Liverpool FC Forum

Every time I look at the replay, it looks like he was just in stride. He doesn't appear to change direction or go after De Gea, it seems like his foot comes down just as De Gea's leg slides underneath it.

Martin Skrtel's 3 match ban stands

confirmed

Skrtel's not a dirty player - a combatative one defo but he would not go in to hurt anyone intentionally.

His absence will probably put Toure back into the team - and possibly Johnson, which is a down side as Johnson may as well leave now. I'd prefer Toure to Johnson, for at least he can defend.

andy c legs » Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:04 pm wrote:Skrtel's not a dirty player - a combatative one defo but he would not go in to hurt anyone intentionally.

His absence will probably put Toure back into the team - and possibly Johnson, which is a down side as Johnson may as well leave now. I'd prefer Toure to Johnson, for at least he can defend.

Totally agree  His diciplinary record is quite good in his 8 years with us. Less than 30 yellows and 1 red in the league. In saying that I do think he could have avoided any contact with De Gea as he had time to jump. Its like the costa situation on can where the player could have avoided contact but chose not to. I can only think that the red mist descended on him due to how the game was playing out.

If it were me I would put Kolo in as a straight swap but also include lucas to add a bit of protection in front. We definitely need to focus more in the midfield and work harder to create something when we have the ball. The llama alongside Phil isn't working and he should be dropped along with moreno. We have the Cup replay first so that is the time to sort changes out rather than wait till half time at the Emirates. I also think we have reached the point again that teams have us sussed so maybe a change in system might give us an edge.

                                                                                              Mingolet

                                                                      Can               Toure        Sakho      Johnson (only because we have no one else)

                                                                              Hendo          Lucas         Markovic

                                                                                               Coutinho

                                                                                       Sterling       Sturidge

Maybe not Johnson because by then 'red till i die!!', hopefully Flanno will be back. When I asked about his progress recently, 'Woof Woof' replied with 'The treatment Room' showing that Flanno could be back on 4th of April, so fingers crossed on that one mate.

Maybe not Johnson because by then 'red till i die!!', hopefully Flanno will be back. When I asked about his progress recently, 'Woof Woof' replied with 'The treatment Room' showing that Flanno could be back on 4th of April, so fingers crossed on that one mate.

Having a back 3 instead of a 4 has worked wonders for our defence so 'd leave it as it is, I wouldn't change the formation I'd change some of the personnel.
For a start Lucas would come straight back in and as Skrtel is missing I'd play Lovren in the centre, I know he has looked a bit ropey since he arrived here from Southampton but I think he could be a natural fit for that role of middle man in a back 3.
As Sturridge is out I'd play Sterling up top but I'd give Mario a run out next to Coutinho in that AM position, Mario is good at holding the ball up in traffic and bringing others into play and I think he could be quite effective there if you get the right players around him, he gives us a bit of a physical presence too, imo we have looked a bit lightweight up front in recent weeks, we've been shoved off the ball far too easily.

                                Mingolet

                  Can         Lovren       Sakho

     Lallana         Hendo       Lucas        Markovic

                         Coutinho     Balotelli

                                  Sterling

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Sat Mar 28, 2015 2:30 pm wrote:Having a back 3 instead of a 4 has worked wonders for our defence so 'd leave it as it is, I wouldn't change the formation I'd change some of the personnel.
For a start Lucas would come straight back in and as Skrtel is missing I'd play Lovren in the centre, I know he has looked a bit ropey since he arrived here from Southampton but I think he could be a natural fit for that role of middle man in a back 3.
As Sturridge is out I'd play Sterling up top but I'd give Mario a run out next to Coutinho in that AM position, Mario is good at holding the ball up in traffic and bringing others into play and I think he could be quite effective there if you get the right players around him, he gives us a bit of a physical presence too, imo we have looked a bit lightweight up front in recent weeks, we've been shoved off the ball far too easily.

                                Mingolet

                  Can         Lovren       Sakho

     Lallana         Hendo       Lucas        Markovic

                         Coutinho     Balotelli

                                  Sterling

Markovic and Lucas simply have to be reintroduced ,not sure about Lallana as WB though, as 'defensively' speaking he's as weak as dishwater ,I'd even deploy Johnson in
that role as he would afford Can much more protection . Lucas will make our defensive shape look a lot more solid and our back three will reap the dividends of his
inclusion ,what we cant do is allow ourselves to get hemmed in our own half leaving Sterling an isolated figure up front.

That's a good team though ,and I'm hoping its (with the exception of Lallana )practically identical to the one we put out against the Gunnerz.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Sat Mar 28, 2015 2:30 pm wrote:Having a back 3 instead of a 4 has worked wonders for our defence so 'd leave it as it is, I wouldn't change the formation I'd change some of the personnel.
For a start Lucas would come straight back in and as Skrtel is missing I'd play Lovren in the centre, I know he has looked a bit ropey since he arrived here from Southampton but I think he could be a natural fit for that role of middle man in a back 3.
As Sturridge is out I'd play Sterling up top but I'd give Mario a run out next to Coutinho in that AM position, Mario is good at holding the ball up in traffic and bringing others into play and I think he could be quite effective there if you get the right players around him, he gives us a bit of a physical presence too, imo we have looked a bit lightweight up front in recent weeks, we've been shoved off the ball far too easily.

                                Mingolet

                  Can         Lovren       Sakho

     Lallana         Hendo       Lucas        Markovic

                         Coutinho     Balotelli

                                  Sterling

Isn't ibe expected to return any day now?

Read an article this morning that Skrtel's contract has been put on hold also, he enters his final 12 months in June

Skrtel needs to be sold. He is an awful defender, and Agger made him look good.

Kash_Mountain » Sat Apr 11, 2015 10:13 am wrote:Skrtel needs to be sold. He is an awful defender, and Agger made him look good.

Are you for real ?

Why on earth would you sell our best defender considering he's head and shoulders above anything else we have. We shouldn't have sold agger either as we failed to replace him with anything better and it will be the same with martin    Personally I think its worrying that his contract is also on hold till the end of the season as he will get offers elsewhere.

By my reckoning he is the only player in our side that would get a starting role at a bigger club and while he could head off to city or chelsea we will go cheap on a replacement. Whatever about losing sterling, martin is a player we cannot afford to lose.

Kash_Mountain » Sat Apr 11, 2015 9:13 am wrote:Skrtel needs to be sold. He is an awful defender, and Agger made him look good.

F'Kinell Kash !

He may not be the most technically gifted but overall this season he's been the best defender we've got ! Why the fk would you call for him to be sold ? It's not as if there's a queue of better CB's lining up to sign for us.

RTID and Woof Woof, I understand what you are saying both because I used to think the same. However, speaking to friends about the defence, they pointed out a number of things, in particular, things about Skrtel. So I started watching more of his play and movement,  and what was pointed out to me was right.

1: When you watch him, you notice that he actually sits/drops really deep time after time and because of this, he drags the whole team back and plays the opponents strikers onside.
2:  He has no pace, so he drops back.
3: Skrtel makes really bad and rash challenges and exposes  the team because of this, especially those in the immediate vicinity. This this is because he has no positional idea or sense, then makes all the rash challenges
4: He’s terrible at communicating with his team mates. In fact, I don’t think he communicates at all which leaves his partner and other team mates with no idea as to what he is going to do at any moment. He could, all of a sudden burst forward to make one of his crazy rash challenges leaving his teams mates to wonder what the heck he is doing.
5: When you watch him, you notice that he really doesn’t anticipate anything. Anticipation is one sign of a good defender, he doesn’t it. 
6 You know, LFC are  having to go 5 at the back because of him (basically babysitting him) This is to cover his deficiencies.
7: He may win headers and make last ditch tackles, having said that, if that was the only thing to make a good defender, I’d be very good  . He may be good at headers in the opposition box, but in the LFC area, his heading is poor.
8: He actually makes other defenders and defending systems look rubbish. The other defenders we have are good, yet when they have to partner Skrtel, especially in a 4 man defence system, they always look rubbish. I remember Hyppia and Henchoz, they always has very good comms between them, anticipating things all the time and taking up good positions to stop the opposition in their track. With Skrtel, there is none of this.
9: When you watch him, watch how he gets bullied by any opposition player that shows/has a bit of physical strength
10: Agger and Carra actually worked their game around Skrtel and made him look good (shame BR didn’t notice this). Agger and Carra were both pulling the strings.  Agger and Carra were deep lying defenders, though, when they were around, LFC actually played a deeper line, therefore not really a problem. The major issue LFC face now is that he is playing with players that just aren't sure what he is going to do at any moment, hence LFC, defensively, look all over the place. LFC could really do with a defensive coach right now, but this is one aspect, he is a problem because of the things I mentioned above. If LFC really want to stop the opposition in their track and push up high to deny space, Skrtel wouldn’t know what to do because he’ll be looking to drop off. All this without any comms to his team mates or whoever is partnering him that this is want he’s doing, which then leaves wide space either side of him. I think that if he wants to help himself, he must start to communicate.

I've been saying the past 2 seasons that Skrtel isn't a top 4 defender. The fact that people now think he's our best shows how far our back 4 have fallen, rather than MArtin's improvement.