Liverpool FC Forum

by **dundreamin** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:23 pm

I absolutely love this fella. I think he could be one of rafas best signings. He,s very underated and could become a very good squad player in next few years. He could go into the joey Jones, Erik mijier, smicer, titi camara brigade

by **tubby** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:44 pm

Not bad for a supposed 'flop' from Rafa. :eyebrow

by **metalhead** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:51 pm

bavlondon wrote:Not bad for a supposed 'flop' from Rafa.

No one said he would flop, some doubted him of course because we bought him for 2m.

by **Thommo's perm** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:09 pm

Hes like a missile with a ponytail

by **Reg** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:53 pm

The unlikeliest hero emerges from Liverpool's age of ordeal

By Rory Smith Football Last updated: October 27th, 2010

Sotirios Kyrgiakos: does exactly what it says on the tin (Photo: Reuters)

Anfield in recent months has hardly been the stamping ground of heroes. The last year has been one of witnessing each and every one of Liverpool’s most revered icons fall from grace.

Steven Gerrard, Merseyside’s Ajax, has at times seemed conquered by his own sorrow at the sight of the club he has devoted his life to begin to stutter and stumble. Fernando Torres, formerly every inch an Achilles, has found his legs peppered with weaknesses, his fallibility evident to all. The suspicion lingers that Jamie Carragher, like Nestor, is too old to engage in combat.

One man, though, has transcended the wreckage of 12 months of despair and doubt to emerge with his reputation not only intact but enhanced. That man is Sotirios Kyrgiakos. Hence the sequence of rather unnecessary Iliadic parallels.

To recap: when Kyrgiakos set sail for Merseyside, that fabled land of demigods, from AEK Athens, he did so as the nominal replacement for Sami Hyypia. It was quite a task. Hyypia, of course, had been one of the club’s greatest servants, a rock at the heart of the defence for Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez for a decade.

Kyrgiakos, on the other hand, had failed at Rangers, endured a torrid time at Eintracht Frankfurt and retreated to the shadow of the Acropolis, seemingly content to play out his career in his homeland. There might have been a case to make him a £1.5 million back-up, a last resort, as Benitez apparently intended him to be.

At Liverpool at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, though, nothing goes to plan. Injury troubles across the backline meant Kyrgiakos was cast into battle. His initial skirmishes hardly suggested a future replete with glory. He was at fault for both Bolton goals when Benitez’s side won 3-2 at the Reebok a year ago, while it was his slip which allowed Lisandro Lopez to all but eliminate Liverpool from the Champions League in Lyon last November.

Liverpool fans, presumably, hoped that would be the end of him. Kyrgiakos, though, is made of sterner stuff. He persevered. He became a cult hero for his unstinting commitment, his refusal to wilt, his effort and his enthusiasm, whatever his lack of natural ability. There are those who say he does not deserve to wear such famous armour (sorry, sorry…) as the red shirt of Liverpool. There are others who would remark that if there were more like him, more who could mirror his determination, Anfield would not have been plunged into such a state of crisis.

Not in the sense that all of his team-mates must aspire to his level of talent, of course. Kyrgiakos is, by all traditional measurements, the worst player at Liverpool (which, given that some of those team-mates are Ryan Babel, Paul Konchesky and Christian Poulsen, is some accolade). His first touch is poor, his pace absent, his ability to retain possession rudimentary.

And yet it would be easy to make a case for him being Liverpool’s best player since that night in Lyon. Almost alone among his outfield team-mates, whenever Kyrgiakos plays, he does his job. He is employed to win headers. So he does. In both boxes. He is tasked with making hefty challenges, of clearing the area in front of Pepe Reina of danger. So he does. His abilities are not glamorous, they are not likely to inspire YouTube compilations or paeans of praise from observers, but he is what he is. In a team where so many are not what they were or so far from what they could be, he stands alone, never shirking or stinting, as Liverpool’s unlikely Olympian.

Soto the Greek

Good to see the lad getting deserved recognition.

by **Kharhaz** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:49 am

bavlondon wrote:Not bad for a supposed 'flop' from Rafa.

The problem with rafa wasnt the signings, it was how he treat them.

by **maypaxvobiscum** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:35 am

bavlondon wrote:Like Voronin he isn't good enough for this club.

I thought we were linked with that Atletic Bilbao CB. This guy is .

Considering how cheap he is I think it's pretty obvious he is just here to make up the numbers as Rafa obviously isn't that confident using Kelly or Ayala as a long term solution. He is probably shyte but hey he deserves a chance.

so now that he performs well, you've changed your views havent you? the only reason why you're posting that comment above which Kharhaz quoted is because you wanna let the previous manager claim the credit being the rafalover you are. hope you enjoy eating the humble-pie you hypocrite. its ironic that YOU were the one labeling him as a flop in the first place.

by **Thommo's perm** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:34 am

Kharhaz wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Not bad for a supposed 'flop' from Rafa.

The problem with rafa wasnt the signings, it was how he treat them.

This is about a greek, not a spaniard

by **tubby** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:17 am

maypaxvobiscum wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Like Voronin he isn't good enough for this club.

I thought we were linked with that Atletic Bilbao CB. This guy is .

Considering how cheap he is I think it's pretty obvious he is just here to make up the numbers as Rafa obviously isn't that confident using Kelly or Ayala as a long term solution. He is probably shyte but hey he deserves a chance.

so now that he performs well, you've changed your views havent you? the only reason why you're posting that comment above which Kharhaz quoted is because you wanna let the previous manager claim the credit being the rafalover you are. hope you enjoy eating the humble-pie you hypocrite. its ironic that YOU were the one labeling him as a flop in the first place.

Nice find sherlock.

Yes it's true at the time I thought he was a bad signing and in those early days he was. So what? To be fair at the time he did look like he was just making up the numbers but he has become a mroe integral part of the team this season.

I still think Agger if fit and played on a regular basis is a better player.

by **stmichael** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 3:04 pm

does anyone know if johnson is fit?

i ask because if he is then the greek will be bombed out the side because carragher has to play no matter what.

by **maypaxvobiscum** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 4:47 pm

bavlondon wrote:
maypaxvobiscum wrote:
bavlondon wrote:Like Voronin he isn't good enough for this club.

edit.

Nice find sherlock.

Yes it's true at the time I thought he was a bad signing and in those early days he was. So what? To be fair at the time he did look like he was just making up the numbers but he has become a mroe integral part of the team this season.

I still think Agger if fit and played on a regular basis is a better player.

so...Agger instead of Kyrgiakos or Agger with Kyrgiakos?
i prefer the latter.
Carra looked so much better on the right side. or maybe its simply because Johnson has been very poor this season that Carra did look like Carlos Alberto after all

by **Waldo** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 5:32 pm

We are sinking to new depths os Sotiros Kyrgiakos is being lauded as a hero at Anfield

by **LFC2007** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:37 pm

Credit to him. Although he's been caught a few times, by and large he's done alright. He is by a distance our best header of the ball which is his main strength, and while I'm happy with him playing against Blackburns, Stokes and Boltons I don't see him as a permanent solution. We lack a certain amount of flexibility or mobility in our backline that you need to cope with the fast movements of attackers. People say Agger's our best defender but he's been plagued by injuries and dodgy form, and for me has a lot of work to do to prove himself. Hopefully though he can find fitness and form, and eventually end up partnering a new top class centre half because we still desperately need one of them.

by **Thommo's perm** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:26 pm

Waldo wrote:We are sinking to new depths os Sotiros Kyrgiakos is being lauded as a hero at Anfield

He is EXACTLY the kind of player we need at the moment: committed, passionate, fearless and scoring
I dont give a sh'it whether hes talented or not. Hes a breath of fresh air and an example to anyone in the team at he moment

by **Kukilon** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:44 pm

The best thing is that we have looked so dull on corners for so long until he came and started playing like an umberhulk with jumping shoes. Are we the worst team on corners and set pieces? Any know?

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