Earlier this season, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers made the nonsensical decision to play FOUR centre-backs against Southampton, a decision that seriously backfired as the Reds went down 1-0 at home. Mamadou Sakho replaced Jose Enrique at left-back on the day, and it's fair to say that the France international had a largely ineffective game, and provided very little in the way of attacking threat. Well, it appears that Rodgers is aware of his mistake, and after refusing to play him at left back yesterday, he appears to have ruled out the possibility of deploying Sakho in the position at any point in the future.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Rodgers outlined his options at left-back for the Everton game, and when asked whether Sakho - who cost the Reds €21m over the summer - is an option, he explained:
“We looked at that once [Sakho at left back] and it didn't quite work for us. It's an option but we would prefer more mobility there. It takes away our offensive threat".
It's good to see that Rodgers learns quickly from mistakes. Sakho, described by Rodgers as an 'absolute monster in training, may go on to be a reliable central defender for Liverpool, but a left back he 'aint (!), and he didn't look comfortable at all against Southampton that day.
Jon Flanagan ultimately took the left-back slot for 3-3 draw with Everton, but should Sakho have played there? Former Liverpool star Michael Owen doesn't think so, and during commentary for the Everton game, he scathed:
"Sakho was an option for left back, but he’s certainly not impressed me since he’s been in the Liverpool first team"
That's arguably a little harsh from Owen. Sakho had a shaky start for Liverpool, but he improved with each game played, and he I doubt he would've done any worse than Daniel Agger yesterday at centre-back.
In his post-match press conference, Rodgers slammed his team's 'disappointing' defending against Everton, so it will come as no surprise to See Sakho - or Toure - back in the team next week.
Author: Jaimie K
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Rodgers outlined his options at left-back for the Everton game, and when asked whether Sakho - who cost the Reds €21m over the summer - is an option, he explained:
“We looked at that once [Sakho at left back] and it didn't quite work for us. It's an option but we would prefer more mobility there. It takes away our offensive threat".
It's good to see that Rodgers learns quickly from mistakes. Sakho, described by Rodgers as an 'absolute monster in training, may go on to be a reliable central defender for Liverpool, but a left back he 'aint (!), and he didn't look comfortable at all against Southampton that day.
Jon Flanagan ultimately took the left-back slot for 3-3 draw with Everton, but should Sakho have played there? Former Liverpool star Michael Owen doesn't think so, and during commentary for the Everton game, he scathed:
"Sakho was an option for left back, but he’s certainly not impressed me since he’s been in the Liverpool first team"
That's arguably a little harsh from Owen. Sakho had a shaky start for Liverpool, but he improved with each game played, and he I doubt he would've done any worse than Daniel Agger yesterday at centre-back.
In his post-match press conference, Rodgers slammed his team's 'disappointing' defending against Everton, so it will come as no surprise to See Sakho - or Toure - back in the team next week.
Author: Jaimie K
I bet that Sakho would be able handle Lukaku and prevented the 1st and 3rd goal. Skrtel was in because of his form while Agger was in because he was making alot of noise lately but when Agger played for us this season we kept clean sheets (just not today). Would love to see Sakho and Skrtel in the middle. Let Toure play on the right and Johnson on the left.
ReplyDeleteI love Daniel Agger, but when it comes to set piece defending i think hes woeful.
ReplyDeleteSakho is strong enough to battle with anyone, Agger is a good footballing CB but not very strong, Sakho would have done better for sure.
ReplyDeleteQuite true!!.
ReplyDeleteSuddenly Agger is the worse defender in the world, of course.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't the same go for stevie Gerrard with two goal
ReplyDeleteDon't take Michael Owen's comments too literally. I listened to his commentary on BT sport yesterday and he confuses Sakho with Cissokho saying that Cissokho scored twice for France in the week. Also, he said of Jon Flanagan that he is naturally left footed. I think he is mistaking Jon for someone else as he is clearly right footed. BT should insist that Michael prepares better for future matches.
ReplyDeleteShould have played Toure. Absolute monster in set piece situations.could have marked Lukaku better. Toure and Skrtel for next match...
ReplyDeleteToure should play DM !
ReplyDeleteYeah, Sakho would have been a better option. Skrtel and Agger partnership isn't really strong.
ReplyDeleteHis defending in the penalty box facing away from goal generally is bad. He's very good at rescuing situations when he gets turned around, and he's good stepping out to intercept, and he's good at supporting and covering his full backs. But he has always, absolutely always, been a lamppost in the penalty box. Sakho can do everything Agger can do and actually shows signs of mobility, of an appetite for winning the ball, when crosses come in. It's his time.
ReplyDeleteInstead of Brendan Rodgers criticizing the ref, he should rather blame himself for the lack of victorious at Goodison. If you decide to include Joe Allen in your line-up, be prepared for not getting results. How can a centrally holding midfielder leave the pitch after 60 minutes without an interception or an accurate delivery? Besides, he missed the most obvious chance of getting us a 3-1 result, why not cross to Suarez and leave the chance to him? I still wonder why Rodgers decided to substitute Lucas, who played for both Gerrard and Allen yesterday. Having that said, give the man credit for playing Joe Flanagan - what an eye-catching performance by the young lad.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, stop blaming Agger for the mistakes other players make. He played well yesterday, cannot se why we bought Robocop-Sakho. He has a lack in everything.
YNWA
One day he's our future captain and we shouldn't sell him, even for £20M and the next day he's the worst defender in th world.
ReplyDeleteThat's how it goes on the internet nowadays...
Monster in setpieces??all he does is grab their jerseys
ReplyDeleteYou are clearly delusional for saying agger played well,lucas was on a yellow already with the way he kept giving away silly fouls,the second yellow wasn't too far off.
ReplyDeleteGrow up bloody keyboard warrior blaming allen for the result won't change anything
During the match commentary, Owen also said that "Cissokho is an option at left-back. He scored twice for France mid-week" so I think we all know that pretty much anything Michael Owen says is either a mistake or wrong.
ReplyDeleteIts ok, Sakho, Cissoko are rhyming names. People get confused, myself included.
ReplyDeleteSomeone has missed quite a few posts then.
ReplyDeleteI hate this BT sports not only because of Owen but because Halsey always says the ref got it right. It's a joke.
ReplyDeletePeople who get payed that much should not be getting confused live on television. It's pretty basic stuff.
ReplyDeleteWe lost the 3rd goal due to Glen Johnson totally switching off & just watching lukaku run off him without making any attempt what so ever to even get close and jump with him. To be fair tho i doubt Johnson would be able to out muscle him so begs the question why was he the one marking him in the first place? In my opinion Skrtel should of been on lukaku like glue for set pieces. We are loosing far to much goals from set pieces as result of having likes of yesterday Johnson on probably one of the biggest ariel & physical threats in the EPL at the moment. 9 times out of 10 Johnson will lose out in an ariel dual with most big physical players so why the hell was he on lukaku for a corner? If we keep doing this we will continue to make things harder and keep loosing easy goals like yesterday which could of easily lost us the game.
ReplyDelete.Atleast he won't be intimidated by Lukaku's physique. Have you seen Johnson's timid marking.It's actually funny.A slight nudge and Lukaku is all free to roam around. We have had enough of these things. Conceding against a superior passing side is one thing and conceding after getting bullied around is the worst sight. I am not saying Kolo is impenetrable. But atleast he could have provided a much better commanding presence in setpieces.
ReplyDeletei think owen ment to say cissoko doe, bt are total shite, they were refering to cissoko as sakho for the whole game cause they said sakho who signed from valencia hasnt even made the squad, every bit of that was wrong!
ReplyDeleteIMO I think Owen may haven been thinking of Cissohko.
ReplyDeleteAgger should learn from Skrtel about how to handle bad form periods. He's acting childish. Modern footballers are becoming more embarrassing every day.
ReplyDeleteFair point. We could have won the game either way. In my opinion we've been taking our good start for granted lately and didn't arrive for this game well. Not present enough. Everton fought way harder.
ReplyDeleteThe referee issue should be handled of course as well. He should be banned for cowardliness. Shameful.
Owen got Cissokho and Sakho mixed up maybe twice during commentary, so he may have actually been talking about Cissokho not being impressive. This also takes away Owen's credibility on the matter!
ReplyDeleteI think it is working against shorter players. On the ball Agger and Skrtel are very solid, and I think Skrtel shows good form this season.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is when big strong players such as Drogba or Lukaku plays against us. We need Sakho there, because IMHO his strength and defensive aerial ability are twice of any other in our team.
He took off Lucas to bring on a forward, Sturridge, who scored the equalizer, get it now, ???
ReplyDeleteAgger was awful, if you cant see that no point me pointing out why.
I think that we had kept Lukaku pretty quiet up until the last 20 minutes or so.
ReplyDeleteYou can slag BR off if you want, but to have Suarez, Sturridge, Coutinho and Moses all on the pitch for the last 10 minutes of a Merseyside Derby actually showed some balls.
ReplyDeleteHe has a history of getting confused. He left Real Madrid , the biggest team in the world, and signed for Newcastle.
ReplyDeleteD'oh.