Unbiased opinion... He is good... not great... he had better seasons. I'm just concerned that we have few options for CB and one senior CB is retiring... the only other two senior CBs could be gone. ...and there are rumours about our keeper too... Too much too soon to swap out. 50% of xfers arnt as good as we hope they'll be.... makes me nervous to be bringing in so much new to replace the out going... ... or Rodgers will pull another Rodgers classic and leave us with NO center backs.
Can't argue with that. I can see Reina going, wouldn't be too fussed about Skrtel going and if we were to get a big offer for Agger I'd consider it too. I'd say two of the three going at once would be a bad move, all three?
Another defender thread falls down on Skrtel being **** or average, and yet Agger is the ****ing messiah. Agger is crap at defending. Worse positional nouse than Skrts and considerably worse when it comes to set pieces. We can improve on both of them.
Problem is we can't just bin all our CB's!! Skirts is one of our not too bad ones. Wilson - not good enough. On loan again I think? Carragher - retiring Coates - not good enough, probably going. Skirts - decent, but maybe going. Agger - good, but needs a rock defender like Carra with him. At least 3 will go, more likely 4. This leaves us with just Kelly, who I do rate highly. People are forgetting about him! I think we buy another CB - a quality one, promote Kelly, and have Agger and Skirts competing.
I certainly don't think Agger is the messiah. He has a reputation for being able to take a long shot having bagged one from distance early on in his Liverpool career yet he hardly ever gets close to the target! His defender is poor but makes recovering tackles which makes him look better than he is. He has a tendency to dive in too leaving his fellow defenders completely exposed when he misses ball / player. I don't think any of our CB's are top notch but I do think Agger is the best option despite him being poor this season. I think it says a lot when a retiring Jamie Carragher who has not been the same for two season is being selected ahead of the other two!
Yeah it does. To be fair Spearing is correct if we're being honest. Agger is pretty inconsistant too. But, as I said, you put someone solid next to him like Carra then he is good. If it was Champ Manager i'd only keep Agger and Kelly. But its not and we don't have billions to spend. I don't think we have a lot of choice but to keep skirts.
I hope we don't get rid of Skrtel. This summer is looking like a massive turnover of players already, we can't replace too many too soon or we'll be back to the start again, new team, gelling together and learning the system. (OT: Joe Cole bags a nice goal just now for West 'am, we should buy him) Can't afford too many changes at defense when you've got Reina potentially leaving, 2 defenders definitely off/retiring, some quality in midfield needed and another forward to sign. Downing might still leave too if a decent offer comes in.
If only we'd spent well the last season and the season before. We've wasted so much money and we're gradually putting it right. It will take time though.
As people on here will know, I don't rate Skrtel so I wouldn't be bothered about him going. Agger seems better as a bit part player. Again, I wouldn't be bothered about him going because he would command a decent fee. Reina will join Barcelona in the summer IMO. Another thing people may have picked up that I say a lot, teams are built in small, medium and large cogs. There is only one large cog and that is the team. There are eleven small cogs on the pitch at one time. The medium cogs are what are important IMO, partnerships! The only area of the pitch that a partnership is slightly different is at CB because I think that one is more of a trio including the keeper. Can we afford to change all three? Absolutely no chance! Is changing two of the three a good idea without having an established replacement? Certainly not! Could we cope with losing two of the three? I think so but it is very risky and they would need to be given time. Do I think that time will be allowed? On the signings yes but not on Rodgers, the pressure will start from August IMO.
Yeah he needs to backed well this summer and make the correct changes. Next year is very important for Rodgers to show significant progress.
Its BR's first big window and, as I said, the pressure will start because having had time to assess the players, he will start to shape the squad to how he wants it.
It will be good to see our targets in the summer as a result of the new 'scouting committee' we have in place. Some of the players we're linked with e.g. De Vrij sound promising.
I expect any incoming signings this summer to have a much better impact than last summers deals. Nothing against Borini, Allen, Sahin and Assaidi but I feel that BR bought these players before having time to assess the squad properly. The two January signings seem much better despite not having played much football. Watching what happens with the three that remain out of the four highlighted above will be interesting too. I don't see Allen going anywhere but the other two have big question marks over their heads. Will we let Assaidi go considering he's hardly been involved despite not being able to get much for him? Will Borini return to Italy?
I disagree with most on Agger. Center back is an area where a partnership is required once an understanding between 2 center backs is gained then as a pair they become something better than each individual. This is where we are lacking at the moment Skrtel and Agger seem to play as individuals other than a pair. Agger is a good enough all we need is a good partner for him. Look at the WBA goal again, Agger gets tight and is usually strong but he gets turned, Lukaku is a big fella and Agger may have been better of standing off him a little, but look at Carras positioning he's not marking anyone and there is no threat but he still doesn't back up Agger and drop deep and to his left to cover for Agger getting turned. The other problem we now have is that we need a center back partnership but the understanding takes time and we dont have time we need someone in for Skrtel as I agree he needs to go and whoever comes in needs to work with and get that understanding with Agger and quickly.
I agree - the January deals look decent and good value for money (still too early to tell) when you consider that Allen + Borini cost more than Sturridge + Coutinho. Assaidi and Sahin were cheap deals so I'm not too fussed about them however I was expecting more from them (whether Rodgers gave them enough changes is another argument).
Spot on. There is nothing wrong with Skrts. The defensive weakness is a result of the incomplete strategic plan. I really believe that Brendan's defensive plans to not extend beyond pressing and winning the ball back. This is entirely evident when we are caught on the break or at set pieces. In fact, the instructions he gives makes us even weaker, like refusing to clear the ball, a mainstay of defending since the game began and BR is trying to change that, we do not have the barcelona squad ffs, as much as we all love their philosophy without the players it's bollox and will never work. Lets see Barca play that way with our squad list. Brendan sometimes you just gotta play to your strengths and we are not doing that at the back.
Hope you like Championship football. Are you insane!? Also, for all of you, when Skrts was awesome, it was partly because he had others doing an excellent job in the areas he should not be in defending, Carra when pulled right or left always gets made look a mug, CBs don't belong out there. Bags of help, defending is a team effort. Agger has been told I have no doubt to be attack minded and his defending has suffered greatly, I said before the Zenith game Brendan has him in there for when he can do on a football not what he can do against someone with the football. For me Daniel is always looking to get on the ball and play, not the desire you wanna see from a CB, sorry but that's the way I see it, when we're 3 up then year have a wander
Having read back that doesn't sound like I wanted it to By 'two of three' I meant Reina and one of Skrtel or Agger. In other words, there is no way we should let both CB's leave in one window but I expect Reina to go. I asked a question higher up (#20) regarding Skrtel. If he was at a rival club, would Liverpool fans rate him? IMO, no!
I asked a question higher up (#20) regarding Skrtel. If he was at a rival club, would Liverpool fans rate him? IMO, no![/QUOTE] Actually that's a good lead into another thread. 'Which current Liverpool players would you rate if they played for other clubs?' Suarez ...although you would hate him too Gerrard...because you would Sturridge...showing what faith can do Poss Johnson and reina and Enrique Anyone else ?
