Liverpool’s back four has been up for debate by Liverpool fans who are starting to believe that the impossible is possible -winning the premier league title. Liverpool is winning games but conceding a large amount of goals, and this fact should be cause for some concern among the Liverpool faithful.
The Reds have only conceded six goals to the opposition in Premier League matches this season at home, the best defensive record in the Premier League. This play has helped to make Anfield a fortress at the back end. So what is the problem? Quite simply, it has been the LFC defense away from home, where their defensive record currently sits 16th. Overall, this averages out to the eighth best defense in the league. These are not the type of statistics you would want to see from a team that is meant to be challenging for top-four and beyond.
The one upside to the defence is they have strength in depth but Brendan Rodgers doesn’t seem to know his starting eleven yet and if he does then something must be wrong…
So far Liverpool have had many pairings at center back. This has all coincided with Martin Skrtel keeping his place in the team and Mamadou Sakho (injury-free) seems to be Brendan Rodgers’ preference over Daniel Agger or Kolo Toure for the other starting place. Many would argue why Brendan hasn’t tried to use Sakho and Agger as the main two. Rodgers’ reasoning for this is that they are both left sided CB’S and therefore neither has much experience playing on the right-hand side and Liverpool cannot afford any more clumsy defensive errors if they want to play in the Champions League come next season. Saying this, it is naturally Kolo Toure versus Martin Skrtel for the right side and Daniel Agger versus Mamadou Sakho for the left side.
On the right side, Kolo Toure started the season in great form and then, as Skrtel came in, he wavered but was still producing the goods. Rodgers seemed to lose faith in Toure after a terrible performance against Arsenal where Liverpool lost 2-0. Toure was careless in his positioning and was slow on the mark, overall he looked sluggish and below-par. He has made 16 appearances this season, with three coming off the bench. Skrtel on the other hand came into the team for the match against Manchester United and played a superb game. This has seemed to stick with him as he has made 20 appearances scoring two goals and getting one assist which is not too bad for a defender. At times he has been a little prone to clumsiness, but his determination to play for the club and for a first team place and make it his has shone through. For this he keeps a starting berth over Toure when the whole squad is fit.
Now, for the other center half battle and the more interesting analysis out of the two comparisons. It has been a odd season for Daniel Agger, as he was named vice-captain to Steven Gerrard and then he hasn’t been played due to injury and the form of other players (Sakho, Skrtel). This led to him having to come out and pledge his future to the club. Agger recently said in an interview, “There is no reason to believe these rumors” when asked if he would leave Anfield, provided he doesn’t nail down a first team spot. The other reason for the lack of playing time for the great Dane is that he is often beaten in aerial battles. Sakho, on the other hand, has no problem in this part of the game. A strong, dominant figure is what Sakho has proven to be since his big-money move from Paris Saint- Germain. He is sometimes clumsy with his play and therefore can make mistakes but Liverpool will miss him being in the team and therefore he gets the vote over Daniel Agger.
At the beginning of the season, Liverpool seemed to have no problems in the right back position. Glen Johnson, the England International, will be the club’s first team starter and, with Martin Kelly coming back from injury, will be given a push to play some good football (not to mention him hoping to start for England this summer in Brazil). This has not been the case. Johnson has made plenty of appearances and has looked weak offensively and therefore has not been able to cover defensively due to him losing the ball quite frequently in the final third. This could of been okay if, say, Martin Kelly stepped up but Rodgers seems to have lost faith in the talented youngster. Through all of this a light has shone throne in the form of John Flanagan. A natural right-back converted to left back due to poor form of Aly Cissokho and injury hampering Jose Enrique’s season. Flanagan has shone maturity beyond belief and even topped it off with a superb finish in the 5-0 rout of Tottenham. Injury has taken him too but when he is fit it is only right to give the lad a chance to show himself in the right back position and I wouldn’t bet against him playing the position impeccably. He gets my vote.
Lastly and most worryingly is the left back position. That too seemed sorted out. Jose Enrique could iron out his defensive mistakes come the start the season and Aly Cissokho comes with experience that Liverpool needs, but apparently not. Cissokho is average at best and, with Enrique, will have a player that runs up the pitch but doesn’t get back to help out defensively and Liverpool are exploited in this sense. Saying this, he is Liverpool’s best player and has excellent passing range and could be successful. He is therefore my pick.
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