No center back. No mention of Martin Kelly. So our main cb quad will be Agger, Toure, Skrtel and Wisdom judging by that.
So another season of being woeful defending and attacking anything in the air. Mind you when Rodgers says one thing.....expect a CB signed by this time next week
That would sound about right. As for Kelly, we don't know if he's talking to Rodgers and the coaches about another season at fullback. As for Coates, I think he's got more talent than he's presently showing us. I really think it's a matter of confidence. He's gone into a shell whereby he so doesn't want to make a mistake that he does the very thing he dreads. Give him a loan spell with a Championship like Yeovil where he will get well tested and regular football.
This Skrtel dislike is really starting to grate on me now. He's seriously not half as bad as people make him out to be, and Agger is certainly not the messiah of defenders either! please log in to view this image Considerably better in the air than the other two 'main' contenders (interesting fact, Carra had 31% aerial 50/50s won last season - so no wonder our defense suffered from long balls, but he's a legend so no one criticizes that!) for next season which is where we're weakest. Kolo is shockingly low at 40%. Granted he didn't play much, but 40% over 15 appearances is...awful. Better tackle success too, better passing (something he gets alot of stick for - not being able to 'fit the system' - but stats suggest otherwise) and far better at not letting players get past him. The defensive errors, I'll point out, only counts for errors when in control of the ball - so all errors off the ball aren't included here. They also don't show errors from set pieces such as poor marking. Some Agger mistakes not included, for example He also frequently loses his man at corners or freekicks. Same stats but for other 'top' CBs in the league for comparison: please log in to view this image You'll see Skrtel holds up pretty well still. Next, the myth of poor passing: please log in to view this image Lastly: please log in to view this image So infact, taking into account that only 'in possession' errors are counted and Agger loses possession alot more than Skrtel does, these say Skrtel's only 'worse' than Agger on ground 50/50s and keeping possession in the opposition half - which I'm not too arsed about for defenders. Anyway, stats are stats of course. Take them all as you like, but stop the 'Skrtel isn't good enough' **** because he's far from that. He's a good defender, was unfairly dropped for Carra who was worse in many ways, balances Agger well by being more dominant in the air (far superior to Kolo who won't solve that issue) and the 'doesn't suit our style' is clearly bollocks. Skrtel for president Sources: http://www.eplindex.com/34355/martin-skrtel-route-side-stats-tactical-analysis.html http://www.eplindex.com/26628/liverpools-defensive-duo-stats-comparison.html http://www.eplindex.com/35197/rodgers-build-liverpools-defence-agger-stats-analysis.html
Skrtel is a strange one. Year before he was player of the season and by far our best defender, then he seemed to make a couple of mistakes, notably the pass back against City and he seemed to be shaky ever since before losing his place to Carragher (just at the time Carragher announced he was retiring - coincidence?) The thing is though, he is good in the air which is something we all said we were poor at last season when he wasn't playing. Unless we got an offer close to £10mil I wouldn't want to sell and think him and Agger should head into the new season as our starting CB's. I wouldn't mind a new young CB come in, but if Wisdom is going to get a chance at CB this year then I think we should stick with him and allow him to develop, rather than push him from 4th choice to 5th.
Good post. Agger was frustratingly easy to get beat last season. It seemed every dropped shoulder and his marking would go to ****. Just proved how easy it was with your stats. But as your 416 mins per defensive error for Skrtel shows - he can be prone to cock-up which is why a lot of us have gripes with him.
Agree with that. I think Wisdom will be a top defender if he gets time on the pitch (in his correct position) to develop. He'll make mistakes, but all young defenders do and he'll learn from them. Not sure where Kelly is atm. He looks like he's bulked up alot during pre-season and, for me, far too big to be charging up and down the flank now. He seems right down the pecking order in both CB and RB.
Yeah, I'm not denying he made mistakes. But the whole defense were shocking (and those stats don't identify errors made, like Agger's, out of possession like marking failings or watching players run past) and it seems to me that Skrtel's being made out to be an easy scapegoat.
He was lacklustre last season but not as bad as is being made out, and one bad season does not ruin a player, everyone has a dip in form for a while. I'm confident that he'll come back a renewed and better player this season. I do think we should sign another CB as cover but Skrtz and Agger should be the first choice pairing unless it's untenable, I think they're potentially dominant plus they know each other and good CB pairings generally thrive with longevity and familiarity.
1. skertl aint top 4 but that dones'nt mean hes not better than our level now. 2. toure played only one game agasint nobody so i'm not prejudging him... Rodgers however is spoofing agina which is worrying 3. total insult to coates we've good lads and "And we still have Sebastian Coates "
Also, many of Agger's mistakes were affected by Carraghers presence on the pitch. Not all but some. I remember him being beaten by a player who went on to score, and everyone trashed his positioning. However everyone failed to realise it was because Agger had to cover both his and Carra's positions - since Jamie couldn't run back in time. Skrtel is faster and links up better with Agger. He would be my first choice this year. Oh and we have played Indonesia XI, Preston, and Melbourne. Hardly an impressive start.
V indonesia he looked poor to me no qurstion, did ok in places but was not really a test. sat on bench for melbourne so who knows.... I am open minded on it unitl i see a real game.
A lot of Skrtels mistakes last season came about because of the change in tactics/defensive style. He suffered most out of the back 4 and is least suited to the Rodgers passing obsession. I'm happy if he stays but I'd still like more competition at CB for both him and Dagger.
Was impressed with Wisdom the other day. Physically he is perfect for a centre back and he looks so comfortable on the ball. Out of the players he mentioned I'd like to see Wisdom and Agger start the season together.
oh and i've been critical of agger too... quite scathcing of his errors in fact. I judge but top quality not... is he better than the other guy at lfc.. its patently obvious lfc leak goals and aint at the top table.
This is the part I don't understand. How is the system/tactics not suited to him? He keeps possession better than Agger in our half, doesn't let people past him as often which helps for a higher line, is better aerially which is what we struggle with from set pieces and is only worse on mistakes made whilst in possession - countered by Agger making plenty when out of possession. I don't understand why people say he's poorly suited to the style/system. He's fine. the whole defense was crap last season including Saint Agger. Either they're both crap or neither are crap. Not one or the other imo.
