Liverpool FC Forum

by **ben oseman** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 12:17 pm

mertersacker !!!!!!!!!!!!

YES PLEASE

by **ruskiy playmaker** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:14 am

I cant believe how some of you guys still rate Carragher so highly. He was horrible last season and he got destroyed during the World Cup. I know he gave a lot to the club, but his best days are behind him and we got to move on.

by **Owzat** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:19 am

ruskiy playmaker wrote:I cant believe how some of you guys still rate Carragher so highly. He was horrible last season and he got destroyed during the World Cup. I know he gave a lot to the club, but his best days are behind him and we got to move on.

Played one and a half games at the World Cup, England didn't concede while he was on the pitch.

While he was not on the pitch England played two and a half games and conceded FIVE goals - go figure

He is still a good defender, exposed by pace but who isn't. Perhaps therein lies the problem with having the wanderer who can't defend on the right side of defence, no protection whatsoever. Despite our terrible season we only conceded 35 goals, it was scoring that was our problem and therefore you might suggest the full-back we signed didn't improve on our attack but certainly contributed towards our weakened defence.

by **ben oseman** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:25 am

yes but we have better defenders in skrtel and agger i recon

by **ruskiy playmaker** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:31 am

Owzat wrote:
ruskiy playmaker wrote:I cant believe how some of you guys still rate Carragher so highly. He was horrible last season and he got destroyed during the World Cup. I know he gave a lot to the club, but his best days are behind him and we got to move on.

Played one and a half games at the World Cup, England didn't concede while he was on the pitch.

While he was not on the pitch England played two and a half games and conceded FIVE goals - go figure

He is still a good defender, exposed by pace but who isn't. Perhaps therein lies the problem with having the wanderer who can't defend on the right side of defence, no protection whatsoever. Despite our terrible season we only conceded 35 goals, it was scoring that was our problem and therefore you might suggest the full-back we signed didn't improve on our attack but certainly contributed towards our weakened defence.

Dont get me wrong he's still a good player, but he's not good enough to be in the 1st eleven. I'd love to see him as a 3rd choice CB, but he doesn't want that.

It's Skrtel and Agger for me, unless we get a top class replacement.

by **Owzat** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:32 am

fivecups wrote:Our centre-backs are not of the highest quality.

Carra
Agger
The Greek
Skrtel

I'd like to see how Skrtel does with a sustained run in the team but he was poor last season.

That's as fair an assessment as I've seen in a while. I for one am not saying Carragher is World Class, but he is still a good defender. Agger is probably the pick of the bunch, while Skrtel, Carra and Kyrgiakos all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Personally I feel there is way too much focus come emphasis on our CBs when the full-backs were too weak defensively last season and their balance wasn't/isn't right. Trying to create via the full-backs is ok, but we should be creating via midfield and having Mascherano and Lucas in there makes it very difficult. The emphasis and use of some positions is out of kilter, not a question of CBs being "past it", "sh.1t" etc

I for one am also hoping Gerrard has a good season and drives the side forward, although as I've said before I feel his presence can perhaps mean the rest of the team adopt the one man or two man team mentality so that when he (and Torres) is/are playing the rest focus too much on him/them, when he/they aren't playing then the rest almost write themselves off and don't lift their game. Therein lies a danger with any team if one or two are of much higher ability standards than some/most/all of the rest of the team.

So my priority wouldn't be buying and selling CBs, it would be getting two more suitably balanced FBs for the starting XI and then a striker and work from there. I would consider selling Skrtel, for me the weakest CB we have of those 1st teamers here last season, and replace him, but not high priority. If we're only conceding 35 goals with this defence that some are writing CBs off, then they can't be that bad - although that does to some extent include FBs, although for me their lack of adequate cover is the reason we conceded a few more last season than usual

Premiership goals conceded

04/05 : 41 (7 clean sheets)
05/06 : 25 (22 clean sheets)
06/07 : 27 (20 clean sheets)
07/08 : 28 (18 clean sheets)
08/09 : 27 (20 clean sheets)
09/10 : 35 (17 clean sheets)

Still there or thereabouts, I'm more concerned about not beating Wigan, Sunderland, Stoke, Hull, Wolves and Blackburn away than our goals conceded and clean sheets, so getting a LB and RB who can defend would make me more than happy

by **Owzat** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:39 am

ruskiy playmaker wrote:Dont get me wrong he's still a good player, but he's not good enough to be in the 1st eleven. I'd love to see him as a 3rd choice CB, but he doesn't want that.

It's Skrtel and Agger for me, unless we get a top class replacement.

For me it would be Agger plus Carra/Kyrgiakos, Skrtel isn't the best and his overphysical approach gives away too many silly free-kicks and he isn't that much better to compensate.

Carra is still capable of that last ditch defence that we often end up having to put in, despite the presence of a lot of peoples' favourite Mascherano who can quite easily be by-passed. Despite fielding SIX supposed defensive players we still conceded our most goals since Rafa's first season. Some will say that is down to the CBs, for me it shows the two DMs and the weak FBs don't work. We had Alonso and Arbeloa in that six and it worked, better balance

by **ben oseman** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 8:57 am

all wrong my friend. skrtel and agger are our best back two, carragher is off the pace now by a long way tbh.
he's usefull on a 15 game a season job but as a first teamer week in week out, hes past that now. slowed up and lost more than half a yard.
carragher gives away more fouls than skrtel, he's clumbsy now. skrtel and agger are stronger and quicker now. and much better in the air.

by **mkingdom** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:37 am

bigmick wrote:As a few have said none of our centre backs are absolutely top top class. Carra is the best out of them though for me, with Agger second. It might be that we are just going to have to learn to accept it and live with it, and perhaps play a bit more attacking simply because we will be better going forwards than backwards this season. Long as you play to your strengths it's not always a bad thing.

Whether Agger is a good CB or not may be irrelevant as we might see him as our first choice LB next season. Based on his end to last season this isn't a negative for me.

Back Four

Johnson Carra Skrtl Agger

by **NANNY RED** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 12:13 pm

ben oseman wrote:mertersacker !!!!!!!!!!!!

YES PLEASE

Arsenal are sniffing him out ,

by **Aussie Style** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 1:35 pm

NANNY RED wrote:
ben oseman wrote:mertersacker !!!!!!!!!!!!

YES PLEASE

Arsenal are sniffing him out ,

apparently available for around 10 mil as well. sell skrtel and bring him in PLEASE Roy.

by **Redtribe** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 1:39 pm

I don't think Mertersacker is any better what we already have, just a case of the grass is greener!!

by **In and Out** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 1:55 pm

Redtribe wrote:I don't think Mertersacker is any better what we already have, just a case of the grass is greener!!

He's a CB is he not?

Must adimit if he is, I wasn't that impressed with him. I think you're right about the grass being greener. I thought the German CB's were the weakest links in their team.

by **ruskiy playmaker** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 7:50 pm

ben oseman wrote:all wrong my friend. skrtel and agger are our best back two, carragher is off the pace now by a long way tbh.
he's usefull on a 15 game a season job but as a first teamer week in week out, hes past that now. slowed up and lost more than half a yard.
carragher gives away more fouls than skrtel, he's clumbsy now. skrtel and agger are stronger and quicker now. and much better in the air.

I completely agree. I just think that some don't want to face the fact that, Carragher is not the defender he once used to be. Skrtel and Agger can make an amazing partnership, however I dont think that Hudgson has the balls to drop Carragher.

btw Mertersacker is not better than Skrtel. He's good in the air, but he's a slow :censored:

.

by **ben oseman** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:38 pm

mertersacker is better than carragher though.

i think hodgson will drop carragher if he becomes a liability to our team.

no one is un-dropable

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