Liverpool FC Forum

[account deleted by request]

Yeah, I remember when Stu posted that he thought we were weak at CB, I thought he was being over critical, now I think he may have been right. Irritating that 

I would love to know what the truth is behind Aggers absences this season, because while he may not be as strong, fast or dominant as Skrtel, I still think that when he is on form he is the better of the two.
I also think Carra looks a better player when beside Agger than he does beside Skrtel.

Hyypia was an outstanding CB, I think its only now he is on his last legs that we are realising just how good he really was, and how hard it is to replace someone of that quality.  I think we need another CB who is dominant in the air, over 6 ft 3 and yet comfortable on the ball. Good positionally, rarely makes mistakes or gets booked and is excellent in the tackle. Problem is Hyypia's don't come along every other day.

I heard we were interested in the CB off Fulham, but £10million would be a big slice out of our transfer budget I would imagine.

[GYBS]

For us to spend 10 mil on a cb would be madness considering the attacking options is what we lack at the moment .I guess we will have to wait and see what happens with the Agger situation . Sami is prob one of those players you just cant replace and have to try your best to get as close as you can .

[bigmick]

Hey if we are interested in the Fulham bloke, that's not a bad pick from me. Doesn't quite square the ledger up for Robert Earnshaw, but at least it brings it a touch more towards parity.

True about Hyppia though mate. Not only was he good in the air, but a good footballer as well. Houllier did make some good signings as well as plenty of misses, Hyppia must surely have been his finest hour in the transfer market.

[Ciggy]

we couldnt do anyworst david Weater or Hangeland from Fulham if Agger is leaving.

[LegBarnes]

Also I think it's worth pointing out that one of the differences between football in england as opposed to the rest of Europe, is the brute force of teams in the way they attack balls aerially into the box. I've no doubt at all that if Cahill played on the continent, every time he contested a header it would be a foul to the opposition. Heskey and Crouch both have the same problem when playing for England, Ferguson had it for the "ifithadnerbeenfer" goal at Villareal, and such a free kick given against Shearer probably cost us the World Cup a while back.

I'll probably be on my own here, but I think Cannavaro would struggle in the Premiership from set pieces. You need a more rugged approach, and sheer size. Hyppia, John Terry, Vidic and the like are they types you need.

I agree totaly english game is about power nowa days you need that force in air that sort of thing where the defender makes a statement "you ain't getting nothing if its near me" sort of thing.

Mancs have it every game they look impossible almost to beat in air.

Look at arsholes there defence is so weak in air they are finding it very hard to cope this season Expect them to strenghten for next season.

I just see we have 3 of intercept and pass defender and 1 aireal type defender in team and he can't play every match.

[Owzat]

I heard we were interested in the CB off Fulham, but £10million would be a big slice out of our transfer budget I would imagine.

Hangeland? Would be a lot of money, I'm not convinced we need to keep splashing cash on CBs. We've got four, we spent around £6m on the last two and perhaps the problem isn't the CBs but the team defending crosses and set-pieces in general. I'm just not convinced many of the outfield players like defending crosses, doesn't matter how good your CBs are in the air if there are only two players plus one or two others prepared to fight to win the ball in the air.

[Bad Bob]

Going to try this temporary locking idea while I sweep up some of the off-topic stuff in here.  I'll re-open this in a minute or two and will ask that people stick to talking about our CBs.

[Bad Bob]

As you were (except for the irrelevant bitching part ).

[mkingdom]

I don't think there is too much wrong with our CBs, and I would certainly rather spend any cash elsewhere in the team, like another world class CF and a top class RW.

I think chopping and changing the back 4 doesn't help.  The OP compared us to three of four years ago...the difference is that in those times we rarely changed our line up, so good bad or indifferent they knew each other, the system etc.

Now we have a different back four nearly every game which can't help...especially when one of them is Dossena.

We need to decide who are best four are (preferably without Dossena) and stick to it for a period of time...then see how good or bad we look.

In the meantime, just sign David Villa.      

[Judge]

i had a CB once, rubbish. had to learn a new language

[metalhead]

I heard we were interested in the CB off Fulham, but £10million would be a big slice out of our transfer budget I would imagine.

Hangeland? Would be a lot of money, I'm not convinced we need to keep splashing cash on CBs. We've got four, we spent around £6m on the last two and perhaps the problem isn't the CBs but the team defending crosses and set-pieces in general. I'm just not convinced many of the outfield players like defending crosses, doesn't matter how good your CBs are in the air if there are only two players plus one or two others prepared to fight to win the ball in the air.

I remember the Liverpool v Blackburn game a few years back, We drew 1-1 that day at anfield. Mccarthy's goal was from poor defending in our part, it came from a cross that BOTH Carragher and Agger missed, landed on Mccarthy and he scored. Hyppia would have dealt with that, it wasn't really high to begin with, but Agger and Carragher didn't deal with it.

[Owzat]

Going to try this temporary locking idea while I sweep up some of the off-topic stuff in here.  I'll re-open this in a minute or two and will ask that people stick to talking about our CBs.

Except I was editing a reply and got a "thread locked" message so I now lost everything I was posting thinking it had been permanently locked.....................

[mkingdom]

i had a CB once, rubbish. had to learn a new language

14 for a copy good buddy     

[Owzat]

I don't think there is too much wrong with our CBs, and I would certainly rather spend any cash elsewhere in the team, like another world class CF and a top class RW.

I think chopping and changing the back 4 doesn't help.  The OP compared us to three of four years ago...the difference is that in those times we rarely changed our line up, so good bad or indifferent they knew each other, the system etc.

Now we have a different back four nearly every game which can't help...especially when one of them is Dossena.

We need to decide who are best four are (preferably without Dossena) and stick to it for a period of time...then see how good or bad we look.

In the meantime, just sign David Villa.      

Perhaps part of the problem is where the rest of our team came from. Apart from Gerrard, Carra (youth) Mascherano and Benayoun, the rest of our players came from overseas. That may or may not contribute to our defensive woes from crosses, but I don't think it's helped.

The mancs may not have signed huge numbers from the Premiership, but maybe key that Ferdinand, Van Der Sar, Carrick, Rooney and Berbatov were on top of homegrown Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs, O'Shea etc. Also helps that Ronaldo and Vidic are strong in the air.

From a piece done by Football Focus a while back, Arsenal were weakest of the 'big four' from set-pieces and everyone knows how lacking they are in English players. Are any of their signings from English clubs? Even the youth players were pinched off overseas clubs. Chelsea have Terry, Cole and  Lampard off the top of my head who have English based upbringing in football. Maybe it's that you either need strong aerial players like Sami or experienced players in the English style of game

[Bad Bob]

Going to try this temporary locking idea while I sweep up some of the off-topic stuff in here.  I'll re-open this in a minute or two and will ask that people stick to talking about our CBs.

Except I was editing a reply and got a "thread locked" message so I now lost everything I was posting thinking it had been permanently locked.....................

Ahh well, damned if you do, damned if you don't I guess.  Still I suspect you'll bounce back strong.