This season our central defense has experienced many changes and while there have been some encouraging developments, I think it's fair to say that Rodgers has not found the winning formula yet. Let's assess this season first:
The challenges:
- Carra's retirement left a big leadership void
- A new goalkeeper with a different playing style and a different set of strengths and weaknesses
- Agger is becoming progressively slower and his positional sense can't always compensate for that
- 2 new CBs who needed time to adapt to the new team and (in Sakho's case) the league
- A permanent season-long injury crisis at the wings of the defense, which resulted in CBs sometimes having to play out of position and to adjust to many different partners on both wings
The good news:
- Skrtel found a new level as a player and had his best season at the club.
Mixed bag:
- Sakho showed his huge promise as well as his erratic side. He is individually stronger than Agger, but the partnership with Skrtel doesn't work too well (1 clean sheet in 17 games together says it all).
- Toure has partially replaced the leadership qualities of Carra, but also undermined his contribution by some comical errors.
- Mignolet has won the trust of his defenders by his shot-stopping ability (as opposed to Reina's last couple of seasons), but hasn't commanded the penalty area well enough, leaving his defenders guessing whenever a high cross comes in.
The defensive puzzle is clearly missing some pieces. And some pieces look redundant. As Carra said on MNF a few days ago, it's clear that Rodgers is not the biggest fan of Agger. His lack of speed and only average physicality means that even a slightest positional mistake results in a total defensive breakdown. One move and he is out of the picture. I am sorry to say it, but if Agger ever was a world-class defender, he is not any more and it's probably better for everyone if leaves for a less ambitious team where he can still play the leading role.
I think Skrtel is clearly staying. Despite some mistakes he's been magnificent this season overall and he has earned his place in the team. Obviously Sakho is staying and lets hope he can polish his rough edges a bit and settle down better next season. Toure might stay or go or finish his career – either way it's not going to make much difference as he is a bit-part player at this point anyway. In any case, I wouldn't say this has been a lost season for our defense – before last summer we feared that all 4 of our CBs (Skrtel, Agger, Carra and Coates) needed to be replaced. After this season we have 2 pieces of the puzzle to work with and a potential 3rd in Ilori, now we need to add 1-2 more to make it all work as a unit.
We've been linked to a few CBs ahead of the transfer window:
Steven Caulker RCB, 22 (Cardiff)
Dejan Lovren RCB, 24 (Southampton)
Martin Hinteregger LCB, 21 (Salzburg)
Jan Vertonghen LCB/LB, 27 (Spurs)
Kyriakos Papadopulos RCB, 21 (Schalke)
Look at the list above: who among this lot could take our central defense to a new level?
I think Caulker seems like a no-brainer from a cost/benefit perspective: young, physical, tough, with good leadership qualities (already the captain at 22), will go for cheap from a relegated team. I think if we are looking for an understudy/competition to both Skrtel and Sakho, he is an ideal candidate. However I doubt he will take our defensive organization to the new level – at 22, coming to a new team, he will not tell Skrtel what to do or tear into Johnson after he loses concentration.
Lovren seems to me like a very good, quiet move. It was impressive how quickly he became the defensive leader at Southampton and his partnership with Fonte is arguably one of the top 5 in the land right now. He could have the intelligence and observation skills to complement Skrtel or Sakho's style well and create another strong defensive partnership here.
Hinteregger I don't know much about, but we are probably just monitoring his development at this point. Even if he grows into the new Hyypia, it would probably be better to buy him a few years later, not pluck him out of Austria at 21 and expect him to solve all our defensive problems.
Verthongen did not have the best of seasons and his value now is probably just about reasonable (whereas after last season Levi would have asked for the moon). Let's overlook the mediocre season (where he had to play half of the games at LB god knows why), the quality is still there and he is entering his prime years at 27. I think he is exactly the kind of player who could transform our defense and bring a new level of calmness, class and consistency.
Papadopulous is a long-term target and his value is also in the "reasonable" territory following a long injury layoff. But I think his chances to come here are more hurt by Skrtel's resurgence. They are both RCBs, fairly similar in playing style and as a younger player, and coming from another league to boot, Papadopulous would not be able to show his leadership qualities he is famous for.
Let's also not forget about Ilori and Wisdom who might be coming back from their loans. That's another reason why I feel buying a younger CB now is not the top priority; I'd rather buy a mature master who could teach those kids how to defend.
So from this list I would definitely mark Vertonghen as my #1 priority and Lovren just below. I would buy Caulker if the price is good and depending on how Ilori and Wisdom are progressing, whether one of them or both will be brought back to the club and require playing time. I would also look at more experienced CBs from around other leagues to give us more options besides Vertonghen and Lovren. I didn't see any stories linking us with him, but, for instance, Mehdi Benatia from Roma could also fit the same profile.
The challenges:
- Carra's retirement left a big leadership void
- A new goalkeeper with a different playing style and a different set of strengths and weaknesses
- Agger is becoming progressively slower and his positional sense can't always compensate for that
- 2 new CBs who needed time to adapt to the new team and (in Sakho's case) the league
- A permanent season-long injury crisis at the wings of the defense, which resulted in CBs sometimes having to play out of position and to adjust to many different partners on both wings
The good news:
- Skrtel found a new level as a player and had his best season at the club.
Mixed bag:
- Sakho showed his huge promise as well as his erratic side. He is individually stronger than Agger, but the partnership with Skrtel doesn't work too well (1 clean sheet in 17 games together says it all).
- Toure has partially replaced the leadership qualities of Carra, but also undermined his contribution by some comical errors.
- Mignolet has won the trust of his defenders by his shot-stopping ability (as opposed to Reina's last couple of seasons), but hasn't commanded the penalty area well enough, leaving his defenders guessing whenever a high cross comes in.
The defensive puzzle is clearly missing some pieces. And some pieces look redundant. As Carra said on MNF a few days ago, it's clear that Rodgers is not the biggest fan of Agger. His lack of speed and only average physicality means that even a slightest positional mistake results in a total defensive breakdown. One move and he is out of the picture. I am sorry to say it, but if Agger ever was a world-class defender, he is not any more and it's probably better for everyone if leaves for a less ambitious team where he can still play the leading role.
I think Skrtel is clearly staying. Despite some mistakes he's been magnificent this season overall and he has earned his place in the team. Obviously Sakho is staying and lets hope he can polish his rough edges a bit and settle down better next season. Toure might stay or go or finish his career – either way it's not going to make much difference as he is a bit-part player at this point anyway. In any case, I wouldn't say this has been a lost season for our defense – before last summer we feared that all 4 of our CBs (Skrtel, Agger, Carra and Coates) needed to be replaced. After this season we have 2 pieces of the puzzle to work with and a potential 3rd in Ilori, now we need to add 1-2 more to make it all work as a unit.
We've been linked to a few CBs ahead of the transfer window:
Steven Caulker RCB, 22 (Cardiff)
Dejan Lovren RCB, 24 (Southampton)
Martin Hinteregger LCB, 21 (Salzburg)
Jan Vertonghen LCB/LB, 27 (Spurs)
Kyriakos Papadopulos RCB, 21 (Schalke)
Look at the list above: who among this lot could take our central defense to a new level?
I think Caulker seems like a no-brainer from a cost/benefit perspective: young, physical, tough, with good leadership qualities (already the captain at 22), will go for cheap from a relegated team. I think if we are looking for an understudy/competition to both Skrtel and Sakho, he is an ideal candidate. However I doubt he will take our defensive organization to the new level – at 22, coming to a new team, he will not tell Skrtel what to do or tear into Johnson after he loses concentration.
Lovren seems to me like a very good, quiet move. It was impressive how quickly he became the defensive leader at Southampton and his partnership with Fonte is arguably one of the top 5 in the land right now. He could have the intelligence and observation skills to complement Skrtel or Sakho's style well and create another strong defensive partnership here.
Hinteregger I don't know much about, but we are probably just monitoring his development at this point. Even if he grows into the new Hyypia, it would probably be better to buy him a few years later, not pluck him out of Austria at 21 and expect him to solve all our defensive problems.
Verthongen did not have the best of seasons and his value now is probably just about reasonable (whereas after last season Levi would have asked for the moon). Let's overlook the mediocre season (where he had to play half of the games at LB god knows why), the quality is still there and he is entering his prime years at 27. I think he is exactly the kind of player who could transform our defense and bring a new level of calmness, class and consistency.
Papadopulous is a long-term target and his value is also in the "reasonable" territory following a long injury layoff. But I think his chances to come here are more hurt by Skrtel's resurgence. They are both RCBs, fairly similar in playing style and as a younger player, and coming from another league to boot, Papadopulous would not be able to show his leadership qualities he is famous for.
Let's also not forget about Ilori and Wisdom who might be coming back from their loans. That's another reason why I feel buying a younger CB now is not the top priority; I'd rather buy a mature master who could teach those kids how to defend.
So from this list I would definitely mark Vertonghen as my #1 priority and Lovren just below. I would buy Caulker if the price is good and depending on how Ilori and Wisdom are progressing, whether one of them or both will be brought back to the club and require playing time. I would also look at more experienced CBs from around other leagues to give us more options besides Vertonghen and Lovren. I didn't see any stories linking us with him, but, for instance, Mehdi Benatia from Roma could also fit the same profile.
