Skrtel

This topic contains 25 replies, has 14 voices, and was last updated by  Paxman 8 years, 5 months ago.

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  • #673474

    Redman1892
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    I have been watching Martin closely this year and for me he is the problem with our defence. He is always on the back foot and constantly backing off players. He is turned inside out by any fleet footed attacker and ends up either fouling them, losing them or falling over. The rest of the defence don’t know whether to stick or twist as they aren’t sure where he is going to be. Sakho might make the odd mistake but he attacks everything that comes near him, pushing out of defence at the first sign of an attack and getting to the ball or man a lot further up the pitch. In the Spurs game on 3 occasions I was screaming at him to attack the ball, one from a slightly short pass that if his instinct wasn’t to go backwards he would have won easily. We are also so concerned with thinking about who should play alongside him, we don’t seem to consider that he should be replaced. It might not be a coincidence that our defence has been awful for the last few years and the only constant is Skrtel.

    #673621

    NotoriousBingo
    Participant
    • :

    He has been our best defender for years now, perhaps you should go to a game and shout at him.
    I would understand you complaining about Lovren who has not played a good game since he came to Anfield but not Skrtel.
    I would though like to get Howedes for the backline, I think he has the right mentality to succeed at Anfield and he is looking for a move.
    The way I see it is that Skrtel is a very fine defender but there are better ones out there but only after we have gotten a better defender we can think about Skrtel not being in the first eleven.

    ps. Im pretty sure that our defense has looked shady in the last few years because of Rodgers, not because our players are duds.

    #673711

    gingerlfc
    Participant
    • :

    Skrtel has looked dodgy this season so far and perhaps that’s down to our defensive organisation or playing alongside Lovren. He really does need to up his game but the good thing is we know how good he can be. Hopefully, Klopp with a better defensive structure can bring the best out of him again.

    #674017

    Redman1892
    Participant
    • :

    I don’t agree bingo and I’m not sure why shouting at him at a game will change that. Skrtel has been our only ever present defender for years but the years he has we’ve been awful at the back. And his backtracking and poor decision making predates Rodgers. I do get why people want to defend him but whenever anyone runs at him he looks suspect. I rate Sakho ahead of Skrtel. I have only seen Lovren playing next to him and that’s my point. Lovren at Saints and before was a good defender and hasn’t become a liability overnight.

    #674038
    WalterWhite
    WalterWhite
    Blocked
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    Hopefully this is Skrtels last season and we replace him next summer with a top defender.

    #674053

    NotoriousBingo
    Participant
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    @redman1892 lol

    I was joking about the shouting part… but anyways I agree with you, I rate Sakho higher, I think he can become one of the very best defenders out there.
    But there is no way I would tear into Skrtel, he bleeds for us on the pitch but currently we are far away from having established defenders at the club.

    Lovren doesnt cut it, Skrtel is questionable and Sakho is still inexperienced. Thats just three defenders for two positions. We got four strikers for one position atm. There is not enough balance in the squad, I voiced this concern of mine earlier this summer, stated that we needed another defender. A leader not a young gun that will fade into oblivion like so many have.

    #674062

    gingerlfc
    Participant
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    Kolo will be gone in the summer with Lovren closely behind if he doesn’t change his ways. I don’t know if we can afford wholesale changes to our defence in terms of stability. We must defo buy one top class centreback though.

    #674083

    Redman1892
    Participant
    • :

    Fair enough bingo. I have just noticed more so this year and thinking back to previous years that he always seems to be playing catch up against attackers. As I said, I didn’t see him attack one ball at the weekend and seems to only run in one direction. I agree he has put his body on the line for us but that isn’t enough anymore. He doesn’t seem to read the game as he should and gets outfoxed far too regularly. Sakho looks ungainly but he is always attacking the ball, always closing down.

    #674092

    NotoriousBingo
    Participant
    • :

    Yes but I would wager a bet that that is something Skrtel is being told to do, he is supposed to be the cover while Sakho attacks the ball. If they both get instructed to attack the team would open up space for the opposition.

    Him and Sakho are the only defenders that I think are worthy of being in the team, I would love to see Howedes come in as I really rate him, been on my wishlist for the last three seasons. I think he has better organisation skills but he is not an attacking defender that goes after the ball, he likes to be the last man if everything else fails.

    Carra used to be the commander, nobody has stepped up into that role since his retirement and I doubt Skrtel has it in him but if we could use him like we did when he was playing alongside Carra I would keep him at the club for the next few years. Where he actually went for the ball instead of watching the line.

    #674125

    Redman1892
    Participant
    • :

    Could be right. I honestly don’t remember him ever being the one to attack the ball but I hadn’t overtly noticed him backtracking quite so much as I have of late. If we’re talking our best defenders I’d have both Sakho and Clyne above Skrtel.

    #674197
    Rob Fort Worth TX
    Rob Fort Worth TX
    Participant
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    The problem has been with our entire defence not just Skrtel. Klopp will first of all make us hard to beat with the personnel he has at his disposal. Over time he will replace certain individuals to upgrade problem areas. Skrtel has clearly been our best defender since Carra/Sami , no question as all, but I do agree with your assessment that he often gets too close to the first attacker and is then turned inside out. I do not know why he does because one on one at the correct first defender distance (arms length in the defensive third) 9/10 he comes out the winner. Over exuberance maybe? Frustration? Over confident on winning the ball? I don’t know, but as of now, he needs to stay in the team because his successes during the game totally outweigh the negatives and with Klopp here now we may just see a more tighter, more error free unit.

    #674386
    Bob-Notts
    Bob-Notts
    Participant
    • :

    Personally I think sakho is our best defender but gets a lot of bad press because he can look at little gangly, for me he doesn’t make many mistakes and hardly gives the ball away (backed by stats).

    Martin on the other hand is a good defender who makes critical mistakes. That isn’t because he can’t defend but because he backs off and backs off players which can lead to actual goals. personally IF he could rectify this part of his game and a couple of other things there won’t be a need to replace him. Get another top defender in and sakho and Martin to compete.

    I don’t like to vilify Rodgers as he gets enough unfair press, however I don’t rate lovren and wonder what might have been if he given llori the same confidence (regardless of whether he’s currently playing for villa or not). Toure isn’t going to be around for ever …

    #674398

    Redman1892
    Participant
    • :

    Thanks for the replies Rob and Bob. I don’t agree he’s been our best defender for years or rather he probably has but I think we have come to think of his level of defending as acceptable. And I think now, that in Sakho and Clyne, he is flanked by two better defenders which will highlight his shortcomings. I am not suggesting we replace him immediately or drop him, but he is the weak link at present and I would suggest has always been someone the opposition could target and force into silly errors. Bob, the way he was backing off on Sunday was incredible. I take Bingo’s point that he is probably asked to be the one to sit back, but at times it was clearly the wrong decision, not just marginal. I’m not sure what all the fuss about Illori is tbh. I’ve not seen much of him but he hasn’t really shone at senior level anywhere he’s been.

    #674401
    redrob
    redrob
    Participant
    • :

    As someone on here says -a lot of our defensive problems emanated from BRs setup. Fullbacks push on to attack and support leaving defence exposed and more easily isolated. BR turned Agger into a suspect defender and also Skrtel. He wanted them to be fast and able to recover the mistakes of his setup. The 2014 season we came second but conceeded many is a classic case. Both Rafa, Kenny and now hopefully Klopp understood the need not to conceed goals first and acore goals second. BR only found a semblance of solidity by plugging gaps with 3 Cbs but then we lacked numbers elsewhere.
    Still unsure of Sakho as he tends to play others into trouble or put them under pressurebunneccessarily. The more I look at SGs famous slip the more I’m convinced Sakho messed up unneccessarily !!!

    #674527

    Paxman
    Participant
    • :

    I think Redman might have something. Skrtle has been our best defender but in a poor defence, his decision making has been suspect, and maybe that transfers to his CB partner central defence is all about partnerships. I disagree about Lovren, nobody become a bad defender overnight and he was fantastic for Southampton, maybe a Sakho Lovren partnership would work well.

    Redrob – BR did not turn Agger into a bad defender Aggers body was shot, he admitted it himself, he stated he could no longer cope with the power and pace of the Premiership, yes BR made mistakes but lets not blame him for thing that were clearly not him.

    #674581

    Megadeth
    Participant
    • :

    Skrtel, for me, has always been wildly inconsistent … and I don’t mean that in a “good game, bad game” kind of way, more a “good season, bad season” kind of way. He either has a fantastic campaign, or a rather dreadful one. He only really seems to shine when the whole squad does. I honestly think at best he should be a third choice centre back for a team aiming for the top four. I don’t feel he has any real leadership skills either, which is something our defence is seriously lacking, yet a fair few people I talk to seem to think he should be the captain ahead of Hendo.

    It’s like that Martial goal, everyone’s going on about how amazing that run was, but I’m sorry, he basically just ran at Skrtel, didn’t even control the ball that well since it bounced off Skrtel, back into his path, and he finished it nicely. That’s all it was, a nice finish. Skrtel should’ve at least attempted to deal with it, he just kept backing off and backing off until it gave Martial the cheap benefit of the ball simply bouncing off him … why? Indecisiveness, and a defender has to be a good decision maker above all else.

    I think we should be focusing on finding a partner for Sakho, to be honest … someone a bit more in the Agger mould, if such a man exists.

    #674671

    Paxman
    Participant
    • :

    Totally agree with the Martial goal, but what I also see a lot from Skrtle is he has the chance to make a challenge outside the box but he backs off, and then once player is in the box you can’t tackle because if it is miss timed then it is a penalty, not sure about needing an Agger type alongside Sakho as watching him play for France he is that type of ball playing center back, I think we need more of a Hyypia type to partner him.

    #674716
    gabara
    gabara
    Participant
    • :

    Lorven tried too hard to impress instead of keeping things simple. He tried to show off against West Ham and was caught out. Against Carlisle he was totally at a loss or who to mark it was almost comical. Watch Lorven closely.

    #674731

    Megadeth
    Participant
    • :

    “I think we need more of a Hyypia type to partner him.”

    Well hey, we all need a Hyypia …

    What I mean by saying “he needs an Agger type” isn’t so much the ball playing aspect, but the calmer, classier aspect. While Sakho can pass a ball, it shouldn’t be his priority, he should be designated as the defender who just goes out and attacks everything. When he does get the ball at his feet, if he can pass it on, that’s fantastic, but personally I like his monstrous attributes more in a sense that I don’t think we’d find anyone better suited for that job.

    Skrtel’s almost in between in this sense, he’s neither a beast nor a classy centre back, this is why I see him more as back up. He can just fill a spot if the main guy is out.

    So I’d try to find a suited partner for Sakho who can be designated as the “mopping up” kind of back, this is why I say Agger as I found him rather trustworthy on the ball as well as a decent defensive (and attacking) threat.

    #675010
    JogonKity
    JogonKity
    Participant
    • :

    Skrtel isn’t a bad player, his problem is that he isn’t a consistent player. Most of the time he is a competent defender and goes about his work without incident. The problems occur mainly from the fact he doesn’t read a game particularly well and gets himself into trouble. Ironically thats when he useualy looks like a top class defender, as he tries to rectify his mistake. Sometimes he gets away with it , most times recently he doesn’t and having Lovren next to him only highlights some of the poor defending. Players, whether attackers or defenders, hold and shirt pull these days but for Skrtel thats his first thought, regardless of whether he needs to or not. Most of the time he loses out because he is more committed to shirt pulling that attacking the ball. Without a reliable defensive partner he will always be a liability more times than he is an asset, which is a shame as he isn’t that bad on his day.

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