Liverpool FC Forum

by **bigmick** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:24 am

Penguins wrote:Problem is we have spent 6.5 million as our most expensive CB which is very little compared to our rivals and we have spent alot more on fullbacks than CB.
Oversimplification yes, but top class CB cost alot like all quality players does.

We may have only spent 6.5 million on our most expensive centre half, but that's through choice surely

We have spent heavily in other areas, so it's swings and roundabouts really.

by **Rush Job** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:27 am

Sami wanted a new challenge before he retired,10-20 games wasnt enough, good luck to him I say,still a quality player.

by **Rush Job** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 4:32 am

We`ll sort the set pieces, this happens every season. Which may tell its own story.

by **Espionage** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 5:35 am

No one has brought up the fact that Carragher was playing on the more unfamiliar left CB role on Saturday's game. He looked much less sure on his left foot and always wanted to turn into trouble (Hines took advantage of more than one situation). Passing the ball around the back is mental exercise and Carra got robbed of his confidence from the very start of the game.

Not sure why they would swap, unless getting Skrtel prepped on the right for when he starts partnering Agger on a permanent basis. After the West Ham game I think this might be happening sooner rather than later.

by **Toffeehater** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:20 am

metalhead wrote:mate, I've been saying this for ages, even when I had a thread about our center backs and that a CB should have beena top priority in the summer. As much as people like Skrtel here, he isn't good enough, he just doesn't look like a top quality CB, decent squad player at best. Carragher is getting older.

We need a top class CB, we should go for that Hangelaand fella from Fulham, whatever the price, let G+H fork 15m for him.

Skrtel was rock solid in his first season and last season after the injury he looks shaky . It doesn't help that carra has lost all his pace , put agger on with skrtel then we will see the difference . You don't mark drogba out of the game unless you've got some talent and thats exactly what skrtel did

by **Toffeehater** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 7:22 am

Nando26 wrote:Personally id bring (try to) in Mertersacker & Chiellini to strenghten our centre defense. Other good options would be Kjaer, Richards, Shawcross as young back-ups

I think Carra is at that point in his career now where hed benefit from getting a rest say every 1 game for every 4 he plays like we did with Hyypia when he started to get on. I love carra hes on of my favourite players but age is something that catches up on all of us

Agree about Gerrard i cxant for the life of me (especially when we had xabi who could deliver a better cross anyway) hes never been used in the box, with his build & heading ability i believe he could get 4-8 goals a season for us from set pieces

Mertersacker could be a good option but chiellini would cost a bomb , shame as he's a fantastic player . Richards isn't the same player he once was but yes would be a good back up provided he's willing to play that role now that he's starting for city week in and week out

by **bigmick** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:31 am

Toff I think personally we're at that point where if we bought anybody decent, they wouldn't be back up they'd play.

Carra isn't the same player he was two seasons ago. I don't agree with some that he's suddenly become a liability, but he's definately not quite at the level he was. Agger is barely worth taking into consideration so rarely is he fit, and in any case he's never been a massively impressive player from a defensive point of view anyway. His talents are very much on the footballing side of the ledger, and he needs a proper defender to play alongside him to really shine. Skrtel is begining to look to me as if he might just be a couple of pounds off being good enough. There are just too many lapses for me, and for an out and out defender who offers little else it's not enough. The Greek fella with the best will in the World is only ever going to be a temporary stopgap I think, and I honestly don't think he's good enough for a sustained run except in an emergency.

We're really at that point IMHO where if we bought a Mathew Upson, a Koulo Toure or a player of a similar ilk (ie not one of the absolute top performers but somebody very decent) they would instantly be our best centre half. That's where we are right now, and ultimately if anything is going to be an overriding factor in us falling short if indeed we do, I think the centre half situation will be tied with the lack of cover for Torres. It may ultimately be even be more important than that.

by **stmichael** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:52 am

For me it's not even the zonal marking that's the problem. It's the genuine lack of height we have in the side and the lack of anybody on the posts at corners. Anybody on the post would have cleared Carlton Cole's header. It comes to something when Gerrard is probably one of our best players in the air both attacking and defending and yet he's wasted most of the time taking set pieces, more often than not dreadully. First one he doesn't take he rises like a salmon and sets up the goal for Kuyt.

The fact is, we've been shaky at the back all season. I genuinely sh#t myself evrytime we concede a corner now which is worrying to say the least. So far this season every goal we've conceded has been either a mistake or genuinely rotten defending.

The thing is, the way we're going we're having to score 3 goals in every away game just to win the game which puts a lot of pressure on our front men to produce the goods. It's ok dominating the game as we did for long spells in the second half on saturday but it' counts for nothing if you keep conceding daft goals down the other end.

Carragher has had two shockers in a row now against Bolton and West Ham. I'm not saying he should be dropped (he's still our best defender) but he's certainly seen his best days. Skrtel has his good games but will always put us under a ridiculous amount of pressure by giving away daft free kicks in and around the penalty area.

The loss of Agger cannot be understimated for me. I love watching the guy play and he allows us to defend ten yards further up the pitch. How long till he's back does anybody know?

by **bunglemark2** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:38 am

Rush Job wrote:We`ll sort the set pieces, this happens every season. Which may tell its own story.

Rubbish...
Every time we concede a corner I fear the worst. Last season, this season....nowt's changed...

by **GYBS** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:14 am

The one problem we have currently is when peopl mention all these guys they want to come in - Shawcross,Upson etc is we currently have a lack of funds to make any top purchases -

Carra - Seems very much of the pace at the moment and think he is quite lucky that agger is unavailable - the guy needs a couple of games rest
Agger- really hope we get this guy back and as soon as possible - we all know how good he is bringing the ball out from the back and his ability on the ball - on his defending i have only seen one striker murder him physically and that was drogba in the 06/07 cl semi final first leg but Agger learnt from that and came back and had him in his pocket the second leg - he is also good in the air and good recovery pace - i hope he is back soon to be the rightful number one cb , this is a guy who had rooney in his pocket for denmark when he was only 19 just before we bought him .

Skrtel- No nonsense defender who used to be more than happy to shoving it into row z when needed and being good in the air and strong in the tackle but since his injury he seems to have lost a bit and now dives in too much -

they all need to step back up to the level they have all played before and soon as possible -

Long term i hope its agger and skrtel as main cbs with maybe kelly and ayala coming through as back ups .

by **Ciggy** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:19 am

devaney wrote:I know Sammy wanted to go because Rafa told him he wouldn't get regular first team football! HOW MUCH DO WE NEED SAMMY NOW? HIS PERFORMANCE AGAINST MAN U LAST SEASON SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH FOR RAFA TO REALISE THAT HE WAS A MASSIVELY IMPORTANT PART OF THE TEAM. DID RAFA MAKE SAMMY FEEL THAT HE WAS - DID HE FK!

I know Alonso went because he was made to feel about as wanted as a hole in a Jonny at the end of the 2007/2008 season! AND WHAT DID RAFA DO AFTER XABI'S STAND OUT 2008/2009 SEASON? Rafa once again simply failed to perform as a manager should and keep his best assets! Rafa couldn't even persuade Xabi to stay for a year and help us win the title for ffs!

Stevie G nearly went ffs to Chelsea of all fkng places! A PICTURE IS EMERGING. LFC CAN NO LONGER GUARANTEE THAT IT CAN HOLD ONTO IT'S FINEST ASSETS. Mascherano to Barca at the end of the season? Torres get's offered a crazy deal and the club have the opportunity to sell him for £80m - what would happen? is everybody convinced that we wouldn't sell him? I'm not!

Fk I know I am sounding like a right moaning cnt but to be honest I am fed up with the incredibly stubborn approach taken by Rafa and some of his useless tactics and inept man management skills. MAYBE IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT because frankly I think we are going backwards. My only hope that Aquilani is a fkg miracle worker if he ever plays!

by **bigmick** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:21 am

That'll be getting used every week that fecking thing :laugh:

by **NANNY RED** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:22 am

Ciggy wrote:
devaney wrote:I know Sammy wanted to go because Rafa told him he wouldn't get regular first team football! HOW MUCH DO WE NEED SAMMY NOW? HIS PERFORMANCE AGAINST MAN U LAST SEASON SHOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH FOR RAFA TO REALISE THAT HE WAS A MASSIVELY IMPORTANT PART OF THE TEAM. DID RAFA MAKE SAMMY FEEL THAT HE WAS - DID HE FK!

I know Alonso went because he was made to feel about as wanted as a hole in a Jonny at the end of the 2007/2008 season! AND WHAT DID RAFA DO AFTER XABI'S STAND OUT 2008/2009 SEASON? Rafa once again simply failed to perform as a manager should and keep his best assets! Rafa couldn't even persuade Xabi to stay for a year and help us win the title for ffs!

Stevie G nearly went ffs to Chelsea of all fkng places! A PICTURE IS EMERGING. LFC CAN NO LONGER GUARANTEE THAT IT CAN HOLD ONTO IT'S FINEST ASSETS. Mascherano to Barca at the end of the season? Torres get's offered a crazy deal and the club have the opportunity to sell him for £80m - what would happen? is everybody convinced that we wouldn't sell him? I'm not!

Fk I know I am sounding like a right moaning cnt but to be honest I am fed up with the incredibly stubborn approach taken by Rafa and some of his useless tactics and inept man management skills. MAYBE IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT because frankly I think we are going backwards. My only hope that Aquilani is a fkg miracle worker if he ever plays!

in bulk , that was me yesterday

by **GYBS** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:24 am

Devaney has been like that all season with regards to Rafa

by **stmichael** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:28 am

GYBS wrote:The one problem we have currently is when peopl mention all these guys they want to come in - Shawcross,Upson etc is we currently have a lack of funds to make any top purchases -

It's depressing that we couldn't even afford somebody like Distin. I actually quite like the guy and he would have been an excellent purchse imo. It was that bad on Saturday that I spent most of the game wishing that the Greek was playing. At least he would have given us a bit of aerial presence at the back. We lost nearly every ball in the air.

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Centre halves..... - Do we have a serious problem?

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