Why you don't mess with Skrtel..

[Gary25]

Love that.
Skrtel's always one of the first to congratulate whoever it is that scores for us, and it's like he's scored himself. Great team player and another top performance from him today.

 

[Fabio]

I hope we never sell him

He never complains and is a top professional on and off the pitch

Plus as you say, he celebrates like he's scored

 

[jon545660]

He looked every bit the captain against Blackburn no?

 

[Judge Jules]

Yes. I got the distinct impression that he was chuffed to bits to have been given the armband, which in itself is further proof of his commitment.

 

[Wizardry]

I like agger because he has the qualities I want in a defender. the reason I think agger is better is to me he seems the complete defender with ability on the deck and in the air. he also choses to position himself and snuff out danger rather than make well timed tackles which look great but have a greater margin for error. daniel seems naturally gifted to me whereas skrtel has had to work to improve, now skrtel has improved beyond all recognition and is clearly player of the season.

he (skrtel) is strong, quick and is now diving in less and less but I can't help but notice his form had dipped a little with the reintroduction of carra (maybe because he was/is being arsed to play on the left to accomadate the vice captain) so I think martin's imperious form has at least been 'helped' playing alongside agger. together I think they are the best centre back pair in the league, included the manu and city centre backs.

this is just an opinion though, and others may prefer skrtel because he has the qualities THEY want in a defender. skrtel is an ever present, he is very strong on the ball and he is not afraid to dive into a tackle and more importantly he is improving season on season. excellent qualities in a centre back. each to their own.

See, you go back to when Skrtel first came into the team he was the dogs bollocks; got lauded as a fantastic purchase and people said maybe, if Agger could stay fit, the two of them would be a good partnership. Skrtel's partner at the time was Sami and they looked fantastic together. Then Rafa rested Hyppia for a while and Skrtel found himself next to Carra - all of a sudden he was a liability; no brains; diving in and getting caught out.

This is the first season that he's had a consistent run without Carra next to him and suddenly people are asking "where did he come from? how did he get so good?".

He was always that good but got unsettled by having someone with no passing ability and a penchant for giving people an absolute bollocking standing next to him.

I hear where JJ is coming from because, as KHL well knows, I was critical of Agger's passing for the first two years of his time here. It was utter rubbish when he hit it more than 20 yards but people kept going on about his ability on the ball - as Jules said it was all style with no substance.

Having said that he's now got some substance to support the style and I think he's the better passer of the two of them. I'd want Skrtel there in a tight situation cause I don't think he'd ever get bullied off the ball whereas Agger can be overpowered a little. I personally think that Skrtel is the better defender - reads the game pretty well, tackles with venom, great pace and far better in the air than Daniel. The Dane, however, does more with the ball - recently - than Skrtel and can glide through the defense where Martin is more agricultural and less effective in that area.

 

[Judge Jules]

That's the best summary of this well-worn argument that I've ever read.

 

[the_khl]

I think's Wiz's post is good one. Don't agree with everything but fair points.

One thing I really can't agree with is Skrtel being 'far better in the air'. Not only are they both not that good in the air but Agger has recently turned two games for us within minutes through very decent assisting/goal bound headers.

And I'm not sure about the 'reads the game well' part either, as he's positional sense always has been my biggest concern with him. I'd say Agger is easily the better reader of the game and their skills (or lack of) in the air are pretty similiar.

 

[Modo]

Pretty spot on K.

 

[spider-Neil]

I like wiz post, but it seems a little harsh on carra.

 

[themn]