It really surprises me why many fans have this opinion that Martin Skrtel is not a very good defender . If Liverpool concedes a penalty, own goal and set piece , Carra is usually guilty of the first two more than all the other defensive partners he has had. He may have played more games but if itâs the fear of one of our defenders being burnt for pace, scoring an own goal or conceding a penalty I believe Jamie would be top of the charts in that respect. One thing I will admit is sometimes Skrtel can be a pussy when it comes to clearing headers. He is guilty of shirt pulling in the box and this is the main reason I believe most fans fear whenever they see his defending. That said, he gets away with it the same way Vidic does. If he kept conceding penalties then the shirt pulling argument would hold. Last season we saw the best and worst of Skrtel and it matches exactly to the periods in which Hodgson and Daglish coached the team respectively. Why? When played on the right side of defense, Skrtel is class. On other hand, play him on the left and you will see a massive shift to ordinary looking. This was Hodgsonâs biggest mistake and he paid for it because on the other side was Kyrgiakos. Skrtel is a threat at set pieces and he has begun adding goals to his game. Furthermore with Agger and Skrtel up for corner we are more likely to score a goal than if Carra was playing. People say Carra is good at Organizing and is passionate but you can be a very good defender without shouting much. Carra needs to play less games this season and that way he will be able to give better performances than if he played majority of the games. I have not seen Coates play so I cannot form an opinion but my reckoning is Agger staying fit, Skrtel Agger would be my defensive pairing.
His positioning is not great and he does tend to be rash and also shirt pull a lot, he's good back up imo but I wouldn't want him starting every game. Carra is still the better defender for me.
well.... ok here's a few points. 1. carragher is very close to the liability category at this point, organisation is all well and good but any kind of 1 on 1 and he's done. 2. skertl is not a threat at set pieces, he got one or two goals fine but 90% of the time a ball reaches him he heads it miles over. 3. I agree with LG that his positioning can be questioned at times. 4. I'd add the fact that his passing is abysmal at times as well. 5. shirt pulling is not my worry at all... 6. the hieght and heading ability is an issue and he's not in a good position when confronted with the big target man. niether is carragher. 7. in all he's not a "bad defender" at all. Its just a question of "is he a top 4 defender" and my answer is there's a reason arsenal are no longe rtop 4 potentially and a reason why we are not either... he's not top 4 but he isn't the only one.
The fact that he gives his all and also his stats for last season considering the turmoil we were in suggests that people should get off his back. He has done us proud and is a great defender. Yeah he makes the odd mistake - don't we all? Someone that will stand up and be counted and will always give their all for Liverpool football club deserves respect. He has been a great player for Liverpool and his passion for the club is clear to see. I wish more players would take a leaf out of Martin's book
Lay off Skrtel in my opinion. He was the only outfield player to start every league game last season, now I'd like to see how many pens, O.G.'s etc. he gave away compared to the other defenders who played less. Edit : **** you sky dont be PMing me for my thoughts anymore if youre just gonna post them as your own
I am trying to think of instances where his positioning has been called into question. He's rashness I may give you that but think of all epic matches and results we have been involved in and you will not miss one Mr Skrtel. Plus he does tend to be reliable in that he pick up few injuries compared to Mr Glassman Agger.
Skrtel is better than carra. Carra is as slow as they get and is beginning to annoy me. He has had a great career and makes great last ditch tackles but uses his mouth to mask his own limitations. If he stayed quiet maybe the defence would be less nervous. In enriques first game all carra did was shout at the poor lad. Would like to see Coates start a few games
