Liverpool have been linked with a number of central defenders over the last few months, and speculation persists that Brendan Rodgers' top priority is Reading defender Alex Pearce.
Contract talks between Pearce and Rodgers' former club have stalled, and with the 23 year old's contract set to expire in Summer 2013, the possibility of a move away looks increasingly likely.
During his time as manager of Reading, Rodgers made Pearce his vice-captain, and he often compared him to Chelsea captain John Terry. For example, in one interview, Rodgers said:
“Alex was outstanding and looked like a mini John Terry out there. He reminds me in a lot of ways of John. They’ve got the same number 26 on their back and the same hunger to be better"
Pearce himself is a big fan of Terry, as he revealed in an interview with the BBC recently:
"John Terry never seems to get caught. People say he is not the quickest but he is sharp in the mind. I actually try to base my game on him. I watch him all the time on TV and study his play."
£4m-rated Pearce was named Reading's player of the year during the 2011-12 Championship winning season, but he's no longer an automatic starter for the club, which perhaps explains why he's stalling on signing a new deal.
Pearce had not missed a minute of league football for Reading for more than a year before being droppe, but he's been benched for the last seven games, which suggests he's being punished for refusing to sign a new deal.
In an interview over the weekend, Reading boss Brian McDermott suggested that Pearce wants to stay at the Majdeski stadium. He said:
""We had a good talk on Saturday. He wants to sign and I want him to sign," McDermott told the Reading Post.
"His agent needs to contact the club and they need to get together again. I don't want this to drag on for much longer.
"It's out of my hands. It has to do with the club and the agent."
If Liverpool end up signing PEarce, let's just hope it's only his footballing ability that's similar to John Terry (!)
Jaimie Kanwar
Contract talks between Pearce and Rodgers' former club have stalled, and with the 23 year old's contract set to expire in Summer 2013, the possibility of a move away looks increasingly likely.
During his time as manager of Reading, Rodgers made Pearce his vice-captain, and he often compared him to Chelsea captain John Terry. For example, in one interview, Rodgers said:
“Alex was outstanding and looked like a mini John Terry out there. He reminds me in a lot of ways of John. They’ve got the same number 26 on their back and the same hunger to be better"
Pearce himself is a big fan of Terry, as he revealed in an interview with the BBC recently:
"John Terry never seems to get caught. People say he is not the quickest but he is sharp in the mind. I actually try to base my game on him. I watch him all the time on TV and study his play."
£4m-rated Pearce was named Reading's player of the year during the 2011-12 Championship winning season, but he's no longer an automatic starter for the club, which perhaps explains why he's stalling on signing a new deal.
Pearce had not missed a minute of league football for Reading for more than a year before being droppe, but he's been benched for the last seven games, which suggests he's being punished for refusing to sign a new deal.
In an interview over the weekend, Reading boss Brian McDermott suggested that Pearce wants to stay at the Majdeski stadium. He said:
""We had a good talk on Saturday. He wants to sign and I want him to sign," McDermott told the Reading Post.
"His agent needs to contact the club and they need to get together again. I don't want this to drag on for much longer.
"It's out of my hands. It has to do with the club and the agent."
If Liverpool end up signing PEarce, let's just hope it's only his footballing ability that's similar to John Terry (!)
Jaimie Kanwar
exactly the kind of young, known, cheap player that BR seems to be looking for these days. a seemingly good rotation player and one for the future.
ReplyDeleteI've not really watched him to see how good he is, but with Coates, Kelly, Wisdom, Wilson etc., in our ranks, do we really need more defenders?
ReplyDeleteAgger and Skrtel make up a fantastic partnership, Carrager can stay on as a coach and we're set for some time in central defense. Or, is Rodgers not convinced by our existing cover players in this area? We have been quite good in defense right through from Rafa years until now. Our biggest problems for the last 5 or 6 years, have been our lack of creativity and clinical finishing in the final third.
We have only one player currently in Suarez' league and that's Suarez himself. Yes we have some promise in Suso and Sterling, but other teams like Chelski, City, Manure, Spurs and Arsenal, have several creative, attacking players to choose from.
This is the area we need to spend money in.
thats it then im wearin number 7 down the park on sunday and il tel the lads to call me luis i mite get a hatrick,,i wish br would wake up its firepower we need ders plenty of cover at the back with good players put the funds into a proven finisher nomore borinis even when hes back he wont take the pressure off suarez
ReplyDeleteHes a good player but very slow. We should promote Sama.
ReplyDeletefu"king striker sick of hearing about defenders goalkeepers and wingers heard were supposed to be after sturridge again please let it not be true
ReplyDeleteDon't need to waste any money on defenders or midfielders, already have enough quality in those areas, only need attacking players with strikers being priority and a goalscoring midfielder would be a bonus.
ReplyDeleteWe've got 4 great defenders and enough promising youngsters.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Reading fan and I'm going to be really honest here ... these highlights flatter Pearce a lot! He's an old fashioned centre back so he's solid, loves a tackle and is decent in the air. Having said that, Pearce is painfully slow and his passing is poor (someone must have trawled through a lot of footage to find his passes that actually went to feet!). All in all, Pearce is Reading's fourth choice centre back this season and rightfully so. There's no way he's good enough for Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteHe is Readings fourth choice because he refuses to write a new contract(actually like this move from reading) but he is probably one of Readings best players and the best CB Reading have without a doubt. Theres a reason why he was votes best player of the year last season! But your right he is fucking slow and i doubt that he is good enough for Liverpool!
ReplyDeleteThis fella does not even look nearly good enough from what I've seen. We'd be better off looking at Wisdom or Kelly for centre-half.
ReplyDeleteAh well! Yet another "friend" of Rodgers who is world class....
ReplyDelete