20 Feb 2013

'There's a massive void' - Redknapp urges BR to dump £40m LFC duo. Agree...?

After being repeatedly exposed this season, the Daniel Agger-Martin Skrtel partnership is currently on its last legs at Anfield, and former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp has urged his old club to scrap the duo and bring in new central defenders in the summer.

In his column for Sky Sports, Redknapp outlined how he'd basically lost faith in both players, and called for changes. He explained:

"There is still a massive void defensively. Agger showed his defensive frailties [against West Brom] and Liverpool have recently gone back to playing Jamie Carragher, who's retiring at the end of the season.

"They need to find a centre-back of real quality this summer because Martin Skrtel and Agger don't look like a strong partnership to me, and I don't think they [Liverpool] can rely on them next season"


Both Agger and Skrtel were heavily linked with moves away during last summer's transfer window. Liverpool slapped a £25m price tag on the Dane amid interest from Manchester City, and Skrtel's Agent confirmed that 'many clubs' were interested in the Slovakian.

Skrtel continues to be linked with a £15m return to Zenit St. Petersburg, and Barcelona are reportedly monitoring Agger's situation. Denmark Coach Morton Olson certainly seems to think that a move to Barcelona would be good for Agger. Last year, he told Sporten.dk:

"When he is fit, Agger is a modern, top class stopper. I would like to see him next to Gerard Pique at Barcelona. That, I think, is his level."

If Liverpool can get £40m for the pair then surely that would be good business, especially given Agger's injury history? I sincerely doubt the Reds would get that much though; £30m combined is probably the best the club can hope for.

In 2011, ex-Red Stan Collymore upset Liverpool fans when he claimed that Agger and Skrtel were not as good as the hype suggested. He told TalkSport:

"When you look at Vincent Kompany at Manchester City, [Rio] Ferdinand and people like Phil Jones who has come into Manchester United, I don’t think Dan Agger or Martin Skrtel compare. They are a level below".

Well, it looks like Collymore was right. It is, however, doubtful that Liverpool will sell both centre-halves in the summer, and my money is on Skrtel leaving.

I'm a big fan of Agger, especially his leadership qualities, but his main job is to defend, and if he's not doing that well enough, then it's a problem. If he stays - and improves - I definitely see the Dane as a future LFC captain, and in an interview last year, Agger confirmed that he has his eye on the captain's armband. He told Bold.dk:

"It's not something I go and think about every day, but it doesn't get much bigger than being the captain of Liverpool"

Agger is obviously being as diplomatic as possible here but I think it's reasonable to assume that, privately, he would jump at the chance to captain Liverpool.



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39 comments:

  1. Barcelona dont tend to set their sights on below top standard they obviously see much Stan does not.
    I believe Agger would be an even better player along side Pique etc and would shine in a top team.

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  2. I wouldn't sell them, just get another two Center backs so competition for places will drive them on....

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  3. We had one of the tightest defences in the league last season. The most obvious change has been manager and coaching staff. Its rather simplistic blaming them both. How about some praise for Johnson who i believe is having his best season in a red shirt. Only fair after constantly berating him earlier in the season. :)

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  4. But the problem there is if indeed we bought two new CBs its gonna take a while to gel,and again could have a negative effect on Reina because not having a stable back 4 will give us another repeat of this season,We do need a new Cb but I think replacing them at the same time could prove costly in the first few months of next season

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  5. A totally fit Lucas would help protect the pair. Agger has too much of a football brain for us to sell. Skrtel doesn't have the presence or speed of thought necessary for the new system. Don't forget Carragher has had a couple of seasons littered with mistakes.

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  6. I agree especially for agger hes been a real shock lately, skrtel hasnt played much but hes not anything better, so yeah we need a new center back to play with either agger or skrtel depending whos on form in the time, but center backs make mistakes all the time you wont find one that wont let a goal in so getting a new one from another country would be even more risky, at least agger skrtel have some experience in this league, dont know seems to be a very confussing situation.

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  7. I do hold out hope that Agger can still find his defensive mojo in this system but I don't have high hopes over Skrtel. The midfield need to do a better job of defending, covering and recycling the ball when in front of the defence. But that doesn't excuse the CBs' failings this seasons. Even if they don't leave, we need some genuine competition at CB.

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  8. I don't see many (there are better, obviously) better pairings.. The problem is as a team defending has to be better.  I'd go with a comment above if we we're to buy two centre halves one youngster to go with say an Ashley Williams type commanding CBack we'll be fine. Saying that that the young CBack could be at the club already in the form of Wisdom, Kelly or Coates (who I think is being held back by his ability to speak English). We need to make better use of loaning players out.
     

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  9.  I would like to Kelly play CB next season and Wisdom too.

    Skrtel and Agger have been poor this season.

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  10. Speaking of defense, I didn't know Jack Robinson on loan to Wolves!

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  11. Hopefully with both fit next season, at least one of them will get a look in at CB as we have been short of right back options this season due to Kelly's injury. One of them would have played a fair bit at CB this season, imo, if Kelly wasn't injured but instead Wisdom has mainly been used as right back. Although not sure who I'd prefer at CB, out of Kelly and Wisdom.

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  12. I didn't know either! In sync somewhat with the comments made by Rodgers after the Oldham game about some of the young players haven't had a taste of loan action in the lower leagues.

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  13. It's not the players. We need a quality defensive coach to show them the way on the training ground. Also confidence through results will resonate throughout the team.

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  14. Man marking is the way to go. zonal system seems alien to our backs

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  15. Indeed. So much so that it looks like they are afraid to catch a cold if they go too close to the opposing player on set pieces.

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  16. If we got £40 for both I would be amazed, and while I do agree we could get two more, if not 3 more top defenders in with that cash, I`m not sure changing both CB`s in one go is wise. It can often take time for CB`s to gel, and may lead to us shipping in more goals next season. Agger is a good defender, yes he has made a few mistakes this season, but nothing he can`t work on in training and solve. I would like to keep him if possible. 

    Carra will be leaving at the end of the season, and I would like it if we could keep both Skrtel and Agger, and then just sign one more CB. That way we still have options, and if one gets injured at least the replacement is still half decent. I would have Agger and one new CB as my starting two, with Skrtel as the back up. I`m sure he wont stay backup for long before he wants to move on, but even getting one season out of him as back up would be good, although it would mean we take a hit on his resale value.

    Our problem is always strength in depth, when all fit, our team is good, once one or two get injured, are form drops. i.e when Sturridge is out, or when one of the CB`s is out. We need to add players, and keep the old player who played there as back up wherever possible. Deadwood is a different story, and of course the wage bill still needs to come down more, so excess players can be sold.

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  17. I would sell them only if lucrative offers arrive...

    With a good defensive midfielder, these 2 players can do a nice job...

    Recently, they have been left exposed by our weak midfield...

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  18. hard call aint it. Kelly was looking good, but his injuries do worry me. Wisdom is also looking good, but maybe not yet ready for Center back. 

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  19. agree with most comments to sell them both would be insane and it would be another season of indifferent performances,i would like to see wisdom or kelly given a chance,and save the money and see what happens both will be knocking on englands door in the next few years

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  20. I would move Agger further up the pitchand make him into a CDM like Luiz

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  21.  i agree specially skrtel he is not a good defender we have to sell him and buy howedes a strong defender

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  22. Johnson should change his name to Charity. He give away the ball like he's UNICEF.

    I truly hope he's shipped elsewhere this summer!

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  23. Your proof of this? Stats im aware of show him to be in the top 5 most accurate tacklers in the league.

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  24. think its the other way round its reina who has the negative effect on the defenders in front of him knowing any shot on goal has a 90 % chance of ending up in the net . as soon as pepe no saves is sold the better

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  25. Tacklers, I'll give you. Passers, not so much. He is the second coming of Ryan Babel when going on offense.

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  26. id take 20 mill for both and id be surprised if there worth that much.
    agger leadership qualities?? really, hardly leads by example being so inconsistent and bottling challenges.
    id be excited if I new they were definitely leaving, just totally fed up with the constant soft goals let through mainly down to them.
    agger a nice bloke, but sadly injured through most of his peak.
    skrytel just lacks intelligence and has had one fairly decent season.
    both to soft for week in week out performances.
    if someone is still stupid enough to pay that much for them, then we could almost get 3 proper defenders for that 

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  27. Pepe No-Saves! :)

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  28. Don,t know what people see in agger ,he's always made mistakes and he hardly ever clears a ball with his head,I think skrtel is a tougher and better defender than agger

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  29. i dont know you but in most of our games, every time i see Johnson have the ball up the pitch, i know i may see something exciting... he still does it. one of the best wingbacks in the league still. i'd sell downing first. 0 vision and we can use someone better in his position

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  30. suarez next LFC captain after gerrard. once english is fully developed he can put that drive and determenation that he has into the rest of the team. who better to lead than suarez? he is our best player and one of the best players in the world and surely many look up to him. he may not be a role model (diving etc) but out of the 88 tireless displays he played for us, hes been absolute outstanding and im sure he will be able to inject that drive into the rest of the team, he does it now, imagine with the armband

    take a look at these odd but phenomenal stats
    88 appearances 44 goals 22 assists lol

    he scores a goal and the kop goes wild, and i just cant seem to get enough of suarezz! 

    we must sing this song against zenit, will really drive on one of the most unique players to have graced the game...#NO1 like Suarez #YNWA

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  31. downing is very good but we could use somebody better in this position to be honest, like hatem ben arfa. but downing is both footed, has a powerful shot, and also does a good defensive shift in covering for johnson. and to be fair to downing he is a left winger playing on the right and doing a decent job. hes scored some crackers this season as well and made some good assists. hes one of the reasons we even qualifed for europa league knockouts 

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  32. rodgers should try playing daniel agger in lucas's holding role and see how well he does. agger is exceptional at tackles, blocks, interceptions and always puts his life down for the team. but can be exposed sometimes in central defence. defensive midfield could suit him more especially with his height and passing attributes. he will be able to dominate the midfield. similarly to what rafa has done at chelsea with david luiz, a good tackler who is exposed to game costing mistakes at central defence.

    ---------------------gk-reina--------------
    rb-johnson---cb-skrtel---cb-carragher---lb-enrique
    --------------dm-agger-----cm-gerrard-------
    rw-downing----------cf-suarez---------lw-coutinho
    --------------------st-sturridge---------------

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  33. downing is hopelessly one footed, being able to kick a ball with a both feet dont make you a two footed player, if not you can call all players in the league two footed

    as for scoring crackers, well, how many did downing scored?

    my 2 cents but i am more annoyed with downing than i am pleased with him. what a waste of money

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  34. Think both centre backs need to be shipped out.Not good enough.

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  35. i dunno why ppl put all blame to this duo?? i think some other should bare some responsibility rite??? i mean glen, jose, and the other def mid...BR should take some as well....

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  36. Although the defence hasn't been as solid as in the past, it's the guys in front of the defence who aren't really performing. The team in general is not solid enough, leaving the last line of defence constantly exposed.

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  37. would consider selling Skrtel but defo not Agger he is just not havin the best of seasons but is clearly world class and Skrtel was one of our best players last seasons:why can we not just buy two solid defenders and let them all battle it out for the first team.

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  38. Last season not seasons sorry.

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  39. Agger is a world class central defender, end of story. But we do need two central defenders. We can take a chance on Kelly and Wisdom as a fourth option but Skrtel and Coates are not good enough.

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