TIME to continue my look at the final 5 nominees in the Liverpool FC player of the season vote, and what better time to do it as the wife has Eurovision on!
I have already covered Martin Skrtel so please go and check that one out, as this one will be covering his defensive partner for most of the season – Mr Daniel Agger.
I will confess that I am a huge Agger fan and have been ever since he joined us in 2006. I was aware of him whilst he plied his trade at Brondby prior to his big move and was excited to see him coming to us, as I am sure he would have had his pick of a number of Europe’s elite. He very much reminds me of the class of Liverpool defender from years gone by, Hanson-esque in his ability to bring the ball out of defence and driving the team forward. He is cool and calm under pressure and on the ball, with an absolute bazooka of a left boot, that strike against West Ham at Anfield is engrained in my memory as one of the most amazing strikes that I have ever seen.
Unfortunately he has suffered numerous setbacks through injury that has hampered his time at Anfield and must be as frustrating for him as it is for us on the sidelines cheering him on. His influence within the team and the senior status within the squad have resulted in his absence being felt more with this season being the perfect example as I will discuss. As well as his abilities on the pitch, it is the manner in which he has settled off it that has allowed the LFC family to embrace him. He has bought into the history, the ideology of what it means to wear that famous bird on his chest, on and off the pitch. Do this and you will be loved. He has, and is.
In the previous season we saw Agger deployed more often than not at left back as again the squad was in a ‘square peg round hole’ situation, and to his credit he adapted and performed. In the modern game full backs can find themselves as two of the most attacking positions on the pitch, with players like Dani Alves and our very own Glen Johnson being fine examples of this, and for someone who has grown up playing centrally to adapt and excel in this role speaks volumes of the player and the talent at his disposal. This however, is a clear waste of what he brings to the side.
As I alluded to previously, he brings a calm authority to the back four and a desire and confidence to get the ball on the floor and actually play football with it, made evident in no uncertain terms with his review of Hodgson as manager. It is this calm authority that I believe was a real driving force behind the impressive form of Skrtel this season. The Slovak always looked like he had a howler or two in him when paired with Carragher in previous seasons, but in forming a partnership with Agger, not only did this allow the beast to revert to his preferred positioning in the back two (right hand side), he also reacted positively to the differing style Danny brings compared to Jamie, really bringing the best out of him, giving him the confidence to continue the high standards he was setting throughout the season even when Agger was missing.
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The confidence Agger has on the ball and that ingrained desire to bring it out from the back is not only an attribute the Kop demands from their centre backs but a trait that aids Liverpool as an offensive unit. To have someone at centre back who can stride forward, commit and beat players will assist massively in unlocking doors thought to be shut tight. It creates space for the midfield and forwards to operate in as defences lose shape trying to deal with him. The style of play that Kenny had us playing, and hopefully the next manager will continue with, suits Agger to a tee and therefore grants the team an additional offensive option.
All the talk so far has been surrounding Agger as an attacking option and a positive influence on those around him but at the end of the day he is defender, and a bloody good one at that. He has an eye for a tackle and I would suggest that his timing of a tackle is up there with the best in the world. He is good in the air and has a decent level of pace with the only downside being his fitness. It is no coincidence that statistically speaking Liverpool had one of, if not the, best defensive records in the league prior to Christmas, and had it not been for a distinct lack of goals going in the other end the season could have panned out very differently.
The team is a more solid unit with Agger in the back four, preferably at centre back, and in that first half of the season we were certainly getting back to the solidity Rafa’s teams always had, as well as not compromising on the style of football we were bringing on to the pitch under Kenny, the way Liverpool should be playing. It’s all about pass and move, and one important aspect of that is a backline capable of excelling in that mindset, which clearly Agger does, in fact he thrives in it.
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Other L4L Player of the Year Contenders: Luis Suarez, Martin Skrtel, Jose Enrique, Pepe Reina
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