5 Mar 2013

'We should sell him' - Aldo urges Liverpool to dump €15m Reds star. Agree...?

After a series of mistake-laden performances this season, Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has recently found himself on the sidelines at Anfield. Last week, he publicly accused Brendan Rodgers of lying to him over the reason for his recent omission from the starting line-up, and Reds legend John Aldridge has criticised the Slovakian for his ill-advised comments.

In an interview with The Telegraph last week, Skrtel suggested that Rodgers lied to him about the reasons behind his relegation to the bench:

"He Rodgers gave me some explanation. He told me we had lost the organisation of play in the defensive line [against Manchester United] and that this would be the reason why I would not play in the following matches.

"It's hard to tell if it was the true reason he gave me. I don't think it was and think there is something else behind it."


Skrtel didn't make the squad for last Saturday's 4-0 win over Wigan, and Aldo believes he's paying the price for questioning the manager in public. He told the Liverpool Daily Post:

"Skrtel’s comments about not being sure whether Rodgers had been honest about why he’s been dropped weren’t clever. Clearly, they didn’t go down well as he didn’t even make the bench at Wigan"

I posted an article the other arguing that Skrtel had accused Rodgers of lying, and many (in-denial) fans refused to accept the obvious. Well, Aldo is suggesting the same thing here, which is hardly surprising given how blatant Skrtel's comments are.

It looks increasingly like the Slovakian is on his way out of Anfield this summer, and Aldo believes that it's wouldn't be a major loss for the club. He argued:

"There are big question marks over the future of Martin Skrtel. If he doesn’t knuckle down and fight then we should sell him because he’s not irreplaceable"

Skrtel is most definitely not irreplaceable, and neither is Daniel Agger, who has also made a lot of mistakes this season. Could it be that Agger's mistakes have come as a result of Skrtel's poor form? That's one possible excuse, but I don't believe it has any merit.

Zenit St. Petersburg are reportedly waiting in the wings with a €15m bid, and it wouldn't surprise me if Skrtel's comments are part of a calculated attempt to prepare the groundwork for a move away in the summer.

Do Liverpool have any irreplaceable players? Many fans will say Luis Suarez, but in my view, none of the club's players are irreplaceable, except, perhaps, Steven Gerrard.



NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


49 comments:

  1. Well I think that he shouldn't have been dropped. Carra hasn't been amazing either, and Agger has been the worst for errors all season. I think he's been dropped because he doesn't offer much going forward, and he doesn't offer much for team spirit and communication, Agger and Carra each offer one of those.

    For 15m, I think we should sell. If the rumours at the start of the season were true, we rejected an offer of that size, and a larger one for Agger. I'd accept 15 for any of our centrebacks.

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  2. He's a liability, Liverpool should sign 3 new centre halves in the summer.

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  3. A club with the ambition to succeed at the top, be competing in major competitions and winning trophies, attracting the top talent in world football and creating more records would not even consider losing Suarez.

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  4. Why sell?, whats the point of having a squad ? if we keep selling or wanting to sell players after every mistake or outburst we will have no players left.
     We must not sell a sole before new players enter through the door. Once bitten twice shy...

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  5. Because the track record of FSG is to sell high wage earners who are not regular first teamers. I would suggest that if Skrtel is not back playing regularly by the end of the season then his cards could be marked.
    For the record, I agree with the policy of selling high wage earning fringe players. It makes total business sense and allows you to maximise on first team starter wages and youth players.

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  6. No player in the squad is ultimately irreplaceable although some are of a quality that makes them harder to replace than others. If we have ambitions of top 4 next season then we certainly do not want to be selling Suarez for sure.

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  7. common sense in real worlkd5:06 pm, March 05, 2013

    Above comment spot on

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  8. Agreed - need to sell Skrtl, Coates (or loan him out), and with Carra retiring, that leaves only Agger as a recognized center half; need at least 3 (4 if we qualify for Europe).

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  9. Carra is given lots of margin for error because of his service to the club but he is not worthy of 1st team status if the goals is to win games and finish as high as possible in the table.

    Skrtel was the least of our problems. Using Sterling and Allen so much for the first half of the season when neither was capable of delivering answers for the club cost the far more points than anything Skrtel did or did not do. Rodgers is learning but his treatment of certain players deserves more scrutiny.

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  10. Ha ha. I like the last para. put a smile on my face. Good one Jamie.
    You do have a sense of humor. So it seems!

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  11. Who would you have played instead of Sterling and Allen?

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  12. I have heard this statement couple of times over the year, "No player is bigger than the club." But where would Liverpool be without it's "Scouse" players. Someone like Gerrard is irreplaceable. The little success that we have had is usually down to Gerrard's performance on the pitch. We will also find out the full extent of what Carragher brings to the team when he eventually retires. So for me having players from Liverpool born and bred playing in the first team is vital that for me is irreplaceable. Continuing that tradition. 

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  13. Skrtz has shown that he can be a more than capable cb. and last year he was, literally, outstanding. being replaceable isn't the same as needing to be replaced. and if the current lack of organization is the problem perhaps the solution is properly replacing Steve Clarke.

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  14. we'll be lucky to get 10m for him, but i think its time for change.
    i'd like to see williams brought in, also the lad pearce from reading.
    i imagine williams will go somewhere where luis s is not however.

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  15. Martin Kelly and Wisdom are well good enough to step in to the centre back role.

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  16. I have noticed a trend in our fans where as soon as one player gets into the team the guy he replaces gets slaughtered Hendo, Shelvey, Allen Skrtel and even Reina at one point. I don't think the club should be looking to sell Skrtel if a good offer comes in maybe but we should be looking to get in a better quality replacement, possibly sell Coates and Have a healthy back line with Agger, Skrtel and the new signing! 

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  17.  get shut ...regardless of whos right or wrong rogers is the manager

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  18. Howedes and Sakho should do it.

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  19. Rather Skirtel than Carra!

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  20. apparently david gill of man u pulled the plug on pepe reina joining man u in January with all other parties agreeing. wtf

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  21. I think Martin Kelly or Andre Wisdom could fill at least one of those spots.

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  22. Jaimie, I agree with you in the Skrtel accused the manager of lying.

    However, if you read the rest of his quotes from that day, he admits that he's actually been injured.

    I don't place too much stock in the fact that he was left off the bench in the Wigan contest.

    It's also one of the reasons why he didn't play against Zenit in the return leg.

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  23. Skartel is a quality CB.  I think, he is facing the problem with BR's system, rather than anything else.  BR plays with a high back line system, where CBs are part of the build up & need to keep the ball more on feet.  Also, BR involves his GK more as a sweeper & often CBs are back passing the ball to GK to set up the long pass, which is not Skartel's comfort zone.

    Skartel's strength lies more in direct approaches.  He is an old style powerful sweeper-back, who loves to blast or clear first.  Last year, in KK's Hoof-ball system, Skartel was arguably our best player & I am sure for clubs like Stoke, WBA, West Ham, Fullham, OPR (Simple - teams with English/British Managers & players) he 'll be as good as anyone.  He is worth more than the E15mn quoted, but if Zenith or anyone comes, we should let him go for that money.

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  24. I'm convinced that if he doesn't have the one back pass against Man City, people's perception of his season would change.

    It's such an awful mistake though and it's the first thing I think about when considering his season.

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  25. I'd be very surprised if Skrtel was still on our books come August. He wasn't anything special before last season and isn't this season. I have nothing against him, but he never played like the hard-man he looks and, given the ink on his body, the way he portrays himself.

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  26. But we are talking about Sktrel here, not Suarez.

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  27. You may well have a point here. The second thing I think about is Reina rushing to the edge of the box to allow Agüero to score, the third Carra gifting Zenit a goal.

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  28. looks like tahat inferiority complex theory is gone out the window....

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  29. cant keep repeating myself. ffs sell sell sell !!!!
    15 mill, they must be bigger mugs than us !!
    COME ON MADRID !!!

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  30. Skrtel is a solid player who would fit into a stoke type system (wimbledon 90's) Carragher also fits this mold. Agger's problem is that he is not surrounded by defense at his level. Souness, KK(part 2) and Carragher have kept us back and we are now paying for it. We need intelligent players who will 'die' for the club. Please stop this love in for Carragher- he has made more mistakes in the last three years than almost any player in the squad. Yes, I would love to have him in my Sunday league squad, have a beer etc, but he doesn't have the class to be at the top level.

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  31. Allen was by far our best midfielder for the first ⅓ of this season before his form dropped off.

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  32. I disagree. Carra has brought some much needed organisation to our defece which was leaking like a sieve for most of this season before he came back in. He has performed pretty well, and is retiring in 10 games 'time, so enough about having no class.

    And Agger's problem is he is crap at staying with his man on set pieces....

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  33. JK asked whether Liverpool have irreplaceable players. I guess vast amounts of people feel Suarez is irreplaceable.  

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  34. Kudos to BR for dropping him. He should be dropped for the rest of the season (not really missing him now, is the team?) and then sold in the summer.
    There is no one irreplaceable. Not even Gerrard (plus, he's already in decline). Having one would mean he is bigger than the club.

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  35. Basically our CD have played well defensively. But, this is a big but at times they have let in easy goals. These easy goals have cost us points like games anteater said below.  Our defense do the hard job very well but far too many times we have let in goals which should not have gone in. This season apart from the Aston Villa and West Brom battering defensively we have leaked in few goals and have the second highest clean sheets. 

    I like what BR is doing if your playing bad, then your going to be dropped someone else should get the chance. But then again Carragher has leaked in a fair few errors. Against Wigan Carragher tried playing through the back. At times it looked like Kone would latch onto one of the passes from Carragher. None of our CB look comfortable on the ball when passing it from the back truth be told.

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  36. I would be interested to hear of players who are of a comparable quality to Suarez who we would be able to replace him with. There isn't anyone hence Suarez is irreplaceable.

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  37. I think both Gerrard and Suarez are irreplaceable. You may not like Suarez but he's been absolutely phenomenal for Liverpool, and out from Messi and Ronaldo it is quite hard to think of someone blatantly better than him in world football at the moment. Previously on this forum you criticized him for not being prolific, and this season he is the premier league top scorer so that argument has been completely obliterated. One of the reasons Gerrard has been so irreplaceable for Liverpool over the years has been his passion, commitment for the team and his will to win. Suarez likewise has those traits in abundance and can become a true leader in the team, and if he does stay a future LFC legend. He's virtually the perfect player in Brendan's philosophy too. He's vitally important and the stats prove that. I for one am starting to get excited about the prospects of a dynamic partnership between him and sturridge next season, and with a couple of good additions in the summer hopefully we will make it back to the top 4.

    Skrtel meanwhile has been terrible this year and has been completely exposed by the new philosophy which requires players to be comfortable on the ball. I think we should sell him if we can get a decent price. In retrospect it is such a pity we didn't sell him to city in the summer.

    However as regards keeping Agger; a no-brainer. He's a very good player whilst he hasn't had the best of seasons. He's fantastic at playing the ball out from the back and is as good of a ball playing defender as you will find. He's another perfect fit in Brendans system, and hopefully he rediscovers his best form soon as he has undoubted quality. In addition the fans have huge affection for Agger and he really really loves the club, and having players who will fight for the club will be positive going forward.

    Maybe in order for Agger to rediscover his form we need to find him a better partner in the center of defense however. One thing is for certain though, if we lose our best 3 central defenders (Agger, Skrtel and Carra) any balance the team has will be completely destroyed. An example of that is the season that Arsenal brought in Koscielny and Squillaci, while Vermaelen was injured.

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  38. I would be fine with him being sold, purely as tbh we haven`t looked any worse since he aint been in the team, if anything we look a lot better. This leads me to think he`s not really needed for first team, and maybe a tad costly on wages for a back up, plus we could prob get a nice little amount for him, and use that to sign a new CB to fill Carra`s role when he retires at the end of the season

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  39. Best player of last year for us, pathetic that everyone's on about selling him.
    Johnson Agger Skirtel and Enrique stopped us being an even bigger laughing stock last season, They are used to playing together just having a bad run of games, Im sure if they stay you lot will be going on about how good they are and you always thought they were.
    The real problem is how Pepe has been, sometimes its like he's not even trying to stop shots, so half arsed, we need more players not less they just need some competition to spark them back up, then they are easily one of the best defenses in the game again

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  40. How can Agger who continually commits schoolboy errors be a recognised CB? There would be more of the same mistakes from him if he remains at Anfield.

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  41. Many fans wud say luis? I think ALL fans wud say luis is irreplaceable.......tell me who is playin now that does wat he does? and that we cud buy? Article is fine, but that last comment is ridiculous.....seems like ur fishing there jamie.

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  42. A bit off topic, but this Jamie ken war is a "blert", made up with himself because he saiid something Aldo said!, what a idiot! Urge all proper Liverpool fans NOT to converse with this tool. Go on Jamie, you shitbag, post this, and prove your not the snivelling little woman everyone thinks you are!

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  43. i'm certain he cost us at least 4 point against Man city this season, assist to Tezez in 1st game, miss clearance in 2nd game allowed aguero to score from tight angle even though Reina is partially to be blamed. 

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  44. Yes, sorry, it was the very last paragraph. I considered it as a side note. Mea culpa.

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  45. People forget that we have Kelly and Wisdom who are natural centre backs, Kelly being the "Scouse" bred player, Wisdom having signed from Leeds. If Skrtel goes I would personally like to see Williams from Swansea, although he would cost between £12M - £15M, has EPL experience and would give us the "athleticism" and mental toughness that we lack in the centre back position. Pearce would be a good acquisition too being on a "bosman".

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  46. Err he cost us a victory against Arsenal and a couple of days later against Citeh even though we were in complete control at the time. A solid center back pairing is the first requirement for consistency and thus a sustained push for the title. Man U have it, Chelsea had it, Citeh have at least Kompany and Arsenal and Spurs don't have it at all and that's why they always drop off in the end. We've lacked consistency in every area of the pitch and that's why we are where we are now. Agger is also obviously more comfortable playing with Carragher than with Skrtel. If Zenit are insane enough to pay 15 million for Skrtel they're more than welcome to him as it gives us some extra cash to get the players we need.

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  47. I think Skrtyl has many qualities, but doesn't fit in with the ball playing requitements the team now has. It's important that we are comfortable with the ball in the 1st third of the field- if you want to see what I mean, watch the real/Utd game again (if only to see Ferguson having a 4 yr old's tantrum!) and see how comfortable they were playing the ball around at the back.

    Even though he was probably our most consistent player last year, I for one am looking forward to not having kittens every time MS has the ball at his feet...

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  48. And how many games has Agger cost us? Quite a few already this season. What about Carra? They've all made mistakes. I'm not sure that Agger performs better with Carra, he was pretty awful playing alongside Carra soon after Skrtel was dropped.

    Skrtel didn't play against Arsenal, so not sure what you mean. Agger did, and cost us the victory, and cost us 2 goals against West Brom. There's no shortage of Agger mistakes. The question then is why drop Skrtel and not Agger. I think it's only because Agger is decent going forward.

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  49. SKRTYL has been one of the most committed players for LFC. He is going through a rough patch and KR should be patient. We do not have a sure replacement at the moment and it will be a mistake to act in haste

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