Liverpool legend John Aldridge has joined the growing chorus of voices expressing concern about Liverpool left-back Aly Cissokho, and he's urged Brendan Rodgers to drop the French defender for this weekend's Merseyside Derby with Everton.
Reds hero Phil Thompson recently called for Daniel Agger to replace Cissokho on the left-side of Liverpool's defence, and in his column for the Liverpool Echo today, Aldridge revealed that he's 'worried' about the defender's ability to handle the Everton game. He observed:
"Jose Enrique has to come back into the starting line-up for me, ahead of Aly Cissokho.
"Without being unkind to Cissokho, he just hasn’t fitted in yet, and I would be worried about thrusting him into a match like this, in an atmosphere like that.
"Enrique gives us better balance, both defensively and in attack, and he knows what is expected. I think he will start at Goodison".
Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside last week, Ex-Red Jimmy Case also singled out Cissokho for criticism:
"The more I see Aly Cissoko operate there [as a left-wing back] the less I’m happy with it. I wouldn’t play him there again. His control isn’t there or his first touch, he can’t get past a player from a standing position and he doesn’t have the intelligence to follow the fluency of play. These are things so crucial to playing in that position".
Brendan Rodgers also seems to rate Enrique these days, and last week he argued that he has 'all the attributes to be one of the best left-backs in the Premier League'. He told LFC.com.
“He’s a threat when he goes forward and defensively he's very difficult to beat. Jose is always working at his game. He appraises himself honestly when we have chats. He’s one who is looking to improve his game and his passing. On his day he’s one of the best in that position in this country.”
Anfield legend David Fairclough is not a fan of Enrique, however. In a recent column for 5-Times, Fairclough - who won three European Cups during his wildly successful spell at Liverpool - suggested that Aly Cissokho should retain his place ahead of Enrique. He argued:
"People have been misled by [Enrique]. I look at what we have got from his service down the left and he is too predictable. He is so one-footed and I think he closes himself down when he gets into a corner. He doesn’t get himself out of tight situations, and I think that is why he hasn’t forced himself into the Spanish squad".
This is a little unfair on Enrique IMO. His performances have been good this season (IMO). He has pace; can take players on, and he's as strong as a bull. Granted, Enrique's passing accuracy and end product is not the best, but I agree with Aldo that he's a better option than Cissokho, who cost LFC €1m in loan fees (With an option to make the deal permanent in the summer for €4m)
I doubt the atmosphere at Goodison Park will affect Cissokho; Enrique is just a better player overall (IMO), but with the Reds seemingly seeking a new left back, it's conceivable that it could be the end of the road for *both* players when the season comes to an end.
Should Enrique start over Cissokho this weekend?
Author: Jaimie K
Reds hero Phil Thompson recently called for Daniel Agger to replace Cissokho on the left-side of Liverpool's defence, and in his column for the Liverpool Echo today, Aldridge revealed that he's 'worried' about the defender's ability to handle the Everton game. He observed:
"Jose Enrique has to come back into the starting line-up for me, ahead of Aly Cissokho.
"Without being unkind to Cissokho, he just hasn’t fitted in yet, and I would be worried about thrusting him into a match like this, in an atmosphere like that.
"Enrique gives us better balance, both defensively and in attack, and he knows what is expected. I think he will start at Goodison".
Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside last week, Ex-Red Jimmy Case also singled out Cissokho for criticism:
"The more I see Aly Cissoko operate there [as a left-wing back] the less I’m happy with it. I wouldn’t play him there again. His control isn’t there or his first touch, he can’t get past a player from a standing position and he doesn’t have the intelligence to follow the fluency of play. These are things so crucial to playing in that position".
Brendan Rodgers also seems to rate Enrique these days, and last week he argued that he has 'all the attributes to be one of the best left-backs in the Premier League'. He told LFC.com.
“He’s a threat when he goes forward and defensively he's very difficult to beat. Jose is always working at his game. He appraises himself honestly when we have chats. He’s one who is looking to improve his game and his passing. On his day he’s one of the best in that position in this country.”
Anfield legend David Fairclough is not a fan of Enrique, however. In a recent column for 5-Times, Fairclough - who won three European Cups during his wildly successful spell at Liverpool - suggested that Aly Cissokho should retain his place ahead of Enrique. He argued:
"People have been misled by [Enrique]. I look at what we have got from his service down the left and he is too predictable. He is so one-footed and I think he closes himself down when he gets into a corner. He doesn’t get himself out of tight situations, and I think that is why he hasn’t forced himself into the Spanish squad".
This is a little unfair on Enrique IMO. His performances have been good this season (IMO). He has pace; can take players on, and he's as strong as a bull. Granted, Enrique's passing accuracy and end product is not the best, but I agree with Aldo that he's a better option than Cissokho, who cost LFC €1m in loan fees (With an option to make the deal permanent in the summer for €4m)
I doubt the atmosphere at Goodison Park will affect Cissokho; Enrique is just a better player overall (IMO), but with the Reds seemingly seeking a new left back, it's conceivable that it could be the end of the road for *both* players when the season comes to an end.
Should Enrique start over Cissokho this weekend?
Author: Jaimie K
Enrique. No question. Aly has not impressed me once as yet. Quite the opposite in fact...
ReplyDeleteI'm really confused about this guy. We pursued him for ages, so our scouts must have known what he was capable of, but he looks like an awful signing. I'm hoping it's just taking time for him to settle in, but no way should he start ahead of Enrique. The best thing that's happened to both our full backs has been being out of the team cos we've all learnt to appreciate them a whole lot more!
ReplyDeleteOne last point - why do we bother with loan signings? The last few have not exactly set the world alight, although I really hope Moses will prove this wrong.
jose is a better player ....thats it
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of either but prefer Enrique out of the two. Maybe still early days for Cissokho.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with what Fairclough seems to be looking for from Enrique. He is a full back/wing back, so I don't think there is much need for him to be two-footed and unpredictable. A very few players in his position can get out of a tight corner.
Well it is not like we can go and sign the cream of the crop as that requires something called Champions League. The Cissoko deal initially fell through as we did not want to sign him permanently from Valencia and the player we were after at the time was Guilherme Siqueira but that deal did not happen either and eventually Valencia agreed and we got Cissokho on loan. He is backup and will go back to Valencia at the end of the season.
ReplyDeleteWith Champions League football looking good for next season will give us the chance to go into the market with a better chance of signing Champions League players. For now we have to just grin and bear signings like Cissokho.
The reason we take people on loan IMO is that they are probably known risks. It is better to waste 1 mill than 5 or 10
ReplyDeleteEnrique has his flaws as stated & also is not so good in attack, but he is a much better defender than Cissoko & I have much more confidence when he plays than Aly. I really hope Enrique is the Derby choice & would happily see Aly returned to sender at the end of the season as he's not an improvement on Enrique & we should be getting in better than we've got, not poorer, which is the case here.
ReplyDeleteThe only reason Cissokho was starting over Enrique was because Jose was hurt.
ReplyDeleteAssuming he's healthy, I expect he'll be the starting LB moving forward.
Fair enough, but this guy looks awful. Either our scouts have fkd up massively or this guy just needs some time to get used to the premier league, which he won't get as long as Enrique is fit. I'd rather give a youngster a go or switch Johnson over to the left if enrique's injured than sign dross.
ReplyDeleteWages and loan fees can burn a hole too. The guy we got from Madrid last year is a good example
ReplyDeleteI'd play Cissokho from what i've seen of Enrique so far this season he keeps giving the ball away in dangerous areas. Cissokho had a bad game at arsenal but overall i think he has been steady, a little bit predictable going forward but he just got into the team a month ago so still early days.
ReplyDeleteFootball's all about different opinions I guess ;-)
ReplyDeleteHow could our scouts have messed up when Cissokho is on loan?
ReplyDeleteI think Rodgers' assessment of Jose is right- great on his day, but needs to improve.
ReplyDeleteNot a fan of Cissokho, but he did spend a chunk of time injured and is in a new team/league/country, so give him time.
If Enrique is fit, bring him back into the side.
If Enrique is not fit, I'd like to see Sakho brought in at full-back and hopefully we can capitalise on the feel-good factor he'll have after his heroics for France.
Can you imagine if we had signed Sahin permanently? The loan deal was the best outcome in the end.
ReplyDeletetrue true. I had to add about Cissokho's performance at arsenal was not helped that Rogers made the wrong decision to play 3-5-2 for that game. Most of the podcasts leading up to that game suggested that the gooners would exploit the holes in the full back positions and Rogers did conceded that he regretted starting with that formation. So until has another real stinker i'm still hopeful he could do a job to get us into the top 4 places.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of question is this? Just because a player is on loan doesn't change the fact that he was (probably) scouted originally and recommended. The period that the player is online is vital, and if the player doesn't contribute, it is a problem. The loss of utility is the issue - if the scouts come up with a better solution, i.e. someone who actually does well for the team, it leads to increased utility all round. If a loan player fails, it is still (in part) a scouting failure. What kind of skewered logic dictates that scouts avoid blame for loan failures? That makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteSahin clearly failed at LFC because he was repeatedly played out position. No player will prosper under those circumstances. He was in a new league, and a new country, and to then be played out of position caused him problems.
ReplyDeleteIf Rodgers played Sahin in the correct position from day one, it probably would've been a different story.
Cissokho was a great prospect when Valencia signed him, but he has gone downhill rapidly, I would struggle to think of an EPL side that would make him a permanent fixture. He does give his all, as we seen when he cried with disappointment when he got injured in his first game, but the truth is, he is not good enough, Enrique is a far better player and already knows the style we play. Its a no brainer, Enrique over Cissokho every day of the week.
ReplyDeleteIf Enrique is not fit the the best solution would be Johnson at LB and Henderson or Kelly at RB. Vs Everton I would play Toure and Sakho as our CB pair. Lukaku takes no prisoners so Skrtel and Agger will be up against it.
ReplyDeleteAnd is why the loan deal was the best outcome because if we had signed him permanently then we would have had le sulk in the squad...
ReplyDeleteWell it is not like we can pick from the best players so loaning Cissokho is better than signing him permanently isn't it? If we had CL then I highly doubt Cissokho would have been seen anywhere near Anfield unless we were facing Valencia.
ReplyDeleteLesser of two evils... Hopefully he proves us wrong
ReplyDeleteThat's fair. He just looks so uncomfortable on the ball, and his passing makes Jose look like Beckham! Hopefully he'll settle in sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteAnd without CL we cannot go and get the best players so at the moment loan deals are the best option when you are looking for BACkUP players.
ReplyDeleteThere is a reason why we only signed Sahin on loan and there is a reason why he is not at the club anymore. Sahin's loan deal was an expensive exercise but only a short term one.
I was under the impression that he was not first choice. That we looked at another lad (can't remember his name) quite a bit and got priced out and Sissokho was a stop gap (thus loan) until other/better options became available.
ReplyDeleteEnrique is frustrating because hen he is good he is really good but his form is so on and off its unreal. When he is bad he can stink the place out and he is very very one footed.
He does have a positive relationship with Suarez on the field though so, hmmm. Him over Sissokho though I agree.
I agree with you here Jaimie but not wholly. I mean yes Sahin is a DM rather than an AM but I think you are a bit of a joke of a player if playing a little further up the pitch is such a nightmare for you. Personally I think Sahin's attitude stank. I think he could have been a good and useful player for us if he was played in the right position and Rodgers missed a chance there but I still think that Sahin should have just knuckled down instead of being a whiny little b!t@h
ReplyDeletehis loan will be cancelled in January.trust.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Thompson,I think agger should be playing at left back or even left wing back he is too good not to be playing and Sakho should be back in the team with Skrtel, Toure has been very impressive too,but for the derby If Enrique is fit he will be playing, but in the long run I think developing Agger as a left back would be beneficial as I dont rate Enrique or Cissohko to be honest and it would give Agger more freedom to get foreward and unleash that fearsome left peg of his.
ReplyDeleteHe is rubbish
ReplyDeleteGotta go with Aldridge here. Cissokho still has tons to learn and Enrique understands the stakes in a Merseyside derby. Jose will play with more passion than Cissokho would...sprint the extra few yards, make a tougher challenge, be more alert to danger because he knows the derby will make Everton step it up a notch too. Cissokho needs to watch one to soak in the urgency this game has for both teams.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Gas no confidence in taking on defenders! Gas been in good positions but yet to create anything!
ReplyDeleteI thought that Cissokho was a cover of Enrique. The Spaniard should play. He is a player with ability, but he has to be more concistent. Other wise he will lose his place this summer...
ReplyDelete