Skrtel is 30. This is long term. Great signing
Lovren.. Liverpool
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Well, what's the point if we could play Sakho instead?
Sakho is better on the ball, better at reading the game, and the same physicality. Viewed as a long term option, so minutes would be important, has big money invested in him, and not a liability defending set pieces.
Yeah I know. Look, I'm not convinced by Skrtel, he's had mixed seasons, I think he's been given some unwarranted stick and unwarranted praise at times but I do think he's progressively become more dominant at the back, to the point where he can essentially step up to being the marshall and leader *if* he comes of age, we settle the backline AND he cuts out the fucking around.
But like I said, the system itself is as much of the flaw as the personnel. Lovren does have that calmness about him, he reads the game well and leads in a similar way to Hyppia, I'm just not convinced as to whether Sakho is an able partner. He could be, don't get me wrong, we just seem to have as many questions as we've always had. Lovren and Agger are too similar, Skrtel and Sakho are too similar, we have a fullback on his last legs who can't defend, an indecisive keeper and a midfield that gives as much protection as a chocolate fireguard.
Do we really need Agger as 4th choice LB cover?
I figure Enrique, Manquillo, and Flanagan would be ahead of him. And he's not very good out there anyways.
Lovren - Sakho for me.
People are being hard on Sakho given he came to Anfield (a different league and different style of play) having not played much in 18 months due to injuries and difficulty in forcing his way back into an expensive PSG line-up.
He's had a very promising start to his career here with the odd slip up along the way - you;d expect him to improve for his 1st season in England/playing for Liverpool. A solid World cup performance (keeping decent CBs out of the French side) too.
This could be our CB pairing for the next 4-5 years with luck.
People are being hard on Sakho given he came to Anfield (a different league and different style of play) having not played much in 18 months due to injuries and difficulty in forcing his way back into an expensive PSG line-up.
He's had a very promising start to his career here with the odd slip up along the way - you;d expect him to improve for his 1st season in England/playing for Liverpool. A solid World cup performance (keeping decent CBs out of the French side) too.
This could be our CB pairing for the next 4-5 years with luck.
I'm not convinced Sakho and Skrtel are all that similar personally. They're both physical players, but Sakho is much better on the ball. When we have him in that LCB role, it feels like we play from defense to midfield much more quickly, as he picks a pass to move us forward. I don't think Skrtel brings that that to the table, and playing 2 CBs who have that capability would be huge. Sakho's also a bit pacier, which I like in our CBs.
It's also worth noting that as far as CBs 25 and under go, Sakho is as good as they come. Marquinhos, Varane, Nastasic, Mangala, Toprak, and Lovren are the other notable ones for me. You don't find good first team CBs under the age of 25 that often, so I think it would behoove us to prioritize the Lovren-Sakho partnership. Not too many clubs around the world have the luxury of having two quality, young CBs who they can coach to fit the system.
Enrique is shit and always injured, Manquillo will struggle out there as he plays for a different team in a different country and Flannagan is hopeless.
So yeah, Agger who can play CB, LB or at a pinch DM should be kept unless good money is on offer.
8m plus
I think that's the right number too. Probably on decent wages (80k+), so it might be a challenge to get good value for him though.
Maybe we start shopping him more actively after getting Lovren in.
Is Sakho really that much quicker? He looks pretty flat footed to me when chasing back, generally when we've been caught on the break it's usually been Skrtel as the man getting back. I think they're both mobile enough without either being particularly pacy. I also think they can look uncertain on the ball, the stats might state that Sakho plays the completed pass X amount of times, but Skrtel seems fairly adept these days at bringing the ball out from the back, playing a decent ball and looking fairly comfortable while doing it, Sakho by comparison does look awkward and capable of the odd fuck up by miscontrolling the ball.
It just seems to me that the right footers aren't really complimenting the left footers, other than Skrtel and Agger, and it's been a partnership that's been there for ages without really getting off the ground.
If he gives Lovren/Sakho a go then I'm all for it, but I'm not convinced that those two personnel will paper over the other gaping holes in the setup, unless we start addressing it head on and proving it on the pitch.
This post has shocked me.
Flanno was damn good most of the time at LB last season. When he's not injured (and he's not now) then Enrique would be our #1 LB as it stands and TBH I really like him, virtually nobody gets past him and he's decent in our box too. Rarely gives away possession except from the occasional misplaced pass but technically he's very sound. I know BR is looking for another LB and improvement is always good - but he really does have to be a very decent LB, along the lines of Rodriguez or Rojo, to replace him.
Manquillo is a RB though I don't know if he can also play LB but he certainly wouldn't be 1st choice ahead of Enrique or Flanno.
Agger should be sold.
Last season Skrtel improved in bringing the out, something he has been pretty poor at in previous seasons.
I can never get over the fact that people think Sakho's passing off just because he looks awkward. The stats tell you how successful he is (even though he does tend to telegraph it at times) and he also seems to play a lot more forward passes than Skrtel.
A Lovren-Sakho partnership would be my first choice, the only negative for me would be that we would be losing Skrtel's dominant heading in our box.
Not by a gaping margin, but I'd definitely say he's a bit quicker. Skrtel's the man getting back in that pairing because Sakho's usually a bit more advanced, picking out passes with the midfield, and facilitating the play.
Like I said, Skrtel has created this mirage of him being a ball playing CB by just passing to the next guy. Tons of high percentage short passes that come right back to him, or the next guy makes the incisive move. Even Mignolet knows this, whenever we use this pairing, he rolls the ball out to Sakho as he knows giving it to Skrtel isn't the best option. The other thing Skrtel would do is constantly play the pass to Johnson, usually when he was in a tight spot. Now Johnson was really shit this season, but this exacerbated the issues, as Johnson did nothing with the ball on the wing, would be given no space, but both would get a ton of touches inflating their stats.
As far as young foreign first year CBs in the league go, I think he did about as well as you can expect. Especially considering he had a first year keeper behind him, Cissokho/Flanagan at LB, Skrtel as his RCB, and Johnson on the far side. No real leaders/organizers there, and definitely a lack of quality at times.
It's two completely different points though, his pass completion and comfort on the ball are completely different entities that should be treated as such.
I think that's completely inaccurate regarding Skrtel's passing contribution, he carries the ball forward in most games, into midfield and trying to play an advanced ball. You're making him sound like the defense's version of our very own Lucas, which is bollocks.
I'm not playing down Sakho in comparison btw, he deserves time and I'm just saying the jury is still out. Some of the posturing over stats is cringeworthy.
I refuse to like this, but I applaud the effort in getting 4 cb's in 1 shit pun.
Ask yourself, what would Mamadou?
Yeah, flanagan is hopeless but agger can play left back??
Agger is the shittest LB at the club, CB or sell!
If this deal goes through, I think it'll be Skrtel + Lovren to start the season. I don't see Sakho getting the jump over Skrtel just yet right from the start.
Depending on how things go from there, Sakho + Lovren might become the main pairing during the season (hope not, for it means either Skrtel got injured or the initial pairing didn't work) or perhaps in the following season when Skrtel's contract runs down to its final year.
I'm interested to see whether Coates gets a chance to stay with the squad - he's done pretty well in the pre-season games so far, and his playing style is quite different from Skrtel / Sakho. Could be between him and Ilori to fight out for the 4th CB spot assuming both Agger and Toure leave.
Depending on how things go from there, Sakho + Lovren might become the main pairing during the season (hope not, for it means either Skrtel got injured or the initial pairing didn't work) or perhaps in the following season when Skrtel's contract runs down to its final year.
I'm interested to see whether Coates gets a chance to stay with the squad - he's done pretty well in the pre-season games so far, and his playing style is quite different from Skrtel / Sakho. Could be between him and Ilori to fight out for the 4th CB spot assuming both Agger and Toure leave.
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