Daniel Agger admits he has a fight on his hands to play regular first-team football at Liverpool next season.
The Dane agreed a new deal earlier in the summer despite having to settle for 26 senior appearances last term.
Agger knows he will have to be on top form to increase this number in 2009-10, with Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel proving to be one of the Barclays Premier League's meanest partnerships over the last 12 months.
Despite the rivalry, Agger is a keen admirer of Skrtel - and admits he was shocked at how good the Slovakian was after arriving from the Russian Premier League 18 months ago.
"Martin is a top, top player. I was surprised when he came just how good he was," Agger told LFC Magazine.
"I have to be honest and say I don't know much about the Russian Premier League, so I did not really know what to expect when Martin came to the club.
"But he's a really good player and, just as importantly, he's a really good guy to have in the dressing room too. He's a guy who's good to talk to away from the pitch and who I admire a lot because of the way he plays on it.
"If you play all the time, if you get the chance to play week in, week out, then you must be a good player.
"I don't care if Martin and I are rivals for a starting place, he's still a friend of mine and I'll still tell the world how highly I rate him.
"He's an excellent defender and will keep getting better.
"We are competing with each other, maybe, to play in the team but it's not a rivalry. Both of us play and train to the best of our ability and then the manager makes the decision."
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164959090707-0847.htm
Sounds to me like Agger is talking up himself and Skrtel as pals and as a future cenre back pairing.
Either that or they have a shared interest in dogging 😱
The Dane agreed a new deal earlier in the summer despite having to settle for 26 senior appearances last term.
Agger knows he will have to be on top form to increase this number in 2009-10, with Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel proving to be one of the Barclays Premier League's meanest partnerships over the last 12 months.
Despite the rivalry, Agger is a keen admirer of Skrtel - and admits he was shocked at how good the Slovakian was after arriving from the Russian Premier League 18 months ago.
"Martin is a top, top player. I was surprised when he came just how good he was," Agger told LFC Magazine.
"I have to be honest and say I don't know much about the Russian Premier League, so I did not really know what to expect when Martin came to the club.
"But he's a really good player and, just as importantly, he's a really good guy to have in the dressing room too. He's a guy who's good to talk to away from the pitch and who I admire a lot because of the way he plays on it.
"If you play all the time, if you get the chance to play week in, week out, then you must be a good player.
"I don't care if Martin and I are rivals for a starting place, he's still a friend of mine and I'll still tell the world how highly I rate him.
"He's an excellent defender and will keep getting better.
"We are competing with each other, maybe, to play in the team but it's not a rivalry. Both of us play and train to the best of our ability and then the manager makes the decision."
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N164959090707-0847.htm
Sounds to me like Agger is talking up himself and Skrtel as pals and as a future cenre back pairing.
Either that or they have a shared interest in dogging 😱
