Who should Brendan pick as our first choice centrebacks? For me, I would go with Toure and Sakho. Simple reason really, they both attack the ball when it is there to be headed.
Both Skrtel and Agger fail miserably in this particular department. Although they both have obvious qualities, failing to win vital header in their own six yard box has caused us to lose many points over the years. If I can see a problem there (and most of us here on this message board can)...then you can guarantee managers of our rivals will spot it and exploit it to the max.
I mean, just how many soft set piece goals do we gift opponents. Skrtel especially is a penalty waiting to be given. Everyone is taking about him shirt pulling and it is only a matter of time before a ref has the courage to blow. Skrtel too has the added annoying habit of making seemingly excellent last ditch blocks. Great defending everyone shouts but it is usually from his poor positioning in the first place. A bit like Enrique. Everyone sees the tussle or the block but it is usually a positioning error or a decision making error that has forced a Def Com 1 situation to arise.
Good defending is between the ears. Some of the best defenders have not had pace or power to rely on but had to be smart. Skrtel is not a smart defender. He has pace and power and can head it but doesn't utilise these qualities correctly.
I just think priority one right now is defending set pieces. You have to win the ball. Even if it skims off your head then the job is done. Any headed win is better then nothing. Wrestling with an opponent to stop them winning is not enough. You have to win the ball. Show your opponents that we can deal with the ball in our box.
Who is our best CB pairing??
posted on 27/12/13
Agger > Sakho > Kolo > Skrtel
posted on 27/12/13
comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 13 minutes ago
Agger > Sakho > Kolo > Skrtel
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On current form though.
Skrtel/Sakho > Agger > Toure
posted on 27/12/13
Sakho is our best defender.
He had a mad 5 mins yesterday that's all.
His positioning, heading, blocking and passing are all excellent. He just looks awkward.
Toure was very good in August but hasn't been the same since his injury (albeit in few appearances).
Skrtel has been consistently good but it's no coincidence that our clean sheet record is awful whenever he plays.
Sakho is better than Agger, and BR obviously doesn't think they could play together (maybe tried it on training and neither can play right side centre back).
I would give Toure-Sakho a run of games to see if they do any better than the other pairings have done.
posted on 27/12/13
Sakho and Skrtel, that's the managers choice, he's sees them daily in training. Who am I to argue.
posted on 27/12/13
LFC4LIFE
Who am I to argue?!?!?!
Isn't that the whole point about these forums??? To argue in constructive way.
posted on 27/12/13
comment by Bungee9 (U12983)
posted 57 seconds ago
LFC4LIFE
Who am I to argue?!?!?!
Isn't that the whole point about these forums??? To argue in constructive way.
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In a way, you are right. It is all about opinion. In this case I do agree with the manager though, the current pairing offers aggression and power which I feel is what is needed most in a very physical league for most games.
Other defenders offer different things but I'm not sure over a 38 game season whether it is enough.
Against ball playing sides maybe Agger is better than them both but then chopping and changing upsets the rhythm so I would rather stick with a pairing and only rest them for cup games maybe.
posted on 27/12/13
With Skrtel, I think he ticks all the boxes if you look at all the component parts of his game. He can run, he can tackle, he can head it, he looks the part.....but there seems to be something missing. The clever part for me is not there...his decision making. Sometimes you want your centreback to just do the basics right....kick it and head it. A centreback who is losing headers is no good to anyone.
posted on 27/12/13
Anyone saying Agger is good in the air does not watch our games. He's been my favourite defender for years but he has been shocking this season.
Agger and Skrtel are hopeless together. Their positional sense is so poor. My cousin is a coach and has been slating Skrtel for the last two seasons. I used to defend him with my Red tinted blinkers. I've taken them off now and fully agree.
Salvo has been outstanding so far. He made a couple of eras yesterday but yo can't blame him. He was told to go forward for corners and the midfield and full backs did not cover well enough.
We should not throw both central defenders forward at one time. One sits and one goes up.
I wold well one of Agger or Skrtel and buy another world class defender to play with Sakho. His pass completion and blocking stats have been better than most defenders in the league and he is still settling.
posted on 27/12/13
toure and sakho. ive wanted this since the start of the season.
posted on 27/12/13
Agger and Skrtel