This has been bothering me all summer and I can't say that the pending signing of Dejan Lovren is doing much to alleviate my fears for the defensive part of our game. First things first, I think most of us realise it is going to be tough to score 100 goals again next season without Luis Suarez in the side, sure we might still score a bunch but I don't foresee us hitting the heights of last season. So with that in mind, it's clear things have to tighten up a the back, in fact I have read numerous posts from good posters speculating about a gameplan that involves more defensive solidity allied to the exciting group of attacking players that we still have at the club. Makes perfect sense to me and it should be achievable BUT I think we will have defensive problems again this season.
Starting with the centre-halves. Just about every top Premier League club have a CB who is an out and out number one, an absolute boss of a player. The mancs have had a bunch of them, Staam, Vidic, Pallister, even Ferddinand fits the bill, City. City have Kompany, Chelsea have Terry. spurs even had a very good one in Ledley King before his injuries kicked in. Typically they are very strong in the air, dominant against most and able to match up to the best headers of a ball in the country (ie. your Carroll's, Fellaini's etc), but are also able to match up well on the deck against the quicker, more nimble players you see in the Premier League. They also tend to be vocal players who keep full-backs in check, ball at midfielders and aren't afraid to have a pop at the keeper if its necessary.
Our problem is we don't have a number one anymore. I can see lots of Gary Cahill's (in fact we are about to buy another one of them in Lovren) but we don't have a John Terry.
Just to break them down:
Skrtel - he has had a fair crack at being our number one defender and t be fair to him, Kenny's full season he was fantastic, best in the league behind Kompany for me that season. Problem is he plays like a striker for me, and by that I don't mean as an actual striker (despite his 7 goals) but he runs hot and cold, his form fluctuates the way a forward's does. He can be an absolute behemoth for 6-7 games, unbeatable, dominant in the air, reads the game, solid on the deck and plays like the best in the league and then BANG he will string together 3 or 4 shockers. It's no coincidence he has always looked a better player when he had Carra barking in his ear. I love him when he's on form but I think he simply has too many errors in him, particularly in a set up where he plays so hi all the time.
Sakho - I guess this is the man that Brendan sees as our number one defender, he's got the physical stamp you would want from a number one, big strong lad and pretty quick as well, he is a REAL defender in many ways but somehow I'm not convinced, want to be but I watch him a few times in the World Cup and he looked the weak link n that French team for me. He looks to have some of the same traits as Skrtel ie. he is rash at times, he goes to ground early, can over commit and like Skittles is also prone to the odd poor decision when he has the ball. And while he seems to be pretty good in the air. Don't think he is our best header of a ball and he should be. Is he a talker? An organiser? I haven't seen that so far. I know quite a few in here think he will be the main man but for £22 million I'm hoping to see a lot more from him next season.
The two above are the only candidates for your number one centre-half IMHO. The others are all number 2 players for me.
Agger - Always liked him but have always felt he was the most over-rated player at the club by a lot of the fan-base. And by overrated i mean he often gets labelled as great when he is really just a good player. His composure and comfort on the ball can overshadow his defensive deficiencies ie. he is no better than average in the air, he struggles at set pieces (in terms of losing his man and consequently Goals) and he can be bullied (see the job Drogba did on him in the 07 Champions League Semi 1st leg). He is for me the consummate number 2 centre-half, very much a Carvhallo type (although not as good IMO) but the issue is (once again) no John Terry type to play next to him.
Lovren - I've watched a few vids on this lad since we were first linked and he looks a good player. Quick, nimble, likes to play on the front foot (not unlike Sakho and Skrtel in this respect) and he also looks like a talker and an organiser. similarly to Agger at 6'2 he doesn't look to be the best of headers but (like Dagger) he is a ball player who can bring it out and play a few passes as well. I uses the gaffer is looking at a potential Sakho-Lovren partnership but they are both lefties and its very rare to see that at the very top level.
The others - Funnily enough Toure was probably our best defender those first 5-6 games last season before his injury. He was winning his air share up top, kept it simple when he won it and provided the leadership and organisation that we were missing following Carragher's retirement. Unfortunately he wasn't quite the same player when he came back and in truth we probably could have done with him two years earlier. Coates has been back in this pre-season and he looked alright the other night, I think he is a good player, who knows maybe a better option than Sakho but you suspect he doesn't quite fit the Rodgers mould of a CB given that he isn't the quickest and is a bit slow on the turn for playing a high line press.
So what about the full-backs?
It's funny because I often read criticism of our full-backs last season and often the suggestion was that if we change them we wouldn't be letting in so many goals, they often copped more flack than the CBs (particularly Johnson) which was probably off the mark for me. Full-backs often need to be told what to do ie. when to press, when to tuck in, when to stand up. Not because they are stupid but because your centre-halves (and your keeper) have the best and fullest view of the pitch, they see (or should see) the big picture and being privileged with this view-point they should be telling everybody else what the fuc....k they should be doing and where they should be. Again I'm not sure we have this in the side since Carra retired.
Flanno - I really like Flanno at left-back. He is another proper defender but he is quite clever and canny for a youngster (been watching Carea I bet), he's strong and (for the most part) he makes up for his lack of pace with positional awareness. I would be happy enough to see him win the starting job In there this season. I'm not particularly excited by the idea of Bertrand coming in and the lad Moreno didn't especially do it for me, it felt like Brendan was trying to get a better ATTACKING player when what we really need is a back 5 who can defend first.
Jonno - he had a tough year didn't he, got pilloried on here that's for sure! Justified at times, others much less so I think. I still like him as a player and if he can get fit and stay fit he can still be the man at RB. Although I'm not sure what is going on with his contract situation? There hasn't been any talk of a new deal so perhaps he will be off close to transfer window.
Goal-keepers - I would agree that Mignolet was an upgrade on Pepe, or at least on the Reina of 2010-2012. Some of his shot stopping was fantastic and despite a shaky start he got better and more assertive when it came to coming for crosses and set pieces (I still think this aspect has to get better mind) but following the communication theme, I do not think he is the voice on the pitch that you need from your keeper. As I said before, best view of the pitch and usually the tallest bugger on it an all! There is also no denying that he is poor with the ball at his feet, certainly not the sweeper keeper we expected Brendan to go after. All in all I like him but still have some doubts. I think that first and foremost he needs competition and Brad Jones isn't it. I would actually keep Pepe this season and let them fight it out. Reina is a good pro so it can work. Don't think it will happen though. I was disappointed to hear that Vorm is going to Spurs, he would have been a very good option to come in as a competitive back up.
So In summary. I think we still have problems, I don't think the manager would agree mind. Centre-halves are all a out having the right partnership. Sami and Carra worked because Sami was first ball player and Carra was your consummate number 2 who was all about blocks, mop up tackles, reading the game well and diagnosing problems before they happened. He also happened to be a nasty bast...ard who hated losing and talked all game. I can't see a partnership back there that doesn't have it's issues and coupled with some doubts at GK and FB it does seem to me that we're spending a lot of money on attacking players when our struggles were all at the other end of the pitch last season.
Sorry it's a long one! Home alone and bored tonight (until the baby wakes up!)
« Last Edit: Jul 26, 2014 09:39:54 pm by Scottbot »
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