I have always been a massive fan of Liverpool centre back Daniel Agger. Ever since Rafa Benitez signed the player for £6m from Brondby back in 2006, the Dane has struck me as being in the mould of the old traditions of Liverpool centre backs. He is essentially a footballing centre half, who enjoys being on the ball, striding in possession into midfield to be involved in one twos, and even to let a long shot away with his hammer of a left foot. It was unsurprising really when in a recent interview he said he started out as a central midfielder in the Danish lower leagues.
For a Liverpool side, especially one managed by Kenny Dalglish, the need for a defender such as Agger is essential. Keeping possession and playing the pass and move philosophy advocated by King Kenny necessitates the team to have as many players in the team who are good on the ball as possible. Out of the four senior centre backs at the club, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel, Carragher and the Dane, the 26 year old is the only one to really have the movement, speed and skill to start attacks from the back as the great Alan Hansen once did. In the absence of the Dane due to injury and being out of favour under Roy Hodgson, it was clear that the team were missing him. With a combination of Soto, Skrtel or Carra playing, the side played a lot deeper due to the centre backs’ lack of pace and there was generally no real creative play from the backline with Carra the biggest culprit in hoofing the ball up field without thought of setting up attacks.
That was why I believe Agger to be the first choice centre back out of the four. He gives the Reds something different. Just like David Luiz at Chelsea or Ricardo Carvalho before him, they compliment the uncompromising, last ditch tackling centre half beside them. For this reason I was perplexed Agger was never really favoured by Hodgson when he was fit and why I am glad Dalglish has identified the Dane as a crucial member of the team. The operative phrase in that last sentence though was “when fit” for Agger has been plagued by injuries over his Anfield career. His latest is a knee injury which Dr Peter Brukner says may take another week to heal:
“Daniel had a nasty kick on a joint to the side of his knee. It’s an unusual spot to get an injury. They take time and he’s a bit of a slow healer. He’s still not 100 per cent so we’ll have to see if he’s fit for the game this week. But it’s more likely to be the following week.”
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no, cant depend on him too injury prone
Absolutely yes, we keep him. He is our best defender by a country mile and enables us to play the good football we do in contrast to Jamie Carragher who hoofs all day long. Keep him. Even on the bench, he’s better than the rest.
For his loyalty to Liverpool, yes, he is worth the trouble.
I think Martin Kelly is already the answer but then we need a decent right back – yes RIGHT back because I think Johnson is more effective on the left despite his england position. However, there is no way I would like to see Agger leave the club, he has all you need for a central defender and maybe is a little unlucky or maybe just needs to train diferently?
Shift Kelly to CB. He’s shown the needed maturity, skill and speed needed to be a top CB.
As our best central defender we should’nt dream of selling but we do need another central defender in his mould to come in when he’s not fit. i believe that palyer is Danny Wilson! He may still be young in years but he seems a mature player and we should be grooming him to fill that role. he should be playing ahead of the likes of Skrtel and Kyrgiakos and, in a season Carragher.
Dane is my favorite Liverpool player, he’s our best CB and after proving his loyalty to the club he, without a doubt, worth it and no way he can leave. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t need a very good CB and would be important to get one in the summer (a LB too), tho I believe it will be hard to find one with Agger’s quality/ability. I think Kelly should continue playing at RB, he’s good in going front and very good in defence (if LFC puts him as a CB we’ll need a RB so why change it?).
The reason Agger keeps getting injured is because he is more suited to a playmaking role in central midfield rather than as a centreback.
whats that got to do with getting injured? Muppet!
he so good for 2 center defender. when liverpool play with braga.. we look how we miss him. and when skertel at right… we can push johnson and left wing.. i think taiwo or coentrao to wide and cross.. thats a simple game…
In response to David Shamash if a player is played out of position, he is going to pick up injuries especially if played as a defender where there is a lot of stretching and tackling.
Of course he is worth the trouble. World class player and will only get better. Yes injury prone but that doesn’t mean we get rid of our best players! YNWA
I would only sell if we brought in a player as good or who is not injury prone or someone even better than Agger! That makes sense to everybody I would think. The idea is to keep quality while having our players on the pitch as often as every game, like a Kuyt.
Yes i’d sell him only if we have a better replacement without any injuries…i really feel bad and bored watching Agger getting injured again,again,again,again…..i love him as a player and rate him greatly but he’s TOO injury prone,let’s face it..also because Kelly’s in a great form and we have a better option at rightback,who is Glen,doesnt mean Kelly must play at all costs!!Kelly as a cb might be bad you dunno..yeah he reminds me of a young Jamie Carragher but he still has a lot to learn and he might not be ready for the cb role right now..So that’s the squad i’d love to watch next season:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Subotic Taiwo
Gerrard M’Vila Meireles
Sanchez Carroll Suarez
YNWA