16 Nov 2013

Agger vs. Skrtel: Who should BR sell in Jan? LFC fans give their emphatic verdict....

After weeks of employing a much-maligned 352 formation, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has now reverted to four at the back, and if he sticks with that set-up for the rest of the season, it will inevitably lead to frustration and disappointment for one or two of LFC's central defenders. In my view, the Reds must sell one the club's four senior centre-halves in January, and the most likely candidates to leave are Daniel Agger and/or Martin Skrtel. Who would Liverpool fans prefer to lose...?

Last week, I conducted a survey on the site asking fans to choose who they'd prefer to see sold in January:

- 11250 visitors (approx) voted.

- 68% of participants voted for Skrtel to be sold.

- Only 32% voted for Agger.

That's an emphatic result, yet hardly surprising given Agger's enduring popularity amongst Liverpool fans.

I personally disagree with the outcome of the poll, however. I voted for Agger, and did so for the following reasons:

* Skrtel is strong and robust, and like Luis Suarez, he rarely gets injured.

* Agger, on the other hand, is always injured, and the next big injury could be a career-killer (or damage his transfer value)

* LFC now have Sakho to fill the left-sided centre-half role.

* Skrtel is in superb form this season, whereas Agger has continued to make costly mistakes.

* Agger also continues to make veiled threats in the media about his future, whereas Skrtel - despite being unceremoniously dropped last season - never does that sort of thing.

To be brutally honest, I'd rather LFC sold Sakho in January, kept Agger and Skrtel, and blooded Tiago Ilori, but there's no way that's going to happen (!)

Author:


59 comments:

  1. Sold sahko? He improving every game he playing, we have needed a defender like him for a while. Strong and dominant in the air. And why sell any of them? We need good defenders at the club. Competition is good :-)

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  2. No need to sell any of these players! Skrtel is improving in carrying the ball and in his distribution. Agger can get more playing time by being deployed as a DM (believe it or not his style of play is very suited to the DM role and BR would be amiss not to use him as such in games where we need to shut the midfield - Agger, Lucas, SG would do that to any team). He is also a better LB than Cissokho so that is another way of using his talent. In short, a wise rotation regime that involves a 'start' and 'sub' option around the 60 minutes can keep most of our players happy including Allen! Don't forget the FA cup games are also around the corner!
    Cheers!

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  3. Skrtel came out and said he would look at his situation in january and wanted to leave in the summer. Agger on the other hand has been the victim of poor translation and has publicly said on his twitter account that he's not going anywhere.


    Agger hasn't been injured for 2 seasons now, despite small accidents. Don't know what you're on about.

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  4. 45 yearsb with the same bird10:18 pm, November 16, 2013

    wtf why would you sell either of them you are sure your a liverpool fan you twat

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  5. id give agger a shot at DM, he has all the attributes imo to play there. having a dominant player like sakho helps but so far based on his performances he is 4th choice for me. i wouldnt sell any of them though as coates will surely be gone in the summer and toure will be 33 before this seasons out. we need to ship out a lot of the rubbish that rodgers bought first starting with borini, allen, aspas and assaidi.
    cissokho is the only defender imo that should be shown the door. WTF was rodgers thinking with that one

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  6. Poor translation? Do me a favour. That is total hogwash :-) An excuse to defend Agger. Why is Skrtel not a victim of 'poor translation'? Simple - it doesn't suit your argument. Agger has been injured over 26 months since he joined LFC. He's the most injured player in LFC history.

    Sent from Samsung Mobile

    -------- Original message --------

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  7. I would rank the quality of our CBs as follows:

    1) Skrtel

    2) Toure

    3) Agger

    4) Kelly

    5) Sakho

    6) Wisdom

    7) Coates

    I don't know enough about Illori to rank him.

    Only Rodgers and Ayre know why they wasted 15m+ on Sakho, a player we clearly did not need and who is not good enough for a top club in the PL (or in the French league, for that matter). Second rate French players like Sakho and Cissokho are a step in the wrong direction and most fans see and know it.

    Now with Sakho here, I would expect that Agger will be sold as he is presumably also one of the highest paid players at the club.

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  8. costly mistakes! haha name 1... hes played 4 games this season and wev'e had 4 clean sheets, wev'e conceded in every game he hasnt played in. the only mistake hes made was the handball v stoke and it was missed so it couldnt have been less costly

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  9. Don't need to sell any defender...end of story. We need two good MFs: one in attack and one in defense.

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  10. We cannot afford to sell anyone right now. We would see more of a rotation if we were playing more games. If we sell someone this January and qualify for Europe next season, we're going to need the depth.

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  11. Frankly speaking I would not have sold either of them. It is good to have completion among players for places in the team. Sakho and Illori are the future. Kolo was brought in as free it was the best business deal done by BR. Only wish that FSG would increase the transfer budget for BR to buy good quality players who can help Liverpool back into CL.

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  12. I don't know if Skrtel has been a victim of poor translation or not, as I don't understand slovakian! But I do understand danish and I have NEVER heard Agger talking about wanting to leave Liverpool FC! But I have heard him denying ever having said anything like that - over and over again!
    There is no doubt that Agger has been sidelined a lot, during his time at Liverpool FC because of injury! Not last season or this though, but that doesn' t seem to suit your argument...!?
    As for the costly mistakes this season...what are you on about? When Agger plays, we walk away with clean sheets - for some reason that dosen't seem to suit your argument either...
    The only CB I would want to sell is Coates, we want Top 4 and CL and for that we need quality players and back ups.

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  13. Agger or Skrtel?


    Barcelona would be able to answer this question...

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  14. DMs require a lot more short intricate movements, it takes a long time to adjust to it and Agger is almost thirty years old...

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  15. I would play both Skrtel and Agger as first choices. Many LFC goals against have come from poor defending on LFCs left side with Agger sittimg on the bench. Against Arsenal Toure turns his back to watch the second goal fly in - great display. Last years back 4 are still the best options for me.

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  16. Do you really think we should sell Sakho, JK?
    You were one of his most vociferous supporters, before we signed him.
    What's the dealio?

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  17. Neither, toure has a year left, competition .........

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  18. Do not know why people have such an issue with Sakho.


    If you had to ask any striker who they would rather not come up against between Agger, Sakho or Skrtel then Sakho would get most of the votes.

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  19. Four months ago I would have voted Skrtel off the island. Now, he is playing so well we should keep him. I still believe Agger could play defensive mid and be a great presence there. Have Lucas play less than a full game or rest a week from time to time. There are clever ways to keep both Skrtel and Agger. I say again that using Ilori late as a DM isn't a bad idea either. Against teams with strongq midfield presence and pace Soton and arsenal, Lucas needs to go hard for 45 minutes or so and then bring in Agger or vice versa.

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  20. None should be sold. Liverpool should continue to use 4 defenders at the back. Rotate the players . Don't forget there is FA cup coming up. Perhaps BR could experiment with Sahko to play as defensive midfielder ?

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  21. agger is always injured? Jamie??? agger is fit at the moment and uninjured.. what the hell are you banging on about? while i agree skrtel over agger, you seem to be highly dillusional.. agger as made the odd costly mistake,, he doesnt continue to make them.. you used to be alot cleverer than writing contentious articles like this... I don't think liverpool is in your blood. it seems you just like to get liverpool fan's attention by penning spectacular sounding articles... i hope you are getting enough hits to keep you happy...

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  22. sakho is going to be an animal of a player

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  23. What nonsense. I am an armchair striker, and I would take error prone clumsy Sakho ahead of Skrtel and Agger any day. As would the vast majority of PL strikers.

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  24. I can consider this survey as a silly one. Liverpool need these two defenders if we want to finish in TOP4 next season. Both Agger and Skrtel are as vital as Suarez and sturridge is for us.

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  25. Error prone and clumsy? Please provide the proof.

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  26. Agger has to go in January,as he has only 8 months left on his contract and that wont be Liverpools doing as they always tie up their top players. Seems to me like Agger is after one last big pay day. Get what we can for him in January.

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  27. I can't believe people read this putrid vile bullshit that falls out of Jamie's mouth all the time, you ain't a fan of football or Liverpool, Theres no need to sell any one at this stage look at the " bigger clubs " they have 3 or 4 CB's they can use were no exception to the rule, if anything LFC need to add during January and any one insinuating otherwise clearly is delusional. Top four is our ambition this term and frankly I dread to think what will be said on this site if we fail to break into Europe.

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  28. What in the absolute f*** is everyone's deal with Sakho? His 'clumsiness' is grossly exaggerated.

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  29. Why no chance to sell Sakho? If the manager thinks its the right thing to do he should do it end of story. Right now i would have sold Sakho as well - he doesn't worth the 18mil paid for him and some fans are getting delusional around this guy. I might be wrong and in 10 games from now he will be stable to a point in which we would feel no need to touch our center defense. But from what i've seen till now it's not going to happen, even after 18M spent. Something is not good enough around this fellow, but again, it depends on how ambitious of a fan you are.

    Is Bonucci better than Skrtel, Agger, Sakho, I think should be a question asked, without saying more than that.

    My favorite option at the moment is sell Sakho and get a better guy, or as you said Ilori but that seems too dangerous for the moment. We have big and delicate goals and our teams consistency (accept SAS) is not on a pick which privileges such actions.
    Second one is for this January don't touch this area and see what happens - another Rodgers test as i see it. This sort of decision can determine a great manage or just a good one.
    If we don't get top 4 i will be very disappointing; the league is weak this season. Or at least we should be ahead of United and Spurs is my request.

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  30. What about poor Kelly he must own an ambulance.

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  31. How can you give up Agger or Skrtel - they are LFC.

    Only Sakho can go if we want to get someone else. But we bought him for 18mil. It is suppose to be it. Brendan needs to start buy more smartly. To many times he gets players that doesn't fulfill their purpose and money paid for.

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  32. The league is week this season...


    Now I have heard it all.

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  33. I like Sakho and I am not sure why others may not.

    Jaimie's reasoning for selling Sakho over Agger or Skirtle makes no sense to me. If Agger gets injured like he suggests is a very real posibilty would it not be better to have the younger improving Sakho rather than the aging or inexperienced Ilori? Other teams who want top four this season have four or more CB options. Arsenal don't and have found themselves using Sagner at CB. We may not have Europe now but its is certainly the aim for next year isn't it? Toure will be a year older as will evveryone else. Will ageing legs on Agger be more prone to injury?



    Jaimie also mentions Aggers form. But is neglecting to mention Skirtel's poor form last year. Competition is good despite what is getting said in this article.

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  34. Yeah jaimie mentions Agger's veiled threats but forgets Skirtel's last season.

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  35. Kelly who has played CB oh lets think now, how many times? Isn't seeing believing?

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  36. I asked this the other day and got nothing back. Other than his first game where he seemed a bit to eager to jump in I can't think of one mistake.

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  37. It's not everyone mate just an ardent few who seem unwilling to give examples.

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  38. People have been talking about having Agger at DM. I personally wouldn't mind seeing Ilori there in a game. He is athletic enough, has a great range of passing and has great recovery pace. Positioning and tackling shouldn't be an issue either. Not saying in the league or even difficult looking game in FA cup but if we get an easy draw and are wining comfortably on the hour, worth a punt?

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  39. Agga is by far the best center half lfc have on there books hes great on the ball (wen hes fit) skertal and agga are a quality partnership work really well together skertal strong and powerful agga is big good in the air and can play football , sahko to me is not good enough hes no good with the ball at his feet and is very clumsy at times wether he just needs time I dont no . Agga and skertal main two with toure coming in as cover throughout the season .
    Flat back four
    Left back .. jose enriuque
    Right back.. glen Johnson
    Cb.Agga
    Cb..skertal

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  40. What was the last 'costly mistake' made by Agger? I genuinely can't think of it... They certainly don't stick in the head as significant as the ones Skrtel made last year! Also, other than his brief knock recently, he's not had that many injuries under BR.

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  41. The goal vs Southampton was a result of the corner conceded by a fuck up between Toure and Skrtel...

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  42. sorry but MS is a penalty/mistake waiting to happen. Imo BOTH are at risk of being sold because they don't fit in with FSG's policy. Their values will decrease from no onwards, plus they are on v good contracts-come summer 1 or both will be gone i believe. If FSG are not even sure about giving GJ a new contract, these 2 don't have a hope of staying on.
    Personally i would rather keep agger as he is the only ball playing CB we have.

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  43. I'll prefer sakho to be sold if its compulsory to sell any of the CB's but all of the CB's are good players. let cissoko return back immediately after his loan spell. Agger and Skertel are both important to the club intetms of loyalty and performance.
    Agger can play @ the centre back & as left full back when enrique is not fit or even as a defensive midfielder. Ill advice BR to keep all our CB's. YNWA!

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  44. Keep all of them, good for the team

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  45. don't know why some would rather sell sakho he is finding his feet and looking better after each game give him some time man

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  46. If they played in the EPL, they might have a hard time answering.

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  47. I am absolutely certain that the presences of Toure, Sakho and Ilori, played a critical part in Skretl's (very impressive) return.
    What I've seen from Sakho so far pleases me. I do not think that Sakho has lost any aerial duel, and his ability in the air provides that extra safety when defending corners or indirect freekicks. How many goals have we conceded on corners? Even Victor Moses has scored a header on corner against us!!!
    I am conviced that both Coates and Kelly will leave LFC in the near future, but do not see any footballing reason to sell the other defenders.
    In the future, Sakho will be by far one of the best defenders in the PL. But sadly it looks like that, for some, he has only a 4 months trial period before being shown the door.

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  48. To quote the Beeb's match report:

    "The Reds needlessly conceded a corner and Lovren, who signed for the south coast club from Lyon in the summer, outmuscled Agger to nod Southampton in front."
    So, we couldn't have kept 4 clean sheets in the 4 games we've played.

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  49. I think he was partially culpable (w/ Cissokho) for the young Geordie's goal (Drummand?) against Newcastle.

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  50. The corner which was the result of some absolutely painstakingly poor football between Skrtel and Toure who failed to identify the threat from Southampton pressing high up the pitch. If they hadn't been so clumsy on the ball there wouldn't have been a corner as it was, so to entirely blame the goal on Agger is completely unjust to me.

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  51. Ahh true. Fair play there, as was Toure a bit too I think. But has Gerrard and Skirtel not been culpable for similar things this season? It's not like he is continuously making mistakes like some would have us believe.

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  52. Kareem Aidonia Parks10:27 pm, November 17, 2013

    Noooo i rather get rid of Joe allen

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  53. hahahhah!! Sell Sakho!!!
    hahahahha
    That's the lamest thing I have heard in a long time!
    You want to sell one of the best prospects in the world and keep Skrtel, a mediocre inconsistent player at his best and already reached his peak.
    Sakho will be an established starter by Jan and will be world class next season.

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  54. Agger rejected a move to Barcalona!!
    Skrtel was wanted by fucking Zenit and Napoli(on loan).
    Can't you see the difference??

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  55. hahahahha!! Skrtel better than Agger!!
    How can you be so short sighted and base your opinion on a couple of corners??
    Agger is better by a country mile and there is no doubt about it.
    It is apparent from the type of teams that want to buy Agger.
    Whereas Skrtel was available on the market for the whole summer, could not dislodge an aging Carra from the starting XI and you say he is better than Sakho and Agger and Toure??
    Unfathomable.

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  56. Not blaming him entirely, but it was his fault partially.
    You're right, we shouldn't have given away the corner, but that doesn't excuse Agger's poor marking on the corner (and his marking on set-pieces is consistently poor for a centre-back).

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  57. I think Liverpool fans, myself included, worry too much about having good quality players outside of first 11

    If we are serious about getting into top four and making a good go of it in CL, then we need to have options all over the pitch. We should be able to make it work and will need to rotate in time.

    I would keep Agger due to his class, but he has shortcomings - injuries and not as fearless (mindless) when it comes to defending.

    Skrtel is a warrior, but he dropped off horribly last tear after a few mistakes.

    If it was Football Manager and I HAD to sell someone it would be Sakho, then Skrtel

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