Reds defender Martin Skrtel is in excellent form this season, and he deserves great credit for displaying the the strength of character and proactive attitude required to rise from the ashes of last season's ignominious regression. Many fans - myself included - believed that Skrtel had reached the end of his LFC career, but he's surprised everyone this season with a series of consistently great performances. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has always insisted that he dropped Skrtel because he needed more leadership in defence, but this week, he's provided the real reason for replacing Skrtel with Jamie Carragher.
In May, Skrtel described the 2012-13 season as 'one of the worst' of his career, and revealed Rodgers' justification for bringing in Carra. He explained:
"After the game at Manchester United, the coach decided he wanted to change the team and justified to me that we lacked the organisation and defensive leadership personality. That was Carragher".
That has been the company line for the last ten months, but in an interview with LFC.com today, Rodgers was a little more forthright about why he dropped Skrtel. He noted:
"Last year I felt he, [Skrtel] was rash and made mistakes. Now he's arguably one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League. He's composed, he looks bigger on the pitch and he's been brilliant during this run he's had in the team, so hopefully that will continue."
It's hard to disagree with Rodgers' reasoning here - Skrtel did make mistakes, but so did Daniel Agger. In fact, Agger arguably made - and makes - more mistakes than the Slovakian, yet he remained in the team last season.
Skrtel received criticism last year for failing to adapt to Rodgers' style of play, which involved defenders being on the ball more, and consistently playing out of the back in tight situations. Well, this is an area in which he has exponentially improve this season. Skrtel rarely gives the ball away, and his overall passing accuracy of 91% is an encouraging indication of his quality on the ball.
Despite his good form, is Rodgers planning on keeping Skrtel long-term, or is he simply taking the opportunity to keep the defender in the shop window? Zenit St. Petersburg remain interested in signing Skrtel, and in October, The Mirror reported:
"Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel is back on Zenit St Petersburg's radar. The Russian club have set aside around £16million (€18m) [for the transfer] and old boy Skrtel is one of the names on their list"
Zenit considered putting in a bid for Skrtel during the January 2013 transfer window, and at the time, Russian newspaper Isvestia reported:
"Zenit are considering the possibility bringing Martin Skrtel back to the club. They plan to strengthen their defensive line up with the return of Skrtel, who will have no problems adapting to the Russian league"
Former Russian footballer Boris Chuhlov believes that Skrtel would make a great acquisition for Zenit, and in a recent interview, he noted:
"Skrtel is good and reliable defender and his return [to Zenit] would greatly increase competition for a place in the starting line-up. He would really help the team"
I see no reason why Skrtel can't maintain his form over the next 2-3 years, so I personally hope he stays. If any LFC defender is going to be sold, it should (IMO) be Daniel Agger, who is one serious injury away from the end (or serious decline) of his top-flight career.
Author: Jaimie K
In May, Skrtel described the 2012-13 season as 'one of the worst' of his career, and revealed Rodgers' justification for bringing in Carra. He explained:
"After the game at Manchester United, the coach decided he wanted to change the team and justified to me that we lacked the organisation and defensive leadership personality. That was Carragher".
That has been the company line for the last ten months, but in an interview with LFC.com today, Rodgers was a little more forthright about why he dropped Skrtel. He noted:
"Last year I felt he, [Skrtel] was rash and made mistakes. Now he's arguably one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League. He's composed, he looks bigger on the pitch and he's been brilliant during this run he's had in the team, so hopefully that will continue."
It's hard to disagree with Rodgers' reasoning here - Skrtel did make mistakes, but so did Daniel Agger. In fact, Agger arguably made - and makes - more mistakes than the Slovakian, yet he remained in the team last season.
Skrtel received criticism last year for failing to adapt to Rodgers' style of play, which involved defenders being on the ball more, and consistently playing out of the back in tight situations. Well, this is an area in which he has exponentially improve this season. Skrtel rarely gives the ball away, and his overall passing accuracy of 91% is an encouraging indication of his quality on the ball.
Despite his good form, is Rodgers planning on keeping Skrtel long-term, or is he simply taking the opportunity to keep the defender in the shop window? Zenit St. Petersburg remain interested in signing Skrtel, and in October, The Mirror reported:
"Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel is back on Zenit St Petersburg's radar. The Russian club have set aside around £16million (€18m) [for the transfer] and old boy Skrtel is one of the names on their list"
Zenit considered putting in a bid for Skrtel during the January 2013 transfer window, and at the time, Russian newspaper Isvestia reported:
"Zenit are considering the possibility bringing Martin Skrtel back to the club. They plan to strengthen their defensive line up with the return of Skrtel, who will have no problems adapting to the Russian league"
Former Russian footballer Boris Chuhlov believes that Skrtel would make a great acquisition for Zenit, and in a recent interview, he noted:
"Skrtel is good and reliable defender and his return [to Zenit] would greatly increase competition for a place in the starting line-up. He would really help the team"
I see no reason why Skrtel can't maintain his form over the next 2-3 years, so I personally hope he stays. If any LFC defender is going to be sold, it should (IMO) be Daniel Agger, who is one serious injury away from the end (or serious decline) of his top-flight career.
Author: Jaimie K
Nah, we need to keep him. We solved our leaky defense. It would be counter-productive to sell him and possibly re-create a leaky defense again. We now have a strong defense and great strikers. We need to focus like a laser on prepping Alberto to play and looking for two more really good mid-fielders to replace Lucas and Gerrard. Gerrard should be retained and he should continue to play...just not as much as he does. Moses needs to be sent back to Chelsea. He is ok, but he's not the answer. Sterling is good enough he just needs to step up more.
ReplyDeleteDo we have the top-class coaching skills to prep him properly? Worth considering.
ReplyDelete"Nah, we need to keep him"... How do you call your self a Liverpool fan and talk like that about Daniel Agger. 8 years for our club, he should never leave unless he truly desires to. For i am a poor person, only once i bought an LFC shirt, number 5.
ReplyDeletesorry off topic but should mr rodgers be interested in finding a place for steve clarke? more top-drawer nous perhaps than whats in the club.atm.
ReplyDeleteI was talking about Skrtel. Who said anything about Agger? The article was about Skrtel. I wouldn't sell Agger either. My point was I wouldn't sell any defender we have. We have spent to solve a problem we all recognized last year. This year our problem is a solid mid-field. Agger can stay as long as he wants.
ReplyDeletewould be awesome to have him back, but i dont think he would want to return after his sacking 2 years ago...
ReplyDeleteI thought he quit.
ReplyDeleteSaw in the papers we are linked...arn't we always?...with Jorginho and Marchisio. I think both would be nice.
ReplyDeleteMy Bad then ;)
ReplyDeleteOfficially he left the club - but he told reporters in an interview that he got sacked
ReplyDeleteAh righto. I think he could help our defence tighten up a bit if he did come back but don't really see it happening.
ReplyDeleteNo matter how decent a ball-playing CB Agger is, he has poor positional sense and is consistently prone to committing schoolboy errors. On top of that, he was never good enough to handle any striker with a strong physique. If Liverpool have to sell a CB, it would have to be Agger.
ReplyDeleteI'd be a bit wary about signing an Italian from Serie A.. The last three were Dossena, Aquilani and Borini.. I think their LFC records speak for themselves..
ReplyDeleteI don't think our defensive issues have been solved.. Conceded 6 in 2 against Everton and Hull.. A soft goal against a poor Norwich and a second O.G. In three games for Skrtel against West Ham. Honestly think Spurs have the potential to give us a real thrashing if we aren't careful!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, though some here think Sakho should go, including JK, to me that would be madness, he is far from the finished article, but he has the potential to be the best in the league, IMO. Here in Indonesia still on dial up, so cant respond.
ReplyDeleteActually his defending not that convincing as world top CB but he the only CB whom knew how to score atm
ReplyDeleteyeah, IMO he did a great job for WB and he could definitely help out our defence - i doubt he would come back, i dont even think BR or FSG would be interested in bringing him back to melwood..
ReplyDeleteYou forgot Couthinho?
ReplyDeleteHe's Brazilian not Italian. I htink a player form a Northern Italian team would be ok. They're used to the cold.
ReplyDeleteMy only defense is that Everton was a derby and I think all bets are off there. Hull wasn't a defensive failing as much as a mid-field failing.
ReplyDeleteSkrtel and Agger have a lot to learn, both can be bullied, they are often caught positionally unaware and are prone to lapse marking and poor errors. I'm not saying Sakho or Toure are the solution because our whole defence including the full backs have these failings. Why did we even buy Illori, he never even makes the bench? Until its rectified Liverpool will always look suspect when defending and will never be able to look truly dominant in games that they could otherwise be controlling. A complacent defence no mater how assured its looking in any particular game can suddenly let you down at any time and we then find an excuse for it. The truth is our defence or defensive coaching is not top quality.
ReplyDeleteI said Italian's from Serie A..
ReplyDeletedeluded liverpool fans (as usual). How can you say skrtel is playing really well this season, are we watching the same player here? Im not only referring to the two own goals hes scored (hes looking to be top own goal scorer ever it seems) but also the countless times hes ALMOST given away penalties but luckily they werent given against him. i mean seriously, id have sakho and agger as central defenders, we need to have a solid defence from now till the end of the season. Top 6 teams are going really strong, we need to at least win all the games against mediocre teams otherwise the likes of Everton and spurs will finish above us. Rodgers, you need to sign more quality players, gerrard and sturridge are out... apart from suarez and abit of countinho... we have no class!
ReplyDeleteboth sakho and agger are left-footed and I wouldn't count own-goals,at least he has drive and spirit.
ReplyDeleteI would play Agger as a DM where he can play the sweeper role in front of the back four just like Hansen did during our glory days. I personally think he will be best suited to that position
ReplyDelete