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Martin Skrtel: Surprise of the season

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Skrtel was massive for Liverpool last season

Skrtel was massive for Liverpool last season

I’m sure I’m not the only Liverpool fan who was surprised when Skrtel found himself still at the club come the end of last summer’s transfer window. His horror show against Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup had seen him firmly left out of Rodgers’ plans for the rest of the season and with Rafa Benitez’s Napoli supposedly very interested, everyone expected Liverpool to let him go for a reasonable fee.

But no bid came, despite the rumours. Skrtel stayed, and with Kolo Toure starting the season ahead of him I didn’t expect to see much of the big Slovakian in the next campaign. But still, due to an injury to Toure early on Skrtel got his call-up. Then he started playing out of his skin.

Finally, after a year of looking like a shell of the player we all knew he could be, Skrtel rediscovered the form he showed when partnering Agger under Kenny Dalglish. He was commanding, and actually offered a real physical presence, unlike the previous season when he became prone to letting attackers skip on past him.

With Sakho still bedding in and Rodgers preferring not to have two left-footed centre backs start together, Skrtel overtook Agger as first choice in the starting XI. It was a development that no one saw coming, perhaps not even Rodgers, but we revelled in Skrtel’s newfound form and confidence. Let’s not forget the amount of goals he scored as well, often in big games and frequently against London teams. Suddenly Skrtel was a force to be reckoned with again.

Skrtel scing one of his many goals last year

Skrtel scing one of his many goals last year

He wasn’t without his flaws; I lost count of the amount of times Skrtel got his hands on an opposition player in the penalty area, and I still find it remarkable that he only conceded one penalty all season for his carelessness. The strange thing was that he was seemingly unable to stop himself from doing it. You’d assume that Rodgers and his coaching staff would have picked up on that flaw immediately and attempt to coach it out of him, but if they did then we saw no sign of it on the pitch.

As great as he was for us, he did remain somewhat of a liability at the back and if I’m totally honest, we’re lucky that he wasn’t pulled up on half the stuff he got away with. With Rodgers apparently looking for a new centre back to bolster the ranks this season (most likely Dejan Lovren at time of writing), I’d be surprised if Skrtel remains first choice next season. But if he is, it’s imperative that he builds on the good work he did last year.

If Skrtel can cut out his mistakes, he can continue in this team and grow to be one of our best centre backs in recent history. But to do so, will mean back-to-back seasons with him on top of his game and very few mistakes in the face of new competition; an even harder task than the one he faced this time last season.

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Drummer, gamer and football fanatic. I love to write about Liverpool and spend most of my time thinking about the mighty Reds. That or Game of Thrones.

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