Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool > Crystal Palace)

Have they only played once with each other Vs Spurs away last season?

My preference would be Can and Sakho, but it's never gonna happen, so I would've been happy with Ilori and Sakho, but we farmed Ilori out

Can? at center back?

that would be a disaster. his defending is suspect, he stands square on, is slow on the turn and ball watches

So you're not sure if he can do the job, but give it to him any way?  I think, in his short stint out, Henderson has shown he is missed. 

Oh I'm sure he can do the job, just wasn't sure how good his communication is. He captained France didn't he?

Might be alone in thinking this, might not be. But personally I would go for Sakho and Gomez. Lovren and Skrtel have been a complete liability of late and neither of them deserve to play.

Gomez has made a steady start but could do a lot better if he's played in his natural position alongside our best CB.

Might be alone in thinking this, might not be. But personally I would go for Sakho and Gomez. Lovren and Skrtel have been a complete liability of late and neither of them deserve to play.

Gomez has made a steady start but could do a lot better if he's played in his natural position alongside our best CB.

If we'd have kept Ilori we could have had two tall, ball playing CBs. Nice work Brendan.

I agree with this
How skrtel continues to get a free pass every week and get selected is beyond me
Taking sakho out of the regular premier league team selection has been a disaster
Agree Lovren has had some pretty dire moments this season but perhaps alongside sakho might be a better partnership for him?
Have to try something different in the league as skrtel and Lovren just hasn't worked consistently at all

Skrtel gets a free ride because he's not a Brendan signing, and also people think that a skin head with tattoos must be a good defender, and his hard man reputation precedes the fact he's actually rubbish and is a massive liability. I don't know why he signed a new contract because as far as I'm concerned he's not much use to Liverpool.

Skrtel gets a free ride because he's not a Brendan signing, and also people think that a skin head with tattoos must be a good defender, and his hard man reputation precedes the fact he's actually rubbish and is a massive liability. I don't know why he signed a new contract because as far as I'm concerned he's not much use to Liverpool.

I guess it to do with credibility and the continued success he has had...

For every good game he has had put a £1 coin in a bucket - for every bad one remove a £1 coin. What are you left with, well in Skrtles case it would be full, in oppose to Lovren who would owe you money...

Still not convinced Sakho is the answer to our defensive frailties, but he certainly deserves the chance to prove he is.
 

Still not convinced Sakho is the answer to our defensive frailties, but he certainly deserves the chance to prove he is.
 

Will be a complete mystery to me if he doesn't start today.

Still not convinced Sakho is the answer to our defensive frailties, but he certainly deserves the chance to prove he is.
 

I agree, he's not, but certainly a huge improvement over our first choice CB's. As mentioned by a few posters (HScRed1, AmericanRed etc), the defensive frailties lies more in the tactical approach and balance of the team.

Can? at center back?

that would be a disaster. his defending is suspect, he stands square on, is slow on the turn and ball watches

He played there a few times for Leverkusen, played there at times for U21's, and obviously played there once for us. He is raw but familiar in that position, but no way useless.

With a bit of leadership and guidance from Sakho, Can could very well become a beast of a CB. He is physically imposing, has a good standing and last ditch tackle, has aerial presence combined with a decent head, and in time, his positioning as a CB will improve if played regularly.  What would really set Can apart from the majority of these tedious generic center backs is his ball carrying, his composure to dribble out of danger will be a huge asset. Another thing too, he is decent at long passes, very Sammer esque don't you think?

Sakho formidable today, great performance by the big man. Keep it up.

Imagine Sakho playing under a manager with real faith in him?

Again, showed why he is by far the best CB at the club.

One chink of light in otherwise perpetual darkness at this club.

My MOTM

Beast

Wow Sakho is better than Lovren. No sh*t.

Honestly I feel like BR owes us an apology for waiting this long to make the change... Or having to make a change in the first place. It's not like Skrtel should've been the first centre back on the team sheet. Sakho is by far and away the best we have.

He was excellent in his 1 on 1 defending won every single aerial dual and put in a number of crucial tackles albeit in dangerous positions in and around the 18.

I was concerned though by his lack of positional awareness at times and he seemed to be getting caught way out of the defensive line there were moments in the match when he was sitting ten metres from our own half and Can and Skrtel were a good 15 metres behind leaving Nowrich players with acres of space. It almost cost us the  point if you think back to the Matt Jarvis miss at 1-1.

The Scouse Sakho - https://vine.co/v/eUUFpWLKXgY

Had a part to play  in respect of both Villa goals.

Had a part to play  in respect of both Villa goals.

Yup not his best game yesterday, doesn't seem to matter who plays in defence it's always the issues which suggests the defensive coaching at LFC is leaving a lot to be desired.

Although to be fair there was not much he could do about the second goal apart from maybe give away a penalty. Great cross and Gestede had the run on Sakho who had to attack from a standing position.

Very average yesterday and far from the "best cb at the club" some seemed to have branded him with. Disagree could have done a lot more for the second goal with better anticipation and positioning to begin with.

I know had it been our #6 people would have been in his player thread calling him all names under the sun.

@TheAnfieldChat: Mamadou Sakho: 'Brendan Rodgers made me feel like a caged lion'.

@TheAnfieldChat: Mamadou Sakho: 'Brendan Rodgers made me feel like a caged lion'.

Seemed to have a lot of caged lions at this club. Probably not the only player we have relieved to see the back of him.