then he went to college at Duke in North Carolina. My grandmother moved out there with him. She’s Jamaican but lived in America for the rest of her life.”

Robinson – as is usually the case these days – is with the States over the current international period.

A quick glance at their roster, and you can see why Americans are cautiously optimistic about their chances on the horizon.

“Since I’ve been involved with them, it’s probably been as exciting a time as any with everything coming up; the World Cup’s next year, all the tournaments in the summer,” the left-back continues.

“We have so many young players who are operating at a high level now that it’s hard not to be excited.

“I still feel like a young lad when I go away with the group, but there’s lads who are five or six years younger than me who are playing at top levels, so it only bodes well for the future.”

Such is the youth within the squad, there is only one player north of 28. A certain Tim Ream.

The Fulham stalwart is someone that Robinson looks up to for what he’s done in the game, so much so that he gave him a call prior to making the move to Craven Cottage.

“He’s probably the most mature of the group, obviously,” Jedi says of Ream’s role in the national setup. “He’s still got a lot to offer the group as well. He’s got so much experience and he’s been around the US team for years, so having him there’s always a benefit.

“I spoke to him [before moving] because he was the only player I knew at Fulham. I gave him a call after I’d spoken to Scott Parker, just to get my bearings on whether it would be a good move or not, and he helped me convince myself that it was a good move.

“Working with Scott was massive in the decision for me, too. Everything he described to me as a club, and the vision he had for the team, it kind of married into what I wanted to do this year. He said he wanted hungry players who want to come and learn, get better, and drive the club to where they should be.

“He’s such a motivational person, he’s so passionate about his job, and that passion gets the players behind him and makes you want to get the best out of yourself, for you and for him.”

It could so easily have been very different for Robinson, though. But for the presence of caffeine in his system, he would now be plying his trade with AC Milan rather than Fulham.

You’d have to have been living under a rock to not know the story, with commentators struggling to resist the urge to mention it every time Robinson’s name is on the teamsheet.

For that reason, we won’t go into details of the almost-transfer. However, one of the key men involved in the potential deal was Paolo Maldini. One of Milan’s greatest ever players, their former captain now operates as the club’s technical director.

The fact that he also played much of his career at left-back, it must be some fillip for Robinson that Maldini was so keen to sign him?

“It was kind of unbelievable,” Jedi admits. “Literally at the start I didn’t believe that there was interest, I didn’t believe that he’d have taken that much of a liking to me.

“It wasn’t until I spoke to him on the phone that I actually truly believed that he’d seen something in me.

“He convinced me that he was looking forward to working with me, and then he was there when I got the bad news that it wasn’t going to happen. He was gutted for me, he said he was really sorry and that he’d been looking forward to working with me and stuff, which additionally hurt as well, but it is a big compliment I suppose.

“I was a bit young to have seen him play but he was one of my Dad’s favourite ever players, so it was a proud moment for me because he was so in awe of it as well.

“It took a long time to sink in. Even now it’s hard, looking back, to think that it was even happening. It’s been over a year now since that all took place, so it was difficult to believe at the time, but it was massively motivating as well

“I always say that I don’t regret any single thing that’s happened to me. I’m very happy and very proud of where I am now, the man I am now.

You may have noticed in this article numerous references to Robinson as Jedi. It came about at the age of just four when he was playing in a team coached by his Dad, who liked to give each of the players a nickname.

He chose Jedi due to his love of Star Wars. Though to refer to it as a nickname may not even be an accurate description anymore, considering how often it’s used.

“Even my parents don’t call me Antonee,” he reveals. “I don’t even associate it with Star Wars anymore, it’s just my name. It’s what people have called me ever since I was young, and when I go to a new place, that’s how I introduce myself. I don’t really make that link.

“When I was younger I just loved wearing costumes, all sorts; Star Wars, Bob the Builder, all stuff like that when I was really young. Then when I was a little bit older, like seven or eight, I really got into the films, and I had all the games and stuff.

“I remember having a game where there was a camera on the TV and you had a toy lightsaber that you controlled. It was weird but I’ve got proper fond memories of it.”

His hobbies have changed somewhat these days, with Robinson swapping the lightsaber for a piano.

If you follow him on Instagram you will have seen what a natural he is on the keys, so it might come as a surprise that he only began learning four years ago.

“One Christmas I went to my family’s in Milton Keynes and my little sister had a keyboard, so I just jumped on and started playing around on it,” he says. “I enjoyed it, so when I went back up to my home in Liverpool I got my own keyboard and started trying to teach myself songs off YouTube and things like that. I’ve just enjoyed it ever since then.

“When I did Music in school I was just playing around, I didn’t really take it seriously. I wish it was something I’d taken seriously now that I enjoy it, but at the time I didn’t really have an interest in it. It’s one of those things, if I’m interested in something, I do try my hardest to learn it.

“It’s right there in my living room as soon as I walk in. It was the same when I was on loan at Bolton, the first thing I saw when I walked through my door was my piano, and if I was in the mood I’d just be drawn to it and sit down.

“I don’t really have a time where I need to take my mind off things and go and play, just sort of when it takes my eye, go and have a go, or if I’m learning a specific song or I hear a song that I think I’d really like to learn, then that’s why I’d get on it.

“I like listening to the song when I’m learning it because then I can hear when I’m playing it wrong. There’s a couple of Ludovico Einaudi songs that I like. Recently I’ve just started learning All Of Me by John Legend, which is a very fun song to play.”

Does he ever put words to his music?

“I can’t sing. I’ll never try and sing. If the music’s really loud then I might try and rap along to some songs, but I think singing’s a unique talent.”

Unique talent is still a fair way of describing Robinson. I’m not sure how many Premier League footballers are that skilled with a piano, but throw in the niche ability of solving a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute and I’d imagine you’re looking at a very small demographic indeed.

“How old was I? I think I was like 15, I was just on YouTube one night watching random videos, and one came up about how to solve a Rubik’s Cube,” he explains.

“I’d always wanted to know how to do it, so I watched the video, and after watching it I thought it looked pretty doable, so I went and bought a Rubik’s Cube, followed the video and learnt how to do it.

“When I first learnt I was able to do it in five minutes off by heart, and I just got gradually faster and faster, learnt some new methods to get it quicker, and now I can do it in about 40-odd seconds.”

He’s pretty much bang on with that statement. After being handed a freshly mixed up cube, he unscrambles it in 41 seconds.

“It’s all about algorithms,” he reveals. “When you first learn, there’s seven steps to solving it; white cross, white face, second layer, yellow cross, yellow face, headlights, and then final solve.

“You’ve got to learn an algorithm so it doesn’t disrupt everything else you’ve done. Denis [Odoi] is learning how to do it now. Leo [Player Care] can do it, Tom the physio’s learning how to do it now, too.

“I’ve got a 4x4 cube at home which takes me about four minutes to solve. That’s what I’ve been learning to do since Christmas.

“Every time someone hears that I can do it, they always want to see it. Pretty much every club I’ve been to someone’s bought one and brought it in.”

(And there was this interviewer thinking it was fresh content…)

We first became aware of Robinson’s Rubik’s capabilities in a video posted by Joe Bryan earlier in the season.

Bryan wrote himself into Fulham legend in the summer with his brace against Brentford, meaning Robinson knew he would have a battle on his hands to secure the left-back spot after signing.

The two, though, enjoy an excellent relationship both on and off the field.

“I remember being in my flat watching the Final and at the time seeing Joe’s goals and thinking they were unbelievable,” Jedi says.

“Before I’d even signed, he was the first one to message me privately and say, ‘if there’s anything you need, let me know.’ So straight away I had a good impression of him.

“Out on the training pitch he’s always trying to help me with things. We’re both really competitive people and we both want to be at the top of our game, so being able to have good opposition challenging for positions is only going to bring the best out of each other I feel. There’s no bitterness if one of us is playing and one isn’t.

“The whole team, I think there’s a lot of talent and hunger in this team, so I don’t think a position’s ever certain that you’re going to be playing. I think it’s healthy competition, because we’re all vying for the same cause at the end of the day.”