Skrtel Agger Toure Sakho Old Soldiers Agger and Skrtel should be there next season. Sakho is still learning, though good. I think we should get rid of Toure.
Skrtel's been excellent most of the year and Flannel will grow and grow (bear in mind he's been playing left back and right back...not easy for a young lad). Skrtel's actually adapted to a system that shouldn't suit him brilliantly and there's no way Rodgers will drop him. You think changing personnel will wave a magic wand over our defence next season but it'll make little difference because of our style of play. Like it or not our back four at the start of next season will have at least 2 of those you listed and Enricky will be back in as well. Sakho may well be the long term leader but at the moment Rodgers doesn't seem to believe he's a better option than Agger which tells a story. I very much doubt we'll see more than one CB signed (or Illori brought back) unless Skrtel or Agger leave....with BR putting his faith in that pairing for what is now a title run-in I see no evidence to suggest he wants rid of either (unless we get a crazy bid). At the end of the day we are in second place only a point behind the leaders. We haven't had a settled defence until recently (all season) nor do we often have a settled formation from game to game. More than any other players (bar Gerrard perhaps) the defenders have been forced to adapt literally from one week to the next. As Rodgers said yesterday it's just lazy to keep criticising the defence without looking at the reasons why we concede more than we should. Work to do of course but after a season like this the last thing we need is a complete overhaul in the summer.
Skrtel has not been excellent. He's been the best out of a bad bunch - there's a big difference. He has made the most errors in our defence - I'm not talking about playing a Kolo-esque pass to the opposition to score, I'm talking about switching off when the ball comes into the box, losing his man, being reactive. Sky actually picked up on some of the errors yesterday - problem is, this happens every game but it's never reported. Is the worst defender in the world? No, course not. And I would happily take him as a squad player - problem is, he's an expensive player to have on the bench. Flanno is improving, I agree - that doesn't mean that he's first team material. Not yet anyway. I think he will develop into an important squad player and he can take great pride in that. But do I want him starting a majority of the game next season, against CL opposition? No chance. And it's the personnel which is the problem - the tactics will leave us open at times, but is it down to the tactics why are full backs can't close down crosses? Is it tactics which cause our defenders to lose their markers? Why do we concede so much? Simple - the back 4 have poor concentration levels and switch off at key times. Not only that, they have no protection in front of them.
I think speaking of wholesale changes is ridiculous. The last thing we need after developing so well this season is a bloody transition season FFS. We will (touch wood) have Champions League football next season and Agger and Skrtel both give us vital experience of playing on big European nights. Keep Agger, Skrtel and Sakho and get another decent one in. Change too much and you end up having a season like Spurs have. Tweaking is the way forward. Evolution not revolution. The defence will be more solid next season as the system will be more second nature and I expect us to bring in 1 CB and 1DM who will greatly help our defensive record over the season. Its not the players its the style, Rodgers has said we are a long way from being where we should be and Im happy with that. I expect alot of work to be done on defence, but i dont see that meaning wholesale changes. Thats my opinion, but to be honest ill accept whatever Rodgers decides. he seems to know what he is talking about. Id be happy if we brought it someone like Vertonghen. Vertonghen, Sakho, Agger and Skrtel. For me thats two quality CB pairings that incorporate not just on the pitch skills but fire and passion for the club aswell. Agger and Skrtel are part of the fabric
Agree with you to some extent, Jimmy, but I think you can pin the many under-pressure errors and goals allowed on a few factors before faulting Agger and Skrtel. The main justifications for me are two 1) injuries and lack of a stable partnership 2) growth/change/learning/development that has happened this year with BR, tactics and the team. Bar Cardiff, the defence hasn't been that bad when we've played 3CMs with Allen, or when we played compact counterattack at home (with SASAS & Coutinho). In between, there have been some bad defensive displays like Everton, Swansea, Hull, Stoke, Villa... but you probably could point to a tactical change & liberty in that game that brought about those pressured errors.
But you seriously underestimate the work our centre backs have to do Jimmy. They are asked to squeeze opposition players high up yet drop straight back in if they don't win the first ball, they also have to cover right across the back line when the full backs fly forward and when they lose it as often as Johnson last night or the whole team against Cardiff it doubles the space the CB's are having to cover. Add to all that the fact that they see the ball (in terms of passing it) more than any other Liverpool defence I've seen for two decades then the probability of errors increases dramatically. Skrtel very rarely misses a tackle, his coverage and positioning are in general pretty much spot on, his distribution is massively improved and his wrestling skills are that of an Olympic medallist It is down to tactics and personnel but not neccessarily the personnel that play CB. It is much more (as you say yourself) a question of those around and in front of them. If (just as an example) we had a player like Zabaletta at right back and Yaya and Fernandinho shielding the centre backs they wouldn't look half as shaky simply because they'd be doing half the work. Would we however be as potent going forward if we brought in more defensive minded players and lost Gerrards 60 yard passes or Hendersons drive? I'm not so sure we would so in the summer I think we need to be careful, add to the squad with quality and steer well clear of a rip it up and start again philosophy.
Dont know how he is doing now, But Ever banega used to be a very active DM with a brilliant eye for a pass and a good generl forward play. If Rodgers could get the best out of him he could still be a massive asset for us. Havent heard much of him for a while though, so might have run off to live his dream as an Argentine Pornstar
No he is still at Valencia, he is around 27-28 now so if he moved it would be one of his last before departing back to the homeland. Just a guy with a lot of off-field problems that blighted his career. Still in the national team fold though. Lucas Biglia has done well at Lazio and even though just recently moved there, ticks a lot of the boxes for that DM role.
