The Agger - Skrtel partnership: how good is it?

I know find Carragher shouting annoying it certainly does not help when he plays with Agger or Skyrtel but he will have to com ein if Agger is out.
Our back 5 including PEPE is top rate with Gerrard Lucas and Luis we have the making of a fantastic first x1.We also have some great youngsters so with 2 or 3 top signings in the summer we should improve again next season.

Would prefer to see Kelly or Coates instead of Carra if Im honest.

Carra in the team = lack of pace = deeper back line = less linkup with midfield = more hoofs.

I suppose one issue in a 3-5-2 with us would mean not having Glen/Enrique pushing forward as much, its a tough call. I personally would like to see us take more chances to score and be more aggresive as we really have nothing to lose now and everything to gain.

I really dont see Carra replacing Agger as weakening the back 4 because he lacks pace, what he lacks he makes up for in experience, when you face quality such as RVP or Walcott speed pales slightly because they are faster than most,

we play as a team so therefore there are players in front of the back four who should help restrict efforts from the opposition, defence starts from the front and filters back thru midfield,

Carra knows his pitch time will be restricted so he will want to make the most of his limited time, i hope he hangs around for another season yet because you just cant buy the experience he has, and you never know next season we could end up with no 19,and what a way for one of our legends to bow out, a premiership winners medal around his neck,

i would much rather have Carra alongside Martin at the back against RVP & co instead of young Coates who may be more liable to make a mistake than Carra, or changing the whole back line and weakening our defense as in a back 3,

Kenny will sort it out no doubt, but as long as we get the win it won't matter.

                    IKWT     YNWA

Looks like we will find out how good the partnership was, with a little luck Carra will cope, and the midfield and forwards will step up to the plate

Partnership's the best in the league this year, no question. They are such a good combination of grace and class (Agger) with power and aggression (Skrtel). We've always known how good Agger is, what is the most refreshing  is how good Skrtel has been, especially on the floor this season.

Some of his last ditch tackles, clearances off the line, or just slide tackles in general on some of the best players in the league have been fantastic. He really has been the best CB in the league for me, a little ahead of Kompany. He even gets goals now . Gutted to hear about Agger as well :/, hope he isn't out for too long.

Agger is injured. We should put Coates more often now. He needs to develop in the first team and deserves to be given some games in the league.
Agger and Skrtel are just great. They are something on which we can rely on now.

Bump.

Interesting reading, no?

In about a year, have we really gone downhill this far at the back? I mean you could argue we've gone from Skrtel and Agger dominating at the back for the next five years to a summer where we might be needing two top class centre backs...

Bump.

Interesting reading, no?

In about a year, have we really gone downhill this far at the back? I mean you could argue we've gone from Skrtel and Agger dominating at the back for the next five years to a summer where we might be needing two top class centre backs...

Is it two class players out of form then, or is it the fault of the "system"?

I still believe Agger and Skrtel are good defender's but they have definitely both suffered in a loss of form. With Carragher announcing his retirement plans and the fact that Coates is absolutley shocking we need to look into buying a top class defender. This is something I think FSG need to look into carefully regarding thier transfer policy. There is no point in buying a young up and coming prospect to develop at centre half for the first team. We already have that in Kelly once he has recovered from injury. It dosent hurt to invest in experience and proven quality once in a while and we do not need another dodgy south american flop like Paletta and Coates. Sami retiring a few years back and now Carragher, we havnt replaced such colosal figureheads at the back and it needs addresing in the summer urgently.

I still think that the Agger - Skrtel partnership is one of the best. We have simply moved their emphasis from defending to trying to set up the play. Our deep lying midfielders need to be more active in getting the ball and setting up the play. No other team in the Prem has their defence touch the ball or have as much possession as ours do...so i believe their lack of defensive form is due to the system and the added responsibility of setting up play from the back.
And also contrary to popular consensus on here, i dont believe Coates to be as bad a defender either.
I say sort out the system and let these boys get back to focusing on defending.

the days we had Hyypia, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel and Kyriagkos all fighting for a place in the team.

Now we only have Carra, Skrtel and Agger

Its all about horses for courses as they say... remember when Kyriagkos played his first few matches after we had Agger/Skrtel injured? There was alot of people saying he's too slow, not good enough, etc. Then he came into his own at teams like Bolton and Stoke coz he had the physicality to cope with their type of play.

Same now, Skrtel always used to be a bruiser and tough tackling centre back with Agger being the more graceful in possession, yet nowadays we expect Skrtel & Agger to look up and carry the ball out of defence once our central mids have been marked out of the game.
Carragher never invited pressure onto himself in defence and as we say he plays hoofball, what are we asking from him now? Our game play is getting slower and more predictable with each passing game.
I honestly believe that we need to play to these guys strenghts to get the best out of them and not fit square pegs into round holes.

How good ... at the moment ? ..... creaking.

I don't know what Agger and Skrtel's new roles as ball players has to do with their recent inability to defend.

Starting play by bringing the ball out of the back should have no impact on Agger marking his man on a corner or marking a man running at him with the ball.

I don't know what Agger and Skrtel's new roles as ball players has to do with their recent inability to defend.

Starting play by bringing the ball out of the back should have no impact on Agger marking his man on a corner or marking a man running at him with the ball.

Possibly down to the coaching, well know Kenny had Steve Clarke working with them last season, who has been working with them this season.

That could be the difference.

Agger-Skrtel is a top combination and I feel surprise the combination have not performed well together as they usually do. Both are top defenders and hold their own with their abilities. Sad it hasn't work out with Brendan in charge, yet. Although, i'm looking forward to Martin Kelly being given the chance to play centre back. The boy has the tools to be a top defender and player.

Possibly down to the coaching, well know Kenny had Steve Clarke working with them last season, who has been working with them this season.

That could be the difference.

Hear this a lot HR and probably true, but wouldn't you think that one of the supposed best partnerships in the world and 2 guys in the prime of their careers and 2 international players of vast experience would just go to sh*te because a coach left? Like the both of them completely forgot how to play the game?

Hell if the coaches are that influential and make that big of an impact we should just find the best in the world, pay them whatever they want because then just buy lower quality players because good coaching can make them great.

It's is possible that the 4-4-2 last year along with a purple patch made the partnership look slightly better that what reality is. I am sure a different formation/manager/defensive coach has also affected  them, but it appears to me that both of them have forgotten how to play and that can't all be down to the coach.

Both of them are unsettled because Lucas hasn't got back to form yet . Lucas made the difference and they were confident with him in the midfield .He was always breaking up play and Agger or Skrtel would clear nicely away .

I don't know what Agger and Skrtel's new roles as ball players has to do with their recent inability to defend.

Starting play by bringing the ball out of the back should have no impact on Agger marking his man on a corner or marking a man running at him with the ball.

One of the main problems defenders at the highest levels have is mental tiredness as they have to concentrate for 90mins. Possibly the extra problem of having to distribute the ball and spend longer with the ball has affected their concentration levels leading to more errors and lapses in concentration. 

Both of them are unsettled because Lucas hasn't got back to form yet . Lucas made the difference and they were confident with him in the midfield .He was always breaking up play and Agger or Skrtel would clear nicely away .

Probably this is the case along with the idea the gaffer wants them to get more forward....sticky situation here..this year we are doing a decent job of scoring goals but can't defend, just the opposite of last year.

Hear this a lot HR and probably true, but wouldn't you think that one of the supposed best partnerships in the world and 2 guys in the prime of their careers and 2 international players of vast experience would just go to sh*te because a coach left? Like the both of them completely forgot how to play the game?

Hell if the coaches are that influential and make that big of an impact we should just find the best in the world, pay them whatever they want because then just buy lower quality players because good coaching can make them great.

It's is possible that the 4-4-2 last year along with a purple patch made the partnership look slightly better that what reality is. I am sure a different formation/manager/defensive coach has also affected  them, but it appears to me that both of them have forgotten how to play and that can't all be down to the coach.

The style we're playing under Brendan isn't helping them, fullbacks are pushed forward and the players are told to spread out and find space. Its affected both, but Skrtel particularly. When the ball is lost the centre-halves are put in positions that in a more compact set-up wouldn't find themselves in as the midfield would be preventing that happening. The problems they are having with big strong players is that those players are getting the ball early in plenty of space (see Benteke, Lukaku goals) and that's exactly what they want.

There is a real lack of balance in the side between defence and attack. And its clearly something Rogers needs to get a grip of.  Putting two players in the middle of that midfield who screen the defence properly would help. Despite Gerrard and Lucas (even though not full 100% yet) being exceptional players for this club at the moment they aren't doing the job of screening the defence and covering fullbacks who are getting further up the pitch.

Both of them are unsettled because Lucas hasn't got back to form yet . Lucas made the difference and they were confident with him in the midfield .He was always breaking up play and Agger or Skrtel would clear nicely away .

Probably this is the case along with the idea the gaffer wants them to get more forward....sticky situation here..this year we are doing a decent job of scoring goals but can't defend, just the opposite of last year.

I agree with both of these items.

Another part of the problem is that we are relying on Downing and Hendo to be creative players in the final 3rd, but they are both better suited to playing a counter attacking game than a possession based game.  This means that we rarely win the 1v1 battles on the wing and force the oppositions CB's to shift to cover the player coming in off the wing.  Rather, we rely too heavily on Suarez to be our primary creative force.  This has been less of a problem recently due to the form of the Suarez/Sturridge partnership, but if Luis is forced to play as our lone CF then we need another creative player in the side who can create opportunities for Luis rather than him having to create and score them himself....

The problem that this creates for our defenders is that Agger and Skrtel (along with Johno and Enrique) end up pushing higher up the pitch and trying to help create on the attacking side of the ball which leaves us very susceptible to leaking goals on the counter. 

I still rate the Agger/Skrtel partnership very highly.  They are both big, strong, athletic, and good on the ball.  In my opinion, we just do not have the right mix of players in midfield and attack to allow some of our defensive players to concentrate on defending. 

However, with Carra retiring and Coates looking far from an ideal backup we certainly need to be looking at a top class CB in the summer to push Martin and Danny and keep them on their toes!