1 Feb 2013

LFC legend blasts: 'Rash' Martin Skrtel has 'a lot' of weaknesses. Agree...?

Liverpool legend Ray Houghton has laid into Reds defender Martin Skrtel, who is currently out of favour at Anfield after a series of costly errors and inconsistent performances.

Speaking to the Irish Independent this weeks, Houghton - who won two league titles and two FA Cups during his time at Anfield - admitted that some of the club's players 'have really struggled this season, including Skrtel. He observed:

"Martin Skrtel won Player of the Year last year but I have seen a lot of deficiencies in his game.

"He is rash, goes into tackles that he shouldn't and he is not as comfortable as Daniel Agger on the ball.

"Liverpool want to play a passing game and you need somebody who can pass the ball"


Skrtel's replacement, Jamie Carragher, put in a man of the match performance against Arsenal on Wednesday night, and hopefully he'll retain his place for the Manchester City game on Sunday. After all, if players are in the team on merit, then surely Carra deserves to stay in the side?

If Rodgers decides to bring Skrtel back for the City game then it will be a slap in the face for Carra, who deserves to keep his place. It would also be massively demotivating, not just for Carra, but for other players too. If a player performs well, he should stay in the team, not be dumped for someone else, and that has already happened quite a few times this season.

Additionally, it's not like Carra needs the rest, is it? Prior to the Norwich game last week, he hadn't started a league game since the beginning of November, so playing two games in a week shouldn't be a problem at this stage. After the Arsenal game, Carragher made it clear that he hopes to stay in the team:

"It's a big squad, we all want to play. I've been patient and fortunately enough the manager has put me in. Hopefully I can stay there. If not, you go again and try to get back in."

Liverpool's defence has incrementally suffered since the departure of Sami Hyypia in 2009, and the big finn has never been adequately replaced. Skrtel and Agger are not in the same class defensively, and this summer, overhauling the back four needs to be one of the club's top transfer priorities.

People may think I'm being harsh on Agger, but Arsenal exposed his defensive frailty once again in the recent 2-2 draw. The Dane is superb with the ball, and reads the game well, but he's beaten far too frequently in the air, and that (IMO) is mainly down to suspect positioning. I'm not for one minute suggesting Liverpool should sell Agger, but he needs a more solid defensive partner, and if he gets that, it could have a knock-on (positive) impact on his own game.

With that in mind, Wolfsburg's Simon Kjaer would be a good addition to the Liverpool squad. The 23-year old was linked with a move to Anfield last summer, and at the time, I argued that the club should sell Skrtel for the £15-£20m being offered, and snap him up.

Agger-Kjaer is a well-established, successful partnership for Denmark; they know how to play together, so theoretically, the chance of transferring that success to Premier League is high.

Jaimie Kanwar

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


39 comments:

  1. Agger NEVER been any good in the air. As you say, good on the ball, poor defender.
    He'd be better off in the middle of midfield or left back

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  2. still better than titus bramble and boumsong

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  3. Apparently carra is a liability in our team so you'd have to go with skrtel dont you? i mean i dont think i've seen carra make a mistake this year but everyone keeps saying he's not up to it.

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  4. I completely agree with Houghton on this one. I have never been a big fan of Skrtel, always feel like there is a mistake coming at anytime. Carragher should definitely keep his place in my opinion for the rest of the season as he is less prone to errors and Wisdom seems to feel more comfortable playing beside Carra. He was never the quickest anyway and is definitely a better organiser at the back than Skrtel or Agger so I would leave Sktel on the bench unless Carra has a serious dip in form. He hasn't played much for us this season but when he has played, his performances have generally been very good. I was a bit envious to see Samba go to QPR, always thought he would make a good partner for Agger. When he was at Blackburn, I thought he was one of the best in the league. He has definitely improved their chances of staying up.

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  5. just like to know, do you think carragher is good in the air? he is a big weakness from set pieces in that respect as well as open play. most cb's go forward for corners and carra rarely does so because he can't win headers in attack or defence. i think agger is a pretty complete defender actually, and while skrtel has been poor of form/consistency he should be first choice with agger in my opinion (also he really has improved a lot with the ball compared with when he first came). having carragher playing well is good in case he is needed (ie when others need resting or injured/suspended) but anyone who says he is better than skrtel or agger is wrong (imo), and skrtel hasnt been so terrible he needs to be dropped indefinitely.

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  6. Carra is still our best defender end of!!!, Agger is class and Martin is having a bad time. The same guy won every award going last season, he has quality. Why do we have to be so knee-jerk with every player?, can't a player have a bad time?.....Lucas, Hendo, Enrique just a few.

    Let them have a rest and work on their game, It has worked with the lads mentioned. Be thankful we have Carra, a quality defender and leader on the pitch!!!

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  7. Carra was imperious in the air against Arsenal.

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  8. 10 times better then Agger even at his age, is the answer to your first question.
    Plus he knows how to get into a position that stops the attacker from getting a clear run at the ball in the air etc..

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  9. Yes, I agree completely. Every player has a dip in form from time to time, it just so happens Skrtel is having his. It doesn't mean we have to sell him, just that he needs some time out of the team. Carragher has done well since he came back in and should keep his place for sunday. Not so sure about Kjaer, I've seen him play a few times and he looks decent but just not dominant like Sami was. I think we all agree that whoever we bring in at Cb needs to be able to cope with the physical side of the game and the constant stream of high balls into the box.

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  10. Both Agger and Skrtel are good defenders individually, each has his strengths/weaknesses. The problem is they simply can't complement each other in the way successful defensive partnerships like Hyypia/Henchoz, Hyypia/Carragher etc do. Whether it is a lack of leadership, organisational ability etc anything is possible but that is why the whole defence has been shaky for some time. While Carragher has slowed considerably, he has the organisational/leadership ability and can often get his partner to cover for him or vice versa. (lack of pace can be exaggerated - Hyypia/Henchoz were not the fastest defenders but look how they made up for it) This understanding is lacking between Agger and Skrtel.

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  11. I agree Martin has suffered a dip in form but lets not be too hasty here, everyone suffers a dip  including Stevie G who up until recently has been rubbish by his own standards. So should we have flogged Stevie G? Nonsense. Martin rightly won every award going last season as he was quality and he will return to form. What i am glad to see is that Now (and imo he should have dropped Stevie G a few months back) BR is being ruthless and playing everyone on Merit as it should be. Allen on the bench, Sterling and Shelvey and as Carra says if you're good enough you're on if not you're not. A good boot up the arse to rid these players of complacency will do none of them harm. Molby said it years ago when he said the challenge was to get into the team and once you got there the next challenge was to prove you were the best player in that team. If we sold players due to a dip in form we would have no team.

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  12. skertel might have defiencies in his game but he is still one of the best defender in the league. carra in not the player that he used to be and should accept the fact that he needs to retire or leaves for the club and leave the place for other players. wots the point of letting him play bcoz of that good performance against arsenal (a performance which was perfect, just good) when he doesnt have any future as a player here. instaed skertel must play, that how he will get back to his normal form.

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  13. I think a good signing for Liverpool in the summer would be Ashley Williams because IMO he is very similar to Carragher just quicker. They both are excellent readers of the ball both willing to put there body on the line for the team and as Williams used to play for BR and still plays for Swansea who are still playing similar to how they played last season he knows the system. I know what people will think "oh great another former BR player" but i think he'd be different for the above reasons, Allen hasn't shown any of that and Borini has just been awful! The other thing people will be worried about is he plays for Swansea he may not hack it at a top club (Charlie Adam) but you don't know that unless you try and plus he looks fairly decent in the premiership even after two seasons not a one season wonder like Hangeland or Adam

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  14. Half the problem with the defense is that we haven't had a settled back 4. Enriqe and Johnson keep getting injured. When fit Johnson doesn't know which side of the pitch he's playing. Wisdom is just a young lad and panics when he has to take on a decent winger. and needs someone like Carragher who constantly shouts orders to sort him out Skrtel and Agger are too quiet. If wisdom is getting battered and is removed we have henderson replacing him, come on! I could knock Henderson over and I'm an arthritic 65 year old. You may be able to win with kids but not defenders. There must be some out of contract defenders knocking around that we can get.

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  15. Obviously years of experience in the game makes Carragher a much better defender than Skrtel & Agger, my only concern would be his pace which is more down to his age. Once beaten by an attacker, has no chance to recover, especially with a team like city that love to counter attack, i'd rather have Skrtel in the team.

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  16. I just read an article from Molby. I was wondering why these two who played so well last season are struggling. Buck has reverted to zonal marking instead of man marking at set pieces like Rafa.
    Jamie I am sure you can come up with stats to show how many goals we have conceded from set pieces this season. I am sure everyone here on this site would like to know.
    It makes sense now when you see our defenders looking at each other when a goal is conceded from set pieces. Rodgers better Buck up with his tactics as it is costing us dearly. 

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  17. I'm just happy for Carra!

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  18. i disagree, just because we havent done so well defensively of late, it doesnt mean a. its the centre backs fault and b. they have become rubbish overnight. most fans wanted skrtel and agger to play regularly and when it finally happened there werent many complaining. now that theyve had one or two errors or whatever you think carra is the answer? it baffles me really. they have looked like a really strong partnership; one of the best in the epl, for so many games. its also down to the likes of wisdom who has underperformed for many games now after his promising start, injuries to the likes of enrique, and lack of protection from the likes of gerrard and allen at times. some people have very short term memories. we wont continue to grow if we dont keep skrtel and agger together.

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  19. defending is whole squad responsible....y some ppl only point to certain player....where d lfc spirits? y u guys let sktel walk alone ??? he need come cheer to bring back last season form

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  20. I would love Kjaer to come, but we still need quality CBs.

    As far as I know, Wisdom is originally a central defender. Why not try and play him there, moving Johnson and Enrique to their natural positions? And when Kelly comes back we can try and have him there instead. 
    Maybe they won't become first choice, but they might push for a place and put pressure on Skrtel to perform like last year, because this year he has been terrible.

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  21. I humbly disagree. I agree that they are good defenders. However, I have never thought that they made a commanding partnership. Both have been prone to individual mistakes, but that's liable to happen to any defender even the best. The thing is they lack the ability to cover up for each other well enough such that they look impregnable more often than not. Also, and most importantly, neither are capable of organisational leadership. I thought Agger would be able to do so but I think his leadership ability is limited to part of what Carragher does -normally- - egging team mates on as he showed in the tail end of last season. Organising the defence - not obvious. Skrtel - none at all. It can even be argued that partly because of this, the young ones like Wisdom are struggling/panicking.

    Also, I don't think Carra is the answer - at least not in the long term.

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  22. Only reason why Carra shouldn't start is if due to the fatigue of playing Wednesday and then Sunday.

    Not to say that he won't play, but it wouldn't shock me if Skrtel got the start ahead of him for this reason.

    Also, on Skrtel, while it's true that he has suffered from a run of poor form / plays at times this season, let's not forget that he has been one of the top performers for the club in recent years.  

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  23. Last season we gave up the fourth least amount of goals in the premier league.  Skrtel played in 33 games.  Agger in 24.  

    This year we've given up the eighth least amount of goals.  Agger's played in 23 games.  Skrtel in 21.

    No other pair played in the middle as consistently as these two players over the past two years.

    Two points here:

    1. It's not as bad as we are making it out to be (statistically speaking we are still in the top half in terms of goals against)
    2. If anyone's going to give them the blame this year, they should be giving them the credit for last year.

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  24. This new system is something they aren't used to, the defence. Especially the centre backs. Hopefully, with time, the centre backs will find their rhythm. Otherwise, maybe they just aren't suited to such a system, as under Rafa it was a very different system, especially for the defence as they got more protection and played deeper to a certain extent. Though I agree with Bill to a certain extent, that they have been hampered by instability at full back positions. The defence (inc GK) is probably the one area where you need a settled defence (i.e. very little rotation, unless necessary).


    Carra still definitely has his uses but my concern with him in the side is that this system requires a high line and I'm not all that confident with him when we play a high line (maybe partially why we ended up playing so deep in the second half against Arsenal to compensate for that. Maybe). Although Skrtel has hardly been any better. To be fair, there aren't many centre backs who I'd be confident in to do great job in a high line system like ours (this system is quit a bit about attack/possession is the best form of defence, imo), but that still doesn't excuse some of the performances that our centre backs have put in. 


    Although I think both us and Arsenal suffer from soft central midfielders/central midfield performances. Arteta (to be fair, he has been decent but not really a genuine alternative for what a Vieira/Petit/Gilberto/Flamini brought to the side) nor Allen are what I call proper defensive midfielders and Lucas is still finding his way back from injury. Either they aren't a big enough presence or they aren't clever enough in terms of positioning (a la Busquets/Javi Martinez. Two players that play at sides who dominate possession. I think I read somewhere after Barca, Bayern are second out of the top 5 leagues to dominate possession), defensively.

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  25. Carra didn@t win a header against Giroud!

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  26. I think part of the problem maybe down to coaching as the changes in managers and his staff have exposed.
    Under Xavi Valero, Reina was a better keeper than under the goalkeeping coaches who came under Hodgson and afterwards.
    Likewise our defence was better under Rafa then struggled under Hodgson and for a bit under Dalglish until he recruited Steve Clarke for defensive coaching duties.
    With Clarke gone our defence have returned to the jittery set they were before he came as can be shown by Skyrtel going from Player of the year to a serious liability under 6 months.
    Rodgers may need to change aspects of his defensive team as it can be argued Swansea defence improved after he left while Liverpool's defence has weakened following the arrival of Rodgers and his assistants from Swansea for a reputed £ 7 million.
    Liverpool seem to be improving in attack and passing but passing at the back needs to improve a lot if the aim is to replicate Barca.
    At Barca Pique plays the Agger role while Carles Puyol plays the combative role Kuuyt seems to be failing at. Pique and Puyol don't seem to panic in possession when they need to pass back to the keeper something than cannot be said for Kuyt and Jones who panic and punt the ball anywhere in desperation even when they have time something that could be more to do with confidence than ability.
    When Skytel tries to be cool he ends up losing concentration as evidenced by his back pass under no pressure that led to us conceding a goal.
    I do feel a better defensive coach can turn around the resources we have the same way Steve Clarke turned them around from one of the worst in the league to 4th best defensive unit by the end of the season. 

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  27. I said a couple of weeks ago, after the Norwich game that Carra looked a better bet than Skrtel and I have not seen anything since then to change that. Currently, I believe Carra and Agger are our best DC combo although I agree with much of the sentiment on here from fellow posters about our requirement for DCs to fit our style and having a settled back four.

    Given that Carra and not Skrtel played against Arsenal, and that Skrtel played against Oldham (allegedly), I am hoping that Brendan is giving Skrtel a break from the first team.

    True, Carra is slow but his positional sense and reading of the game and ability to make crucial interceptions is better than Skrtel's at the minute who is seeming prone to rash challenges and other costly mistakes at the moment.

    It is a pity that we are unable to give Coates a run in the team, he is probably better on the ball potentially compared to Carra and Skrtel and bigger and more commanding potentially (until the Oldham game) but he has not had the games to get up to speed to the English game and is found wanting when he plays far too often. If we are not going to play Coates then I feel we may have missed a trick not loaning Coates out even if it meant having a younger deputy like Wisdom (to Agger/Carra/Skrtel) - we really need to see him play first team football for a consecutive run of games to be able to judge if he can be good enough. It is all well and good pointing at Oldham match or how we have leaked goals when he has played but for someone who was one of Uruguay's players of the tournament a couple of years back suggests he has something worth giving a chance to flourish. Alas, we have impeded that momentum.  

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  28. carra for all his faults has superb positional sense and really makes the most of what he has

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  29.  we have also lost a lot of good defensive outfield players like kuyt...and for all his faults carroll who was the best defensive headers of the ball we had last year when he played

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  30. skirtle has never recovered from that city clanger...last year he was superb ...well they say a weeks a long time in politics ..its even longer in football

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  31. its differnet defending for a lower team...goalies always look good playing for shit teams as they make a lot of saves....its doing nothing for 20mins and then not slipping up which is hard

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  32.  the problem we have is our team as a whole is a lot weaker aerially so it puts more pressure on at set pieces

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  33. its not the size of the dog its the size of the fight in the dog and coates is a chitzu

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  34. That's certainly a part of it.

    The other part is that our marking has been pretty bad at times this year.

    That United goal that Vidic scored was terrible.

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  35. Kuyt is failing at that role because he's not at the club.

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  36. skrtel is a player who needs to play with a carragher type leader, who talks him through the game. without carra, we don't have leadership or organisation and that's where we fall down. we must sign a commanding centre half who can lead and not need leading.

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  37. Skytel and Kuyt 2 more signings I hadnt known about.Probably taking time to settle in.

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