23 Dec 2013

'It's a concern': Ronnie Whelan slams £16m LFC star's 'concentration' and 'focus'. Fair...?

Luis Suarez aside, Martin Skrtel is arguably Liverpool's standout performer this season, and since coming back into the side against Manchester United, he's put a series of impressive performances. Be that as it may, Anfield legend Ronnie Whelan insists that the Slovakian needs to tighten up in one particular area.

Speaking to LFC TV today, Whelan - who won thirteen major trophies with LFC, including six league titles - argued that Skrtel needs to be more 'aggressive' in aerial battles. He explained:

"The goals we concede are still a concern. There are still too many balls going into the box and opposition nipping in to score.

"It happens too much. Martin Skrtel needs to concentrate less on stopping a centre forward from heading it, and more focus needs to be about going and heading it himself".


It's definitely true that Liverpool are vulnerable to balls into the box from set-pieces/crosses. Indeed, the Reds gave away several free headers during the recent Cardiff game, and against better opposition, that could've been costly. Here are aerial duel win percentages for the club's defenders:

* Skrtel: 69%.
* Agger: 64%
* Sakho: 58%
* Flanagan: 54%
* Johnson: 51%
* Toure: 42%

As you can see, £16m-rated Skrtel is the least of LFC's defensive problems, but collectively, Liverpool's defenders perform pretty poorly in when it comes to aerial battles. Brendan Rodgers is aware of the problem, and criticised the team publicly for it in October. He told the Liverpool Echo:

"It [defending set-pieces] is something that we need to address, for sure. We have to be more aggressive and more switched on. It’s concentration. It’s something for us to work on, but in football there is always something to improve on. At this moment, that is an area for us to look at."

When Rodgers first arrived, he implemented zonal-marking at Anfield, but he's now switched to man-marking, as he explained to reporters in September:

"I felt coming in last year that we conceded some goals man-to-man so we went to zonal defending. But I prefer giving players responsibility so that everyone knows who they mark. Now it’s purely man to man"

If LFC are man-marking at set-pieces, why are so many opposition players left free in the box on a regular basis? Take Jordan Mutch's goal for Cardiff at the weekend:



* Totally unmarked in the box.
* No one putting pressure on the ball or the man.
* Right-back Martin Kelly woefully out of position.

It was amateur hour. Why didn't anyone tell Kelly to get back into position and mark Mutch? The lack of defensive organisation is a problem, and will continue to haunt the Reds unless Rodgers seriously prioritises fixing the issue.

In my view, the Reds still haven't replaced Sami Hyypia's influence at the heart of the defence. The big Finn was absolutely imperious in the air, and as the stats above illustrate, none of the club's current defenders seem capable of filling that void.

Here's hoping that LFC don't get stung by this ongoing set-piece weakness over the next two league games...

Author:


28 comments:

  1. yes i do believe that we need to man mark much tighter but on that mutch goal nobody shouted at kelly to mark up. just lapse in concetration that only thing i dont like seeing is someone like glen johnson man marking a tough finished like lukaku or some one that does good on aerial battles. cuz i believe i saw that maybe they should designate who marks who on set pieces.

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  2. The problem is simple to cure - are you reading Brendon - we jump from virtual standing positions watching men, chasing bodies - the attacking team jump from a running position attacking the ball.

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  3. I'd personally have Toure in ahead of him, purely from an organisational and experience based perspective. I don't deny that Skrtel has been a success, but I still get knots in my stomach when he's on the teamsheet. He's a savage defender, but I always feel like he's potentially seconds away from a calamitous error, whether its with his distribution, an own goal, shirt pulling in the box or a mistimed tackle.

    Toure's aerial dual stats aren't great.. But he could probably help the defensive organisation for set pieces, and if there's a worry that he won't win the headers against the big guys (he's only 6"0 himself), just make sure that he's in a position where aerial dominance is not such a necessity.

    As for the Hyypia replacement, I do see Sakho as the heir apparent. He does have that presence that Sami had, and as it is well regarded that CBs do develop at a later stage, I think his progression is certainly impressive. We've also purchased a great young ball player in Ilori that could potentially lead to a successful long term partnership.

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  4. That's not my biggest worry, my biggest worry is the way he man handles the man he marks to the point he isn't even concentrating on the ball at all. He takes it so far as to wrestle the player to the ground. Cardiff was a prime example, and a more aware ref would have spotted it and he would have given a penalty and possibly a red card to Skrtel. Whelan is dead right, concentrate on the ball, it's the most basic thing you learn as footballer, keep your eye on the ball, childs play!. So why does he insist on risking penalties.. I'm suprised no-one has picked him up on this. Soon he's going to cost us big.

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  5. True but it best to say nowt

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  6. Skrtel must be more careful with the way that he pushes and draw his opponents. We where lucky that Cardiff didn't win a penalty. Another referree maybe will punish him (and our team as well)...

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  7. Skrtel needs to stop grabbing peoples shirts. We were very lucky against Cardiff that the ref didn't give a penalty.

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  8. get steve clark back as co-manager ... problem solved

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  9. Carragher is so missed there.. It's almost like you need another captain at the back someone to marshall the defense. Unfortunately we have no leadership at the back although the individual players are all talented. I though Toure was to play that role?

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  10. Martin Skrtel is a decent defender, but not the defensive leader he needs to be. He does some clumsy stuff during defending that it makes you curse the f**king tv. Sakho was screaming his head off asking him to maintain the line. Everyone else maintained the defense line but he played Mutch onside. If he starts against city its either he screws us because of the psychological effect from last season's gift or he'll be immense and puncture Man City. He is the key if we are to win. Not Suarez or Coutinho.

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  11. To be fair to Kelly, he was asked to marked Noone and that's what he did!!

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  12. If Skrtel had held the defensive line then Cardiff would have had no goal!


    That is the problem with Skrtel, he panics and makes mistakes. Would much rather have Toure partnering Sakho and then there is also the option which Rodgers has not tried as yet, Sakho and Agger.

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  13. lol - that's funny!!

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  14. Agree I've been sayin same thing about Skrtels tendency to panic & make mistakes also gives to many free kicks, Toure in with Sakho against City

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  15. I was certain Skrtel was going to get sent off in that game, and Cardiff would then come back and get a point.

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  16. I also think everyone needs to lay off all the gross Suarez praise a bit. His praise is richly deserved, but it's getting to the point where anything he does is saint like, and people will cream their pants about him. I've now seen it come to that stage of, 'SUAREZ PASSED THE BALL TO STERLING WHEN HE COULD HAVE EASILY SCORED! #RESPECT <3 YNWA #SUAREZISASUPERHERO.
    If for example, Joe Allen, did that same thing, it'd be more like, 'Oh, and an honourable mention to Joe Allen for his very unselfish play on the field. Great character'.
    Despite this, Suarez however deserves a lot of new credit for something he did off the field. He had to participate in an interview with lfctv's young and cheeky 8-10 year old presenter, and usually that kid just dominates the whole conversation, like for example with Gerrard (which doesn't mean I'm suggesting the players are unenthusastic). But Suarez was brilliant. He really impressed me, and sometimes he could actually not shut up ! He looked like he really enjoyed sitting there having a good friendly conversation with the little kid, and seemed very keen to talk about his own little stories, such as the meaning behind his goal celebrations. He smiled and laughed with him and the kid seemed to be having a ball. I take my hat off to Suarez for that, because despite his douche bag image across non-LFC fans, he seems like a real genuinely pleasant person.
    #F***dahaterz

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  17. Skrtel has thus far succeeded at erasing most of my deep lying fears of his potentially costly lapses of concentration. He's look far more composed. If he keeps doing this though, all his hard work will be undone.

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  18. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa8:40 am, December 24, 2013

    My thoughts exactly my friend. Sakho and Toure will always be my first choice CB pairing.

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  19. You can also clearly see Sakho being far more vocal about the defensive line than Skrtel. You bang on about Toure > Skrtel perhaps because he wasn't a Rodgers signing.


    There were four of our players free who could of picked up the goal scorer. How you can pinpoint Skrtel, I don't really know. A bigger concern is his handling of opposition players, eventually they will get penalties.


    Set pieces should not be so difficult for us. Free kicks are a little more difficult but just for an example when we are defending a corner, the two best headers of the ball in our team should evenly spread out across the six yard box line and everyone else should man mark. It's basic defending and it's something we cannot grasp.

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  20. Agger and Skrtel were the best in the league when coached by Clarke. Rodgers and Pascoe are very offensive and it would be interesting to find out how much defensive work and specific work like set pieces the team does.

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  21. Why should anyone have to tell Kelly? He should know that without being told. Nicol has been quiet lately hasn't. Pretty hard to be a negative ninny from across the pond if we're topping the table..

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  22. exactly - i love attacking football. since rodgers came to anfield it´s a joy to watch us play, but our defending especially at set pieces can be equally frustrating, which imo is a real concern. clarke certainly knows how to deal with such a problem so i wouldnt mind getting him back - still dont know why he got sacked, i thought he did a great job at WBA

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  23. call rodgers please!

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  24. Yeah I agree. If we sort this poor defending out the team can really push on. We are lucky it was their only goal and we already scored three but at another time it might be an equaliser or winner against us.


    Yeah Clarke was unlucky to get sacked but football is all about results. Good enough one day and not good enough the next.

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  25. it was hard to outweigh the results from last year for clarke - wba clearly lost their best man/loanee (Lukaku) so it´s no surprise they couldnt live up to the expectations...

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  26. That's true and I forgot about Lukaku.

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  27. That's fans and the media for you, they love to overhype. Suarez job is to score goals and he is doing that, that's it.

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  28. Another thing...what does Sterling's weird goal celebration mean?

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