Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2013/14 Mod warning post#7005

Knex*

It says a lot when a CB is replaced by another CB and he's not injured.

Agger will be lucky to start a game again for the Club.

djPSB

Kess73 wrote: »

The midfield was awful at defending for the first hour and the back four were as bad.

Flanagan was the only defender that was kind of alright. Skrtel was very poor, Agger was very poor, and Johnson just continued with the same kind of form as from before his time out.


But I guess all that matters is that we were able to get three points when most of the team were below par.

A similar performance against Southampton could see us come away with no points. As with earlier in the season before we met them, I am no confident of a result against them. The way they set up counters a lot of what we do, and if we have an unbalanced midfield going into that game than they will exploit any gaps.


Of the 11 games we have left, I am expecting us to lose two or three of them, and Southampton are one of those lossses.

20 to 23 points is what I think we will get from the 11 games remaining. That would see us finish the season on between 76 and 79 points.

Looking at the three teams behind us, Spurs, Man U and Everton. Us getting 20 points from the remaining 33 would make us very hard to catch.

Spurs would need 27 from 33 to overtake us. Man U would need 31 from 33 to catch us. Everton would need 31 from 36 to catch us.

4th place is well and truly in our own hands at this point.

One would imagine that Spurs will have to beat us at Anfield in order to nab 4th.

Knex.

Knex. wrote: »

It says a lot when a CB is replaced by another CB and he's not injured.

Agger will be lucky to start a game again for the Club.

The guy coming on wasn't up to much either.

We need at least 2 centre backs into the club this summer.

Knex*

rarnes1 wrote: »

The guy coming on wasn't up to much either.

We need at least 2 centre backs into the club this summer.

Toure will be fine in reserve, really. Cup games, and added to that we should have CL, so having someone of his experience and stuff around the squad, and someone relatively happy to be 3rd/4th choice, should see him kept.

Wonder how far Illori will be from the 1st team after his stint in La Liga.

Knex.

Knex. wrote: »

Toure will be fine in reserve, really. Cup games, and added to that we should have CL, so having someone of his experience and stuff around the squad, and someone relatively happy to be 3rd/4th choice, should see him kept.

Wonder how far Illori will be from the 1st team after his stint in La Liga.

A lot of people say Toure would be fine as backup next season but tbh he'd be the first out the door for me. He's a complete liability and I'd be happy if I never seen him playing for us again.

gafferino

He told talkSPORT: "When we spoke to the owners when I decided to come here, I certainly wanted to be challenging for the Champions League by the time we were in our third year. I knew there was a big job to do at Liverpool.

"Working with the players, I'm not surprised, because I see how much they put into it and the qualities they have. Sometimes in the press this season, I've maybe been deemed to be playing down our hopes and expectations.

"But it's an authentic look at where we're at. We've probably moved ahead of where I thought we would be this season - some of our play has been exceptional - but there are still areas of the team that I feel we need to improve on.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/156043-rodgers-a-lot-of-work-remains-for-us

Kess73

djPSB wrote: »

One would imagine that Spurs will have to beat us at Anfield in order to nab 4th.

Even if they did, they would still need for us to drop four points more than they do for the rest of the season. Which going by our form and their form to date is a big ask.


We have three away games before we meet Spurs (Southampton, Man U, and Cardiff ) and I do expect us to slip up at least once in those games. But take a look at who Spurs meet before they play us. We might have a fourth game if the Sunderland game at Anfield gets played on the 26th March.

They get Cardiff (H), Chelsea (A), Arsenal (H), and Southampton (H).

On paper it looks better for them as we are away and they have most of their games at home, but whilst we have been dropping points away from home, it is the home games in which Spurs have been leaking the most points.

So if we, at worst, match their points total during that run of games, then they come to Anfield needing 7 points to overtake us and having four less games in which to do so.

The chasing pack need for us to slip up rather than any of them being in a position to decide their own fate.

D'Agger

Knex. wrote: »

It says a lot when a CB is replaced by another CB and he's not injured.

Agger will be lucky to start a game again for the Club.

I'm a huge Agger fan, but even I can't really defend him this season, he's not been his usual calm and composed self. He seems rushed when under pressure.

That said I think what you're saying is a tad sensationalist - I watched the game the other day and Agger was bad, but for my money, Skrtel made more glaring errors than Agger, realistically you could have taken either of them off Saturday and tbh I was suprised Skrtel lasted given that it looked to be written in the stars that he'd be sent off.

Agger should play again but I fear we may cash in this summer, with Sahko stepping up.

Knex*

rarnes1 wrote: »

A lot of people say Toure would be fine as backup next season but tbh he'd be the first out the door for me. He's a complete liability and I'd be happy if I never seen him playing for us again.

I can see why, tbh. Certainly in recent weeks, but I thought he was excellent at the beginning of the season, and plenty of people around the Club, including Rodgers, have praised his attitude and his influence within the squad.

I'd be surprised if he was high up on Rodger's list for needing replacing. Agger, and then Skrtel, would be the two for me.

You'd get far more money for them too, and that could be a factor.

Ideally, Sakho comes back into the side, gets match fit, and proves to everyone he is indeed our left center back for the considerable future. Least then we have a solidity and a backbone to build from.

Cartman78

What's the consensus on this year's title challenge compared against 2008-09?

Dunno about you guys, but I never felt we really had a chance at actually winning it in 08/09; always felt United were in control and were going to be first over the line no matter what.

This year just seems to be organised chaos all round - Chelsea seem the most likely due mainly to overall solidity and they face only 3 of the top 10 in the run in.

Hard to predict what we'll do in any match tbh...it's fun to watch up to a point but the kamikazee defending is getting ridiculous now. It's crucial that we score first against Southampton (and probably every match actually).....get ahead and then just outscore them for the rest of the game...simples :pac:

Knex*

D'Agger wrote: »

I'm a huge Agger fan, but even I can't really defend him this season, he's not been his usual calm and composed self. He seems rushed when under pressure.

That said I think what you're saying is a tad sensationalist - I watched the game the other day and Agger was bad, but for my money, Skrtel made more glaring errors than Agger, realistically you could have taken either of them off Saturday and tbh I was suprised Skrtel lasted given that it looked to be written in the stars that he'd be sent off.

Agger should play again but I fear we may cash in this summer, with Sahko stepping up.

I was an Agger fan too, but unfortunately, in the past two seasons he has been poor as ever, plus continuing his trend of getting injured doesn't help his cause.

I feel, looking from outside in, Rodgers no longer trusts him. Even going by little bits on the media when he says things like, "My defenders need to be able to defend first. No point being good on the ball if you can't defend", etc. Some of his wordings and the way he's been quick to leave Agger on the bench, even after initially handing him the Vice Captaincy, would make for ominous reading for Rodgers trust level in him as the season went on.

I just get the impression that the writing is on the wall for him and that Rodgers will be more than happy to see him go.

Knex.

Knex. wrote: »

I can see why, tbh. Certainly in recent weeks, but I thought he was excellent at the beginning of the season, and plenty of people around the Club, including Rodgers, have praised his attitude and his influence within the squad.

I'd be surprised if he was high up on Rodger's list for needing replacing. Agger, and then Skrtel, would be the two for me.

You'd get far more money for them too, and that could be a factor.

Ideally, Sakho comes back into the side, gets match fit, and proves to everyone he is indeed our left center back for the considerable future. Least then we have a solidity and a backbone to build from.

His attitude and positivity can't be questioned. Unfortunately he doesn't do it on the pitch.

He may be 4th choice but through injuries has played quite a bit. I'd prefer someone more solid in there.

smileyj1987

On the subject of agger I'm of the opinion keep him . If the club are buying a CB then it has to be toure out the door . He has made the most glaring of errors this season .
I still think the defence is missing carragher because when you look at he was always going out instructions . None of the defenders at the club seem to shout or make a decision and get caught in no mans land . I also feel that's why mignolet has gone through some rough form aswell .
If Sakho can come back into the team and be the vocal leader then the defences should be ok . I just feel it's time someone in the back line stepped up and gave instructions all the time .
The one player who should be gotten rid of is glen Johnson he has had a shocking season . He has been just pure dire at times . I think it's time to make Flanagan number for the right back slot . He seems to offer more then Johnson defensively and is very cool and calm on the ball .

8-10

Cartman78 wrote: »

What's the consensus on this year's title challenge compared against 2008-09?

Dunno about you guys, but I never felt we really had a chance at actually winning it in 08/09; always felt United were in control and were going to be first over the line no matter what.

This year just seems to be organised chaos all round - Chelsea seem the most likely due mainly to overall solidity and they face only 3 of the top 10 in the run in.

Hard to predict what we'll do in any match tbh...it's fun to watch up to a point but the kamikazee defending is getting ridiculous now. It's crucial that we score first against Southampton (and probably every match actually).....get ahead and then just outscore them for the rest of the game...simples :pac:

I didn't think it was that likely in 08/09, and I think it's even more unlikely this year.

mayordenis

I've been reading this for the last few weeks but the post above saying Agger was poor for the last 2 years? That I cannot understand.

He was by far and away our best defender last year.

He is also being slated for the weekend, which this time round is pure nonsense. He wasn't at fault for any of the goals, he gave the ball away on 2 occassions, 1 of which was his fault the other was not, it was a piece of **** backpass from Johnson.

I'll admit that I'm an Agger fan and he certainly hasn't been good enough this campaign in general but actually at the weekend he was fine, and people have now just got a bit of a grá for rounding on the guy. If you can't see your sheep like behaviour then there's something wrong.

K-9

Spurs have their tough run of fixtures out of the way after they play us, these things never go as predicted but they should be getting more points than us in their last 6 games.

As Kess says Spurs home form is nothing to write home about, they'll be doing very well to be level with us when we play each other, and we'll have a game in hand as well. They'll need to beat us to have a good chance of fourth, if they do it's wide bang open again and their run in is kinder.

Worst case scenario is we only get 2/3 points from the next 3 games, Spurs get 9/10, Spurs would be a point ahead coming to play us. They beat us or even a draw, they'd probably have the upper hand.

If we could get 5/6 points in our next 3 games, Spurs get 6/7 in their 4 games, it would set us up nicely. Something like that would have us with a 4/5 point lead, a game in hand and we'd have them at home, in a game they'd have to win.

joe123

Id definitely be keeping Agger too. To be honest, if we are playing Champions league football next season, we need a big squad full of quality.

Last thing we need is to be selling some of our first team players or those in about the first team.

djPSB

D'Agger wrote: »

I'm a huge Agger fan, but even I can't really defend him this season, he's not been his usual calm and composed self. He seems rushed when under pressure.

That said I think what you're saying is a tad sensationalist - I watched the game the other day and Agger was bad, but for my money, Skrtel made more glaring errors than Agger, realistically you could have taken either of them off Saturday and tbh I was suprised Skrtel lasted given that it looked to be written in the stars that he'd be sent off.

Agger should play again but I fear we may cash in this summer, with Sahko stepping up.

I'd let Agger go.

Skrtel has been good this season, despite a few duck ups. He's also fairly reliable injury wise. Id hold onto him unless some team offers stupid money.

Toure is grand as back up, you'd be hoping we wouldn't need to play him too often.

Sakho will be a top, top, top, top, top centre back for us imo.

Hard to know what to do with Llori and Wisdom. I suspect one of them will go out on loan to a PL club. Neither of them good enough to start at CB just yet.

Kelly is too fragile. Wouldn't be surprised to see him leave.

Overall, replace Agger with a starting CB to play alongside Sakho and our centre backs won't be too badly off at all.

Full backs are another days work.

mayordenis

mayordenis wrote: »

I've been reading this for the last few weeks but the post above saying Agger was poor for the last 2 years? That I cannot understand.

He was by far and away our best defender last year.

He is also being slated for the weekend, which this time round is pure nonsense. He wasn't at fault for any of the goals, he gave the ball away on 2 occassions, 1 of which was his fault the other was not, it was a piece of **** backpass from Johnson.

I'll admit that I'm an Agger fan and he certainly hasn't been good enough this campaign in general but actually at the weekend he was fine, and people have now just got a bit of a grá for rounding on the guy. If you can't see your sheep like behaviour then there's something wrong.

He was baaaaaad at times tbf


Sorry

DrumSteve

What about agger playing in front of the defense as a DM?

klose

mayordenis wrote: »

I've been reading this for the last few weeks but the post above saying Agger was poor for the last 2 years? That I cannot understand.

He was by far and away our best defender last year.

He is also being slated for the weekend, which this time round is pure nonsense. He wasn't at fault for any of the goals, he gave the ball away on 2 occassions, 1 of which was his fault the other was not, it was a piece of **** backpass from Johnson.

I'll admit that I'm an Agger fan and he certainly hasn't been good enough this campaign in general but actually at the weekend he was fine, and people have now just got a bit of a grá for rounding on the guy. If you can't see your sheep like behaviour then there's something wrong.

Agger, like most of the squad (certainly all of rafas remaining players) split alot of opinions amongst supporters. Hes excellent on the ball, carrying it out of defence yes but he gets bullied quite easily by physical attackers which there is a few around these days, his aerial ability for a tall guy aint much to write home about either. I wouldnt be too harsh on him in the last two games as hes only back but i imagine he'll be sold in the summer in any case.

Nuri Sahin

Toure was brought in as fourth choice CB and has played far more than any of us ever imagined. I honestly saw him playing cup games and maybe a couple of league games at most. Quite a few of the players and staff have mentioned that he's a very positive influence on the dressing room and supportive of the younger players. That in itself is reason to keep him.

Agger and Skrtel, more so the former won't settle for being mostly bench warmers for another season again. Sell both and bring in one CB who isn't always injured like Agger or a liability like Skrtel to partner alongside Sakho.

Kess73

Would not be for selling Agger. Skrtel and Toure should go before him in my eyes.

He was poor on Sunday, but imo Agger has far less poor games than any of our other fit centres.


If a top class centre back came in during the summer, then I could see grounds to make Agger the 3rd choice CB, but selling would be a bad move.

Think the aim has to be getting a new partner for Sakho for next season though, rather than hoping one of Agger or Skrtel can hold down that role

Kess73

K-9 wrote: »

Spurs have their tough run of fixtures out of the way after they play us, these things never go as predicted but they should be getting more points than us in their last 6 games.

As Kess says Spurs home form is nothing to write home about, they'll be doing very well to be level with us when we play each other, and we'll have a game in hand as well. They'll need to beat us to have a good chance of fourth, if they do it's wide bang open again and their run in is kinder.

Worst case scenario is we only get 2/3 points from the next 3 games, Spurs get 9/10, Spurs would be a point ahead coming to play us. They beat us or even a draw, they'd probably have the upper hand.

If we could get 5/6 points in our next 3 games, Spurs get 6/7 in their 4 games, it would set us up nicely. Something like that would have us with a 4/5 point lead, a game in hand and we'd have them at home, in a game they'd have to win.

Very good chance that we will play that game on the wed before the Spurs game.

Kess73

Kess73 wrote: »

Very good chance that we will play that game on the wed before the Spurs game.

Is that when the Sunderland game is being pencilled in for Kess? When will that be confirmed? Soon enough I'd imagine

Colemania

Kess73 wrote: »

Would not be for selling Agger. Skrtel and Toure should go before him in my eyes.

He was poor on Sunday, but imo Agger has far less poor games than any of our other fit centres.


If a top class centre back came in during the summer, then I could see grounds to make Agger the 3rd choice CB, but selling would be a bad move.

Think the aim has to be getting a new partner for Sakho for next season though, rather than hoping one of Agger or Skrtel can hold down that role

I'm on the fence about this. I know there isn't a big sample size for comparing Agger and Skrtel this season as Agger hasn't been fit/selected for much games consecutively but when he has played, he has been pretty abject. I am a big fan of his and other ball playing centrebacks but I actually agree with you about getting rid of Skrtel or Toure before Agger.

I hope Sakho's injury problems subside next season as he has the potential to be world class. We won't make a loss on Toure anyway, with the exception of the wage expense for the year for him and we didn't pay a big fee for Skrtel day one so we might make back what we paid for him. I think he'd suit a Serie A team actually.

I see a poster above mentioned playing Agger as DM. I've been calling for this for a while now but it would have to be tried out in cup games or friendlies before attempting it in the league. David Luiz performed decent enough there before and Pepe has played there for Madrid and what they all have in common is that they can play ball and have a slight bit of an advantage in pace over their fellow centrebacks. Well Agger and Pepe's pace may have declined but you get where I'm coming from. He could slot in as an extra centreback as Gerrard did recently against Arsenal or Everton.

Don't post here very often but them's my 2 cents :pac:

Jesus Wept

**** defending, we're doing class.

brevity

It's very disappointing that senior players like Agger, Skrtel and Johnson are becoming such liabilities. You would think with the number of games that they have played together they would have some sort of knowledge of what to do and when.

Perhaps its a combination of having Gerrard in front of them and Mingolet behind them.

Kess73

rarnes1 wrote: »

Is that when the Sunderland game is being pencilled in for Kess? When will that be confirmed? Soon enough I'd imagine

It will be confirmed at least three weeks before the match date if it is to do ahead.


I heard it from one of the stewards on Sunday, and he reckoned that it was more likely to happen than not.

NukaCola

djPSB wrote: »

Sakho will be a top, top, top, top, top centre back for us imo.

Looking forward to him returning, not that all our problems will be solved when he's back........he is rather good

smileyj1987

brevity wrote: »

Perhaps its a combination of having Gerrard in front of them and Mingolet behind them.

I don't think you could use that as an argument. . I kinda feel sorry for mignolet . He is a good goal keeper but a lot of the players in front of him this season have been woeful at defending . I think the trouble at the back is down to the lack of a leader at the back . LFC don't have someone to shout instructions or get the defence organised for set pieces .

NukaCola

brevity wrote: »

It's very disappointing that senior players like Agger, Skrtel and Johnson are becoming such liabilities. You would think with the number of games that they have played together they would have some sort of knowledge of what to do and when.

Perhaps its a combination of having Gerrard in front of them and Mingolet behind them.

Ya.....its other players faults that they play poorly.

K-9

Kess73 wrote: »

Very good chance that we will play that game on the wed before the Spurs game.

3 points there would be great, there isn't that much in the difficulty of the 4 games both teams play, Spurs have Chelsea away and Arsenal at home, even a Spurs win could bring Arsenal into a race for 4th. Anyway, something like 4/5 points ahead of them when they come to Anfield puts the pressure on them to win, a draw for us would do and a win sew 4th up.

brevity wrote: »

It's very disappointing that senior players like Agger, Skrtel and Johnson are becoming such liabilities. You would think with the number of games that they have played together they would have some sort of knowledge of what to do and when.

Perhaps its a combination of having Gerrard in front of them and Mingolet behind them.

Probably a combination of that and Agger, Skrtel and Johnson being over rated on here for a few seasons. Personally I'd keep Agger, sell Skrtel, buy a replacement and use Ilori for Cup game type cover.

Kess73

brevity wrote: »

It's very disappointing that senior players like Agger, Skrtel and Johnson are becoming such liabilities. You would think with the number of games that they have played together they would have some sort of knowledge of what to do and when.

Perhaps its a combination of having Gerrard in front of them and Mingolet behind them.

Would find it difficult to blame Gerrard or Mignolet for a lot of the stupid stuff our backline has done.

Neither Gerrard nor Mignolet are blameless for stuff this season, but would be handing the the bulk of the blame on the defenders.


Mignolet to his credit on Sunday did produce a few good saves at 3-2 and 3-3 that kept us in the game, and to be fair to him none of the goals were such that he was at fault for them.

My own take is that we would see a far more confident Mignolet if there was a settled and performing back line in front of him.

Think if we had Reina in goal on Sunday then we would have conceded even more, going by Pepe's form last season and his form in Italy in recent months.

Boom_Bap

We haven't had a settled back 4 all year.

We have played the following setups this year in defence:
- flat back 4
- wing backs
- 3 central defenders
- Centre halves as full backs
- DM/Sweeper

We've changed the above during games.

We've had lenghty injuries and minor injuries to cope with.

I'm a fan of the above, but learning all those systems is a big job for a player, and changes the direction they are supposed to turn, and the lay off based on the formation.

Singling out one of the Skrtel, Agger, Toure and Sakho as being the problem and individual mistakes being the cause for our goals against is not the full picture.

Admitedly, there are some glaring individual mistakes that have caused goals, but on the whole, not that many.

There has been questions over Mig and how he doesn't come for crosses, but he has and does. When he doesnt, I believe its based on the line-up in defence that we are playing, and he is doing as instructed.

With a more settled and injury free run in defence, and more exposure to the different systems in defence, it is going to start to click. When it does, it will compliment the changes in the attacking and midfield areas that have been seeing us getting goals galore.

Courtesy Flush

The fact is we have no problem scoring goals, many options in attack, lots of pace etc
Surely the focus for Rodgers should be on the defensive game. From midfield to the backs it needs working on

Nuri Sahin

Boom_Bap wrote: »

We haven't had a settled back 4 all year.

We have played the following setups this year in defence:
- flat back 4
- wing backs
- 3 central defenders
- Centre halves as full backs
- DM/Sweeper

We've changed the above during games.

We've had lenghty injuries and minor injuries to cope with.

I'm a fan of the above, but learning all those systems is a big job for a player, and changes the direction they are supposed to turn, and the lay off based on the formation.

Singling out one of the Skrtel, Agger, Toure and Sakho as being the problem and individual mistakes being the cause for our goals against is not the full picture.

Admitedly, there are some glaring individual mistakes that have caused goals, but on the whole, not that many.

There has been questions over Mig and how he doesn't come for crosses, but he has and does. When he doesnt, I believe its based on the line-up in defence that we are playing, and he is doing as instructed.

With a more settled and injury free run in defence, and more exposure to the different systems in defence, it is going to start to click. When it does, it will compliment the changes in the attacking and midfield areas that have been seeing us getting goals galore.

I do agree with much of your post, but my opinion on both isn't based on a single season of performances. Ditto Johnson. They aren't good enough and we can improve on all of them.

Bandana boy

rarnes1 wrote: »

The guy coming on wasn't up to much either.

We need at least 2 centre backs into the club this summer.

Not sure I agree but having signed three in the summer it would be pretty damning to require two more this summer.

brevity

smileyj1987 wrote: »

I don't think you could use that as an argument. . I kinda feel sorry for mignolet . He is a good goal keeper but a lot of the players in front of him this season have been woeful at defending . I think the trouble at the back is down to the lack of a leader at the back . LFC don't have someone to shout instructions or get the defence organised for set pieces .

NukaCola wrote: »

Ya.....its other players faults that they play poorly.

K-9 wrote: »

Probably a combination of that and Agger, Skrtel and Johnson being over rated on here for a few seasons. Personally I'd keep Agger, sell Skrtel, buy a replacement and use Ilori for Cup game type cover.

Kess73 wrote: »

Would find it difficult to blame Gerrard or Mignolet for a lot of the stupid stuff our backline has done.

Neither Gerrard nor Mignolet are blameless for stuff this season, but would be handing the the bulk of the blame on the defenders.


Mignolet to his credit on Sunday did produce a few good saves at 3-2 and 3-3 that kept us in the game, and to be fair to him none of the goals were such that he was at fault for them.

My own take is that we would see a far more confident Mignolet if there was a settled and performing back line in front of him.

Think if we had Reina in goal on Sunday then we would have conceded even more, going by Pepe's form last season and his form in Italy in recent months.

I'm not necessarily blaming Gerrard or Mingolet though. I'm simply suggesting that having a new keeper behind them and having DM (that isnt a DM) in front of them might adding to the mess that is our defence at the moment.

klose

Kess73 wrote: »

Very good chance that we will play that game on the wed before the Spurs game.

Just been confirmed there. 8 o clock k/o

Speak Now

klose wrote: »

Just been confirmed there. 8 o clock k/o

On Sky Sports as well!

Bandana boy

Cartman78 wrote: »

What's the consensus on this year's title challenge compared against 2008-09?

Dunno about you guys, but I never felt we really had a chance at actually winning it in 08/09; always felt United were in control and were going to be first over the line no matter what.

This year just seems to be organised chaos all round - Chelsea seem the most likely due mainly to overall solidity and they face only 3 of the top 10 in the run in.

Hard to predict what we'll do in any match tbh...it's fun to watch up to a point but the kamikazee defending is getting ridiculous now. It's crucial that we score first against Southampton (and probably every match actually).....get ahead and then just outscore them for the rest of the game...simples :pac:

I was really postive until the dip post Xmas ,then i was really negative ,that turned postive when we started hammering everybody and United went on a Dip of there own. It was that late loss turned into a win against Villa that i felt Utd had turned a corner and I resigned myself to second.

This year I feel neither Chelski or City have the same air as Utd had but between them should have too much for us on the run in.

That said I have not enjoyed a season as much as this one in a long time (probably since Collymores first season at the pool) .
We are the best team to watch in the league. We look like we could put any team to the sword and if we are to fail it will not be for lack of effort or ambtion from the team and manager (one could argue about ambtion from FSG in not strengthening in January).

Boom_Bap

Nuri Sahin wrote: »

I do agree with much of your post, but my opinion on both isn't based on a single season of performances. Ditto Johnson. They aren't good enough and we can improve on all of them.

I totally agree that they can be improved on, but I do have an understanding for how difficult it must be for them being able to adapt to each new setup.
There are probably defenders out there that have much more ability to be more flexible (I think that's why we got Sahko & Illori and were talking about Alderwilde) which would be a better fit.

It's only in recent years that the philosophy of building a defensive unit that offers more than defence (for a center half) has been introduced. The more experinced lads have had one style of play since they were at youth levels, and need to adapt quickly, which I imagine is no easy task as they have to play against thier instincts.

Juniorhurler

Bandana boy wrote: »

Not sure I agree but having signed three in the summer it would be pretty damning to require two more this summer.

Really though it was only one for the here and now. Toure is a stop gap and Llori according to Rodgers was bought as one to develop for the future.

noodler

Is Agger our most marketable CB though if we were to initiate a sale?

I'd argue we'd get more for him than Skrtel purely because of the general view that he is classy on the ball.

Boom_Bap

noodler wrote: »

Is Agger our most marketable CB though if we were to initiate a sale?

I'd argue we'd get more for him than Skrtel purely because of the general view that he is classy on the ball.

I read last week that City were taking a close look at Skrtel.

And I think that Agger has admirers is Barcelona and Milan, but that could be all his agent nonsence that gets dragged up ever transfer window.

Nerdlingr

I've said it earlier in the year and I'll say it again, I'd sell Agger no bother. Barcelona were meant to be looking at him a while back. Would be delighted to get 20m or so for him. He's been at fault for a lot this season..even from day one, giving that stupid penalty away against Stoke...but he seems to be forgiven alot more because he 'can play a bit'. I wouldnt play him in Midfield either. If there's anything we've learned from Agger over the years is how injury prone he is. He hasnt got the physicality or mobility to play DM. Besides all that he's grand like!

Bandana boy

Bandana boy wrote: »

Not sure I agree but having signed three in the summer it would be pretty damning to require two more this summer.

Sakho will be 1st choice next season I'd imagine and Toure was signed as 4th choice. The other chap is on loan.

You don't think we could replace 2 out of Skrtel, Agger and Toure?

kfallon

Bring back Piechnik and Bjornebye......best CB partnership we ever had :pac:

Dickerty

Juniorhurler wrote: »

Really though it was only one for the here and now. Toure is a stop gap and Llori according to Rodgers was bought as one to develop for the future.

So move on Skrtel for a new starting CB, alongside Sakho.
Agger and Ilori as back-ups, and Toure as mentor/emergency cover/rotation option.

Still very unsure what they will do with FBs.

RB: I think we may still see Johnson as first choice if he closes out the season well, with Wisdom as 2nd choice. Flanagan should still be a cover player, and should be happy with that. Not sure where that leaves Kelly, is he too old to loan out? McLaughlin needs a full season loan.
LB: Enrique is a good all round option, but is injury prone. Cissokho has been ok, but not good enough as a startyer, and would rather promote Flanagan or Smith than have him waiting in the wings. I think we will invest in a new player here and allow Enrique to stay and fight it out, when fit!