Liverpool Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread Summer 2014 - Mod Warning post #6893

Mr Alan wrote: »

I too have explained my issues with him to date.

Put simply, when he plays our defence as a unit operates at a much lower level than when he doesn't play.

Then there's the fact that he cost the guts of £20m which is a huge amount of money for a defender. When paying that much for a defender, I'd expect they go straight into the first team and play at a high level. He hasn't done that and at the minute there's as many people who don't think he'll make it at Liverpool as there is who think he looks good. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

He pretty much did go straight in, and only dropped out when injured, and was back in pretty soon after he got back to 100%. And apart from the early 1-0 games, when we were playing far more defensively, at what point did the overall defence play at a high level??

He went in due to reputation, not performance.

At the minute Skrtel & Agger are still our best CB combo, and the defence as a unit performs better with those guys at CB, than Sakho and another.

Agueroooo wrote: »

did you get a text or email to say its was ready?

I got word that mine was ready for collection too, strange thing is that they actually rang me.

asdfgh86 wrote: »

The majority of people mentioning his awkward running style are those defending him?

People keep saying that the only reason people are worried about him is because he runs funny.... I'm more concerned by the shambles our defence tends to be when he plays.

If we keep bringing it up its because while the stats may well support the assertion that we have conceded more goals with him in the team , his individual stats suggests he rarely puts a foot wrong or can be directly be blamed for the goals we are conceding . So its not surprising really that some like myself are jumping to the conclusion that people are judging him unfairly based on the unfair perception (perpetuated at every opportunity by Alan smith in commentary) that he is terrible on the ball because he runs funny. If people could point to actual instances where he has cost us say as many goals as skrtel has in own goals then I'll hold my hands up and say he's been given a fair shake by people and been found wanting until then tho ....

I'm not bashing him, just valid criticism. Particularly when I pop into the thread and read the case for him to be our next captain.

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Collected my jersey from elvery sports

Just wanted to thank the OP for alerting me/us to the deal!

Lovely Jersey for €35.99

Collecting mine in 15 minutes and again thanks to the OP!

PhiloCypher wrote: »

If we keep bringing it up its because while the stats may well support the assertion that we have conceded more goals with him in the team , his individual stats suggests he rarely puts a foot wrong or can be directly be blamed for the goals we are conceding . So its not surprising really that some like myself are jumping to the conclusion that people are judging him unfairly based on the unfair perception (perpetuated at every opportunity by Alan smith in commentary) that he is terrible on the ball because he runs funny. If people could point to actual instances where he has cost us say as many goals as skrtel has in own goals then I'll hold my hands up and say he's been given a fair shake by people and been found wanting until then tho ....

One thing that no one thinks of when it comes to our poor defensive record is where does the midfield fit in. Yes there are lapses in concentration at the back we know this. But our mid 3 has not been a tight unit when it comes to closing space or getting their positioning correct (they are getting better at it)

It would be interesting to see the stats on where midfield errors/positioning errors when defending have led directly to a goal (i.e. CB coming out to close the space). Examples being v Swansea in September or the 3rd v Palace.

Also having the full backs bombing on, it would be interesting to see the proportion of goals which come from attacks down our flanks Where FB has been caught out of position and that side exposed. Recently I can think of 2 v Cardiff , 1 v Palace, 1 v Newcastle off the top of my head.

Our defensive record is down to a lot more than just 1 player. There are other variables which need to be taken into account

Sakho is the best defender we have. He is a far more talented footballer, with far more potential than either Skrtel or Agger. Some fans seem to have adopted the idea that he is error prone, clumsy, whatever, which I can only guess comes from his size or technique making him look like he has poor control (comparable to Yaya Toure or Fellaini). Contrariwise, Skrtel's faults seem to go largely unnoticed, perhaps down to his goal contributions.

It's his first season in the PL, in a new country, new language, playing outside his hometown for the first time. Not to mention being dropped into an extremely attacking system with mostly incompetent defensive partners (looking at you, Glen).

Sakho is far from the most pressing issue in the squad, and not an issue at all if you ask me.

Fescue wrote: »

He's 6'1"?

I wasn't just referring to his height and I didn't want to use the word 'physique'. He looks gangly on the ball, similarly to Yaya Toure (just under 6'2"), who I gave as a comparison in my above post.