03 Jun 2015 23:13:48
Just seen Skrtel being messed about with contract ed and he's refused it. Us this true and do you think it be resolved?
{Ed001's Note - being messed about or just not agreed a deal? He has turned the offer down, now it is up to the two parties to either agree something else or figure out some other solution. It is very rare deals are done immediately, just have to hope no one starts a public airing of the details this time. The club would like him to have a more incentive based contract this time.}
03 Jun 2015 23:46:13
Can you see him leaving the club Ed?
{Ed001's Note - I really wouldn't be surprised if he left, it wouldn't be the first time he has held the club to ransom over a contract, but this time we have 40 other centrebacks now, most better than him, to cover if he leaves. I just don't see where else he could go, he is on huge wages for a centre back and he is not very good. Mind if David Luiz can fetch 50m.....
Seriously though, I think he will have to accept our terms as there are not exactly a queue of big clubs waiting to try and pick him up now.}
04 Jun 2015 00:05:36
Thanks for that Ed!
{Ed001's Note - welcome mate.}
04 Jun 2015 01:46:56
In all seriousness Ed I agree Skrtel is not a great defender but I see it as he is the best of a bad bunch? For me I don't see any of our centre backs as being as reliable as him Sakho looks like he's going to fall over every time he recieves the ball, Toure looks like he's tredding water when he runs and Lovren makes mistake after mistake. I'm not including Can in this equation as I believe he will be a midfield player next season so if no Skrtel who would be your centre back pair or even trio depending on system?
{Ed001's Note - Lovren makes mistake after mistake? He got off to a bad start, but he was mostly playing with Skrtel, impossible to play alongside him. Sakho is twice the player, not sure what on earth you are talking about there, just sounds like you have never actually seen him play. Toure is much quicker than Skrtel so again that is just nonsense. Any of them are better than Skrtel.}
04 Jun 2015 03:29:31
Hope someone comes and frees us from this severely poor defender.
04 Jun 2015 04:54:05
Woudnt be disappointed in the slightest if he was to leave. But as he seems to be the key and rock of BR's defence, I expect he will sign another high priced contract to see out his career with us. Unfortunately.
04 Jun 2015 07:51:21
Ah don't be too harsh. I like Skerts, even though he loses his marbles too often and couldn't communicate his way out of a paper bag. I just think it's the right time for him to go and be replaced. We need a different 1st choice CB to play with Sakho, somebody like Sané would fit, but I only say that because all the other 'links' so far have been with left-footed CBs, which is weird. Literally the last thing we need is a left-footed CB. Oh or a creative midfielder. Ahem, Kova.
(btw the OP's comment about Sakho is a litmus test for ignorance of football)
04 Jun 2015 08:23:05
Ok ok I'll take the Sakho one on board as of the three mentioned he is my favourite purely because in the World Cup he looked very good alongside varane but you have to admit he looks awkward at times? I'm not having the other two though there is no way Toure or Lovren should be first choice centre backs for Liverpool. This is a position I feel we still are not strong enough even though we have an abundance of players in this position. Ed how has Ilori's loan spell with Bordeaux gone I know he's had regular game time but how has he performed and is he likely to get a chance with us this year?
(btw redkev it's easy to jump on the band wagon! I'm sure the ed's think so much more of you now you've made a sarky comment)
04 Jun 2015 11:24:23
Sorry what bandwagon? There's a bandwagon now? I just think Skrtel is incapable of leading and marshaling a back 4, which is kind of important for a 1st choice CB and replacing him with somebody who can would be good for us.
I doubt the Eds think much of me at all or often, except maybe that I annoy them from time to time. But what sarky comment? The litmus test thing? That's not sarcasm. Saying Sakho 'looks awkward' is irrelevant and perhaps a little offensive, stop looking at his legs and watch what the ball does when he tackles or passes.
04 Jun 2015 14:05:52
Exactly Kev, Sahko looks akward (whatever the heck that means) YET is the France captain for for Didier Deschamps who knows a solid CB when he sees one because he played with Blanc and Desailly on the French team for over a decade. He is a beast of a player in terms of ability and his passing ability from the back is something Skertl can only dream of and his akwardness as you put it, is just a cop out to slate a player you don`t rate. Skrtel is the worst CB we have. No pace, no positioning, no leadership and gets bullied all the time. If you wanna defend deep in your box then he`s your guy. If not, he is aweful. The fact that he needs to be babysat by the other CB`s is the reason we switched to a back 3 is Lovren had a bad start but put him in with anybody BUT Skrtel with a good DM in front of him like he had at Southampton and see how good he can be because afterall, we bought him from them. Skrtel is capable of making any CB in world aweful needs to go.
04 Jun 2015 15:53:17
The band wagon I was referring to was Ed suggested I must never have watched Sakho play if I think he looks a little unorthodox at times and at the end of your post you needlessly suggested in brackets that it was down to my football negligence and expect me not to respond?
We can go on all day but I genuinely have better things to do than argue via a football rumours page.
The point I have been trying to make from the start and this is just my opinion is that Skrtel has not been the cause of all of our defensive problems numerous managers before brendon selected him over others so he must have something about him and to suggest that he is the worst we have is just incorrect.
04 Jun 2015 19:16:08
I must have been watching some different centre backs play this year as well because Skrtel has been much more consistent than Sakho, Lovren and Toure by a long way! Skrtel has been solid in the tackle and good in the air and he has cut out a lot of the nonsense in the box this year that should have resulted in a number of penalties last year. I totally agree that he has his limitations but the others have been appalling and that is why THEY HAVE been in and out of the side.
Sakho is good in the air and a strong tackler who would do well in most sides playing a standard back four where the full backs don't venture way up the pitch. The problem lies in the fact that Liverpool are trying to play out from the back and other teams are targeting him as a weak link when the ball is at his feet (look at Charlie Adams goal at Stoke as an example!) his stats look good but he panics on the ball and he absolutely blasts the ball at his teammates.
Lovren is trying to be too dominant and constantly puts himself out of position by going for headers that are not his to win! They are in the Defensive Midfielders zone. He is also a couple of yards off the pace and so he has misjudged too many tackles.
Toure used to be a super player but in the last couple of years at Man City he piled on too much weight and lost that extra pace that he used to possess. If you watch him play closely he is panicking when he is in possession and he keeps giving the ball away and then telling everyone to calm down and pretending to be the vastly experienced pro (even though his actions are constantly contradicting that).
I don't mind if Skrtel goes as long as he is replaced with a strong (right footed CB) who can lead the line. As far as the other three go I think Liverpool would be much better off without the lot of them!
{Ed001's Note - shows you aren't watching as the only time Sakho wasn't playing was when he was injured.....}
04 Jun 2015 19:36:04
Didn't Sakho Storm out of the ground back in September when he was dropped from the game v's Everton?
He has been targeted in numerous recent games as a weak link (when he has the ball at his feet) and if you have watched the same games that I have you cannot argue with that.
{Ed001's Note - no, he has been targeted because the players in front of him did not offer themselves for a pass so he ended up sorting it himself. Making marauding runs or doing tricks to create time. If you had watched him, you would have seen how he was the only centre back worth having last season.}
04 Jun 2015 20:00:49
Ed - I usually agree with your views with regards to players but to blame basically the rest of the players in front of Sakho for his poor passing is nonsense. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one then as our opinions contradict each other's.
Cheers
{Ed001's Note - what poor passing? He got targeted because he had no pass on so hung on to the ball, nothing to do with his passing. You can disagree all you want, but I have that from the mouth of an opposing manager who said that was why Sakho was targeted by his team. He knew no one was offering him a pass, so he had his players hound him down. To not blame those in front of him just shows a lack of understanding of the game, you can't pass if everyone is blocked by opponents and not bothering to make an angle.}
05 Jun 2015 12:04:50
Sakho certainly wasn't helped by Moreno anyway, not only failing to cover the wide space well enough but also failing to find spaces to receive the ball. Same thing happened to Lovren but Sakho dealt with it better while Lovren bottled it.
@Somerset Red: I agree Skrtel hasn't been the cause of 'all' our defensive problems, but he has been a factor of them. I like the guy but he isn't about to improve anytime soon. His deficiencies have been stated repeatedly and it's better not to just throw 3 years of sky-high wages at him. If we are to play a back 4, Sakho needs a different partner.