12 Mar 2016 20:07:39
not lfc related but English football is suffering a complete lack of quality centre backs, god help us when we come up against any half decent striker in the euros, latest example lukaku's 1st goal vs Chelsea, bearing in mind we were urged to sign cahill in janauary, that's 1 hell of a bullet missed.
12 Mar 2016 21:13:09
Not even sure whose our best at the moment, dread to think it's smalling. For the euros I wouldn't go with jagielka, I reckon it's Cahill and smalling for me, even though both aren't great but for me less dodgy than stones. I think dier should start in the middle of midfield. Worried about our defence to be honest.
13 Mar 2016 00:21:35
its a struggle to name 2 quality English centre halfs as none off the top clubs centre halfs are English, smalling and cahill would be the worst duo since hale and pace!
13 Mar 2016 07:29:48
Smalling 1st choice CB for England? LOL
Thats another disappointing campaign for England right there. If the likes of Wilshere, Rooney (on current form), Cleverly, Jones, Milner, Chamberlain, walcott and Cahill are anywhere near that England team, then then they are getting kicked out in the first round itself. Drinkwater, Vardy, Butland, Stones, Albrighton all deserve a chance on current form. But we all know what clueless Hodgson is going to do.
13 Mar 2016 07:57:31
Joe Gomez would have been a good shout to give him the experience as a back up. I think the lad looks really promising and I hope for him and our club he comes back well from his injury and goes on to achieve his potential.
13 Mar 2016 13:23:59
Stones deserves it on current form, hadn't he been dropped? Not sure why saying smalling is the best is worth a LOl, can't see whose better tapper the moment, and that's a worry for English CBs rather than a compliment to him, he's brash and his positional sense is poor.
{Ed001's Note - Jagielka?}
13 Mar 2016 13:39:54
not for me ed001 he would get destroyed by any half decent striker.
{Ed001's Note - so do Smalling and Stones, and Cahill for that matter. There are no top class defenders that England can pick. Jagielka is a much better defender than any other options for England. He is better than you are giving him credit for, his struggles come from playing for a hopeless buffoon of a manager.}
13 Mar 2016 15:35:06
I actually think that is what is causing stones loss of form myself ed001, we also have a hopeless buffoon of a manager in charge of the national team.
{Ed001's Note - but he has always played the same way, it is just that he got hyped up because he is English. He is simply not that good at defending, yet. His positional sense is appalling and his tendency to overplay at every opportunity has been found out. Previously no one targeted him as you usually expect youngsters to take less chances, rather than more. Now people are wise to it, they get after him, so he has become a liability.}
13 Mar 2016 16:23:29
good point ed001, but as you have pointed out he is managed by a man who has no idea about defending, so how is stones going to iron out these weaknesses that are currently in his game? also do you think that because we want defenders that are comfortable on the ball, we are losing sight of the fact there main job is to defend first and foremost and they are losing the art of this crucial skill, Flanagan for example is a defender 1st, silky skills on the ball a distant 2nd with him and he is all the better for it.
{Ed001's Note - I would agree completely with that, Stones is not going to iron them out under Booby, so I would avoid picking him or moving to buy him as he might never become a good player.
That is exactly the problem, it is all about what they can do on the ball. There is no real reason players can't do both, except for poor coaching with a lack of focus on defensive positioning.}
13 Mar 2016 16:39:42
I was wondering about the coaching, thanks ed001 it was nice to have this discussion with you, plenty there to ponder on, have a good evening mate.
{Ed001's Note - speaking of coaching, did you check out the LFC training bible I posted up on the site?}
13 Mar 2016 17:35:32
Stones needs to sit down and watch back Hansen in his pomp. The perfect blend of playing from the back and 'get rid' when required.
If a manager moans at a defender for clearing his lines under pressure then something is very wrong with the game.
13 Mar 2016 19:56:44
ed001 send a copy of the training bible to hodgson and Martinez, love the section on covering the full back, nice work.
{Ed001's Note - it is the club's official handbook for academies and affiliated schools.}
14 Mar 2016 12:36:44
I'd go with Jagielka and Shawcross.
14 Mar 2016 18:43:05
shawcross would be a red card waiting to happen, plus he is an awfull defender, if you want him why not wes morgan?