by Scottbot » Wed Dec 13, 2006 5:18 pm
IMMENSE AGGER IS THE SECRET INGREDIENT
Liverpool Echo 13 December 2006
IF Daniel Agger was English, or playing for a club in London, there are some national journalists who'd probably be bidding for the rights to write his autobiography by now.
It's probably to Liverpool's advantage Agger has slipped somewhat unnoticed (beyond Merseyside) into Rafa Benitez's first team.
His situation isn't unlike that of Momo Sissoko. Speak to Liverpool fans, and they'll rave about what they're seeing.
Go beyond the city and mention these two youngsters, and there'sso little attention on them, hardly anyone realises how good they've been and could become.
I suspect that's exactly how the players, and Benitez, likes it. The more publicity a youngster gets, sometimes the more pressure he is under.
Agger enjoyed another superb afternoon at Anfield on Saturday, playing his part in two of the goals.
It's a huge bonus for the manager to have a defender who can contribute at both ends of the park.
You find the best teams always have this kind of player. Chelsea have it now with John Terry, while if you look through most title winning teams through the years, it's amazing how many attack-minded central defenders have played a key role.
At Liverpool, we were fortunate to have so many defenders who fancied their chances of scoring or creating goals as much as stopping them.
Alan Hansen was a legend in this role, of course. He never scored many, but he was recognised as much for his ability to start attacks as keep strikers out.
Our full-backs were even better at finding the net than some modern strikers.
Phil Neal and Alan Kennedy were always capable of getting forward and scoring at crucial times, particularly in European Cup Finals.
You never felt under too much pressure as a striker at Liverpool if you went a couple of games without scoring, because you knew every other element of the team was contributing its fair share.
Agger is the type of player who can bring this trend back.
I'd been told by Jan Molby when we signed Agger that he would prove a great buy.
You always expect it will take some time, but for him to already force himself in ahead of a crowd favourite like Sami Hyypia shows how quickly he's progressed.
Agger faced a daunting challenge when he arrived. Centre-half is one of those positions where a youngster is more vulnerable, because mistakes can be morecostly, but he'sestablished already.
Now he just needs to work on that Scouse accent. He can't match Big Jan in that department yet, but I'm reliably informed he's giving him lessons.