How many new centre-backs do Liverpool FC need?

 THIS season defending, rather than attacking, has been the main cause of fan frustration. In an earlier article I discussed how our present centre-backs, and holding midfielder, are not particularly adept at dealing with counter attacks and one on one situations – having been brought up playing much deeper and with more cover than they presently have.

Next season we will be without our favourite Number 23 in Vice-captain Jamie Carragher and it will be a very difficult job trying to replace him, especially since we are yet to properly replace Sami Hyypia.

Martin Skrtel, having won player of the season last year, is out of favour with Brendan Rodgers, and while he may not be happy warming the bench he can’t deny that he has been responsible for too many costly mistakes this campaign. Sebastian Coates, a player who I thoroughly enjoyed watching in the last Copa America (where he won young player of the tournament), has struggled to get into the side and hasn’t particularly impressed when he has. He really needs game time to improve as a player but Rodgers doesn’t trust him.

All of Rodgers’ signings so far have been attacking players (Assaidi, Borini, Coutinho and Sturridge) and while Allen is hardly an attacking player, he is even less of a defensive player. Rodgers’ transfer acumen so far has been mixed and he, and Liverpool FC, can’t afford another poor summer of purchases. With Carra’s retirement we definitely need at least one new centre-back, but do we need more?

With Skrtel’s poor displays making him look as if he’s regressed back to the player that used to over-commit, dive in, lose his man and frequently give the ball away back when he first joined the club, and Seba Coates clearly needing to at least be loaned out, one would have thought we needed two new centre-backs.

Judging by the articles and comments on the Live4Liverpool website many would agree, some would say we need even more! Many players have been linked: Dejan Lovren, Stefan De Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Ashley Williams; but in a recent interview Jamie Carragher is looking much closer to home for his successors.

“You look at Andre Wisdom and Martin Kelly particularly. It’s mainly because they are young centre-backs that have gone into the team playing full-back to gain experience. It’s very hard to go straight into any Premier League team and play in the middle immediately. But they’ve done very well over the last 12 to 18 months.

“I’m very confident that they could play centre-back for Liverpool once they have the experience. Being physically stronger and quicker, if they can learn the game they can maybe have a bigger impact at the club than myself.”
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The last line is quite some statement, coming from Liverpool’s second longest serving player. Like many I have been very impressed with Kelly and Wisdom since they broke into the first team.

Martin Kelly is for me a much better player, and this is little surprising given that he’s a few years older than Andre Wisdom. Kelly, like Wisdom, mainly played centre-back before breaking into the first team as a right-back. Unlike Andre, Kelly took to the attacking side of the game naturally, and his impressive performances had led to gushing praise from the likes of Fabio Capello and to him deservedly being invited to Euro 2012 by Roy Hodgson.

Andre has been solid defensively since he broke into the side and in recent games in the Under 21s has shown he has really worked to improve the attacking part of his game. Both are young, talented and are itching for more game time.

This leads me to the view that we need only one centre-back signing for this summer, and that should be an experienced player. We can then monitor the progress that Kelly, recently returned after a cruciate injury, and young Wisdom make as they are given centre-back starting roles in the early stages of cup competitions.

I would rather not see a 21 year old centre-back signed who still has everything to prove and then restricts the development of the clearly talented England duo. With Agger and Skrtel (assuming he stays having signed a new contract) both in their late 20s, a centre-back no younger than 24, would provide ideal continuity.

I very much agree with Katie Price’s recent article – I too would love to see a player of the stature, experience and ability of Mats Hummels at the club, but with no Champions League football (and possibly no Europa League football either), and the way Sahin was criminally underused, it’s unlikely the German would be interested in a move. Perhaps a player like Dede, a 24 year old ball playing 6 foot 3 inch Brazilian, who has been the best centre-back in Brazil this season, would be a more realistic target.

Whoever we sign we need to sign experience, and not stall the development of Kelly and Wisdom in the manner we have stalled the progress of Coates.

You can catch more from me on my own blog: http://taintlessred.blogspot.co.uk/
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