Liverpool FC Forum

[Teshie]

Reina .. aka The Boss at the back

Soto .. aka his right hand man.

(on recent performances, I'll never forget what happened in last year champions league group stages though)

[stmichael]

he's our most consistent defender, which says a lot considering he was essentially brought in as 4th choice. it makes a nice change for us to actually look threatening at corners for once.

his attitude also puts others to shame. should be a regular in the side.

[tommycockles]

he's our most consistent defender, which says a lot considering he was essentially brought in as 4th choice. it makes a nice change for us to actually look threatening at corners for once.

his attitude also puts others to shame. should be a regular in the side.

and for that reason he should be in the side as no others offer a real threat at corners etc.

He's a good solid defender and means we can spedn any money we have in January up front, on the wings, maybe a left-back ...okay everywhere else!

[bigmick]

He's a very interesting player Kyriakos, but as I've said in another thread I think he's one of those who's good bits compensate for his average bits. He is largely paceless, gets caught flat footed a lot, and from a distribution point of view is pretty much a hoof it and see merchant. That said, he is also very much in the "no nonsense" mould of defender, he will throw his body, head and no doubt todger on the line willingly, and his overall attitude is fantastic.

It's when crosses come in though that he comes to life. He attacks it really well, has a decent jump on him and gets great power into both defensive and attacking headers. This part of his game is IMHO so strong (in an area where we are so weak as well which just magnifies it), that we really ought to put his deficiencies aside and play him. We do it with Johnson when we forget that he isn't great defensively, and i think we should do the same with the Greek.

I really like him, I'll bet he isn't a moaner or a whinger, he's a good pro and is proving to be an astute buy for what Rafa paid for him. He might just end up making himself a real crowd favourite, and if he playes every week will score and cause plenty of goals, mostly for us as well.

[stmichael]

He's a very interesting player Kyriakos, but as I've said in another thread I think he's one of those who's good bits compensate for his average bits. He is largely paceless, gets caught flat footed a lot, ad froma  distribution point of view is pretty much a hoof it and see merchant. That said, he is very much in the "no nonsense" mould of defender, he will throw his body, head and no doubt todger on the line willingly, and his overall attitude is fantastic.

Yeah I'd agree with that.

It shows that the guy has a good brain imo. He maximises his strengths while minimising his weaknesses.

[andy_g]

here's an even simpler argument for his inclusion. a goal scoring centre half - most successful teams have one and play him.

[Masch79]

Am I getting carried away? But first centre back on the team sheet imo at the moment.

[Madmax]

We need all the help we could get and thankfully our buddies from olympus have sent kyrgiakos to get us out of this shyte!

[zarababe]

Guts and blood performance by our 'big' greek.. leading by example - Respect !

[Raoul]

Am I getting carried away? But first centre back on the team sheet imo at the moment.

I'm not sure he is our best CB by any means. However, as many are saying (perhaps bigmick above better than most of us), he must be in the team because of he offers us something none of our other CBs offer.

Because of his limitations he needs the right people around him, but right now he is worth it. So yes, write his name down first, and then construct the back line around him - either:

Carra     Kyrgiakos    Agger    Konchesky/Aurelio

or:

                Carra     Kyrgiakos    Agger

Johnson                                               Konchesky/Aurelio

[akumaface]

He is our only dominant player in the air. So if we play him and agger, that would be a very good pair to start. Then we put Carra on the right with Johnson as right midfield.

[ruskiy playmaker]

Then we put Carra on the right with Johnson as right midfield.

It would be interesting to see how Johnson would play on the wings, but I doubt that he'd want to since he'd risk loosing his spot on the England team.

[tommycockles]

Then we put Carra on the right with Johnson as right midfield.

It would be interesting to see how Johnson would play on the wings, but I doubt that he'd want to since he'd risk loosing his spot on the England team.

i agree although if you look at how Bale has changed since he went from left-back to winger with Spurs. He'd walk into the English team is he wasn't Welsh. It may be worth trying him as he's good at attacking, has a great shot, but is stuck between atacking and defending so isn't doing either particularly well.

Although saying that, he may actually start playing better as the team improve as i think they've all been under par recently.

Soto should be starting though as he's great in the opposition box and would complement Agger pretty well at the back.

[maypaxvobiscum]

he would be my first choice CB. probably Agger to partner him and Carra on the right ahead of Johnson.
and he has worked his way up well without any comments to the media or dissent which ive heard of.
the most dominant player with got in the air and he scores goals too. what else could we ask for?

[Reg]

I am Greek and have been following the league and the NT for many years. Kyrgiakos is by far our best defender, maybe even our most valuable player. He never gets subbed, never gets injured, never gets left out ofthe squad, at any level. He is absolutely dominant on the pitch. Obviously the EPL is another beast, but from what I have seen and heard of him, he has been a favourite everywhere he has played.
He only missed euro 2004 because of a rare injury. On the road to euro 2008, where greece finished with the best overall record in qualifying and were also the first team to get into the finals, Sotiris played every last second. He also scored 2 cruacial goals vs norway which got us on our way.
He's one of my all-time favourite players, because he is a no-nonsense, hard tackling, great in the air defender with attitude. He is a player with influence, who leads by example. He has presence, and always seems to be involved in the play when danger arises. So many times he has saved his team.

For years now, I would ask why he wasnt playing for a bigger team. He was AEK athens' captain and without a doubt the best defender in the Greek Superleague. He's and automatic for our NT.
If you guys need proof, watch him vs Ibrahimovic in euro 2008. He completely shut him down, it took a special outside the box blast from zlatan to score. He was unable to get anything done inside the area. Kyrigiakos is very intimidating and even world class players give him respect and try to avoid a run-in with him.

Liverpool you have done well. Sotiris will be a fan fav and will soon become a regular in the starting XI, mark my words.

Good Luck Soto and Liverpool! you just found a new fan!

Maybe the lad was right...........