Liverpool FC Forum

[5_Starr_Rikki]

Not sure about Agger going backwards, what do you base that on? If he manages to keep his injury problems behind him I have no worrys about him being one of the best in the league.

Agger is the dog's balls.

[Octsky]

Not sure about Agger going backwards, what do you base that on? If he manages to keep his injury problems behind him I have no worrys about him being one of the best in the league.

I agree

Agger is massively underrated

Agger is going backwards no doubt.
when he first played for us, he looked like Alan Hansen, shooting 30 yards goal, super comfortable taking the ball forward.

now he looks shaky in defense, commit stupid mistakes often putting Reina under pressure.

hell, even Carra looks like sh1t, the handball during the Blackburn game was ridiculous.

[boodiddy1]

Not sure about Agger going backwards, what do you base that on? If he manages to keep his injury problems behind him I have no worrys about him being one of the best in the league.

I agree

Agger is massively underrated

Agger is going backwards no doubt.
when he first played for us, he looked like Alan Hansen, shooting 30 yards goal, super comfortable taking the ball forward.

now he looks shaky in defense, commit stupid mistakes often putting Reina under pressure.

hell, even Carra looks like sh1t, the handball during the Blackburn game was ridiculous.

I base that on poor performances. Ability, as we have seen so many times only gets you so far. Agger is playing poorly just now. Therefore, hes gone backwards in playing terms. Personally, i think he needs "beefing up a bit". He gets out muscled far too often.

[Yossi_Benaloon]

I think there are many things over the last few weeks which can see optimism in fans raising. The return of Torres and Gerrard of course, the performances and goals of Dirk Kuyt + the fact that we are looking more of a goal threat can all help us in our hunt to finish in the Premier League top four. True there are certain areas where there are problems but the team is looking in a far healthier position that it was a few months ago. I have faith that Agger and Carra will return to their best soon.

[Scottbot]

1. It has been said that Rafa had bought so many youngsters but all of them came to nought. Now I agree we haven't seen as many youngsters breaking into the first team as we would have liked but I believe Rafa is slowly but surely building a strong youth foundation. The two most exciting prospects are Krisztian Nemeth and Daniel Pacheco. I believe that from next season onwards they will start to feature in the first team more prominently and consistently. They are probably the reason why Rafa was very reluctant on buying new strikers. Since we don't have money he was riding the storm and waiting until these two have developed enough to be featuring in the first team. If Babel now decides to focus on making his liverpool career a success, we are sorted in terms of attacking players for the next 5 years or more.

2. We have the best forward in the world who is only 25 years old. Yes you heard me THE best forward... Drogba and Rooney.

3. There are already many young players playing in our first 11. Lucas and Ngog may not be that good, but they got room for improvement. I was and still am very critical about Lucas but he has shown that he can improve which is very encouraging. Aquilani is still only 25 and hopefully he would have overcome his injury woes. I still believe he can make it in the EPL and could be vital to our team next season. Mascherano is also still only 25 and he is the best destroying defensive midfielder in the world and captain of Argentina what more can you want? Our midfield looks equally sorted for the future.

4. In defense, We have two great young defenders in Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel both 25 years of age. They got so so much time for improvemetn as defenders go. I expect Agger in particular to become world class comparable to Rio Ferdinand or even better. I think he has the potential. He just needs to put his injury woes behind and if he can come back for the full season next season, we will have a very good defensive unit. I am abit more worried about Skrtel, he is a good defender in the mould of Carragher but prone to ball watching and losing focus. Hopefully he can improve like Carra did. Glen Johnson is also only 25 years old and can become the best RB in the premiership in the next couple of years. He was an expensive buy but a good buy nonetheless. And then we have 21 year old Insua. Still plenty of room for improvement but promising nontheless. Once these 4 start to click we will have a very good defensive unit. Carragher is getting old and he probably should only feature selectively next season. Then we also have a very young and  promising defender in Ayala only 19 years old and already breaking into the first team.

Next season, I am hoping Rafa to feature nemeth and pacheco more prominently. I believe these two will be the key young players if we are hoping to win any silverware next season and if we still have no budget to buy players.

Fairplay to you for your optimism Magu, we could certainly all use some but i'm afraid I don't share too much of it.

1. On Pachecho and Nemeth, I'm afraid I don't think Rafa really rates Nemeth. We've seen virtually nothing of him in the first team the last two years and his goals record for the ressie doesn't come anywhere close to Neil Mellor's a few seasons back. Pacheco looks like a real talent, and Rafa's comments about the lad recently were encouraging, his reluctance to give him minutes (whether we're winning or losing) doesn't.

2. Won't have me disagreeing with you there. Best in the world bar none and we're very lucky to have him. I reckon he wants to play chamions league footy though so we'd better get that 4th spot.

3. On the 4 young guys you've talked about. I love Masch as a player but i suspect we will have the same problems with him next summer, big clubs want him and he wants to move somewhere hotter/Spanish speaking. Can't be easy playing football when your family are not wanting to be in Liverpool. Aquilani? Mate, he hasn't played our last three games, I think Rafa regrets buying him. He's scared to play him away from home or against physical sides. Ngog and Lucas, I'm sorry dude, you were right about there being 'room for improvement' but unfortunately there is simply too much room. Lucas is a squad player, a decent enough squad player but he shouldn't be the fixture in the first team he has become. And Ngog, 4th choice at best, he's shown glimpses but he's a long long way away.

4. I like Agger, and it's hard to really judge him fully because he has suffered so much with injuries the past couple of years but to call him great is jumping the mark mate. Just to put it in perspective, Ferdinand had already been sold to Leeds for £18 million  and then to the mancs for £30 million by the time he was 25. As for Skrtel, again, he's a decent player but i don't think he's quite good enough, at least not as a starter. I'd say Terry, Carvalho, Brown, Vidic, Gallas and Vermaillan are all better and these are the teams we're competing against.