Liverpool came so close to winning the Premier League title that had eluded them for 24 years, but agonizingly fell just two points short of champions Manchester City. The blame has to lay squarely at the weak and porous defence that was broken down often over the course of the season. Despite scoring 101 goals, Liverpool had the worst defensive record out of the top six sides in the Premier League, conceding 50 goals. This displays that if Liverpool want to continue to be a genuine title contender, some amount of defensive reconstruction must be done. With the acquisition of Croatian centre-back Dejan Lovren, return to fitness of Uruguayan Sebastian Coates and also Portugal’s Tiago Ilori coming back from his loan spell at Granada, Brendan Rodgers has quite a lot of options to choose from. In this Power Rankings episode, we shall rank the Liverpool centre-back choices that are available right now.
Criteria:
The ranking of the centre-back is based on the following:
- Passes
- Interceptions
- Tackles
- Blocks
- Clearances
- Aerial dominance
- Frequency of errors
- Frequency of fouls
- Form in 2013/14 season
- Form in pre season
Liverpool Centre-Back Ratings
7) Tiago Ilori
The 21 year-old centre half had an injury ridden loan season at Granada, who were already pretty comfortable in the centre back department with the likes of hot prospect Jeison Murillo and captain Diego Mainz. Also the team plays a style of football distinctly different to that of Liverpool’s. However, Ilori surely gained experience and got games to play. It is sure that he has a superstar upside, but he must wait before he could break into Liverpool’s first XI. A loan move to a Premier League club, preferably to a team like Swansea (for example), would give the player the taste of English football and keep him ready for the next season.
Pass Completion Percentage: 79%
Tackles: 1.4 per game
Interceptions: 2.66 per game
Blocks: 0.88 per game
Clearances: 7.33 per game
Defensive Errors: 1
Fouls: 0.6 per game
2013/14 Form: C-
Pre-season Form: C+
6) Kolo Toure
Toure is a legend, an integral player as one of the legendary Arsenal “Invincibles” side and also a winner, who has won the Premier league title for both Arsenal and Manchester City. He has immense experience and no position is alien to him. He will be a guide to all young defending talents. This was why Toure was brought in and there’s no doubt that his presence in the dressing room mattered in Liverpool’s successful campaign. While Toure’s on the pitch exploits will probably be limited this season, his off the pitch leadership and guidance will indirectly help Liverpool’s top four bid.
Pass Completion Percentage: 86%
Tackles: 1.7 per game
Interceptions: 0.8 per game
Blocks: 0.7 per game
Clearances: 7.4 per game
Defensive Errors: 3
Fouls: 0.6 per game
2013/14 Form: C+
Pre-season Form: B-
5) Sebastian Coates
Coates was an extremely exciting young defender when Liverpool first brought him to Anfield and was brilliantly solid while staying subtle with the ball at his feet. But a cruel ACL injury put him to bed for a long time and now the 24 year old finds a mountain to climb to get back into Liverpool’s starting squad. However, bright pre-season performances have shown that maybe all hope is not lost. The Uruguayan showed form similar to that of before the dreadful injury and the player is also relatively young.
Pass Completion Percentage: N/A
Tackles: N/A
Interceptions: N/A
Blocks: N/A
Clearances: N/A
Defensive Errors: N/A
Fouls: N/A
2013/14 Form: N/A
Pre-season Form: B+
4) Daniel Agger
Last year this time, fans and experts alike were discussing about whom Liverpool should buy to partner Daniel Agger, who was set to become Liverpool’s vice captain. In just a season, things have changed dramatically as the Danish stalwart fell out of favour, and new signing Mamadou Sakho replaced him to good effect. The 29 year old’s injury made it difficult to come back into the squad and now there are speculations of him moving to new pastures, with possible destinations as Napoli and Barcelona. As of now he is still a Liverpool player, and if the player is willing to stay and fight for his place, it would create healthy competition in the centre back areas. Let’s not forget that he’s still a world class ball playing centre back who creates attacks, possesses excellent ability on the ball, has a rocket of a left foot and most of all, he has “YNWA” tattooed in his knuckles. It explains the love and affection he shares with the club.
Pass Completion Percentage: 89.1%
Tackles: 1.4 per game
Interceptions: 1.1 per game
Blocks: 0.4 per game
Clearances: 5.7 per game
Defensive Errors: 3
Fouls: 0.5 per game
2013/14 Form: B-
Pre-season Form: B-
3) Martin Skrtel
The exact opposite of Agger, Skrtel was expected to be offloaded in the summer of 2013, but the Slovakian, after a commanding performance vs Manchester United went on to experience an exhilarating campaign, scoring 7 goals. The defender was ranked at the top in the stat charts due to his no-nonsense defending style, putting in powerful tackles while also having a powerful heading ability at his disposal. Yet the 29 year old’s knack for scoring own goals cannot be underestimated as he put 4 goals past his own keeper over the duration of last season. Anyway, Skrtel was a key cog in Liverpool’s title race and would be expected to be important in the team’s next season as well.
Pass Completion Percentage: 91%
Tackles: 1.4 per game
Interceptions: 1.7 per game
Blocks: 1.1 per game
Clearances: 11.4 per game
Defensive Errors: 4
Fouls: 0.8 per game
2013/14 Form: B-
Pre-season Form: B-
2) Mamadou Sakho
Sakho didn’t have the most brilliant debut season ever, but despite being injured for a decent amount of time, he did show what a really good defender he is. His swashbuckling tackles, erudite ability to read the game and excellent passing describes the 24 year old, who still clearly has time to improve his game. The French defender scored once and hit the woodwork twice. Sakho had communication problems with Skrtel. In the national side where he was paired with Varane, Sakho was a commanding and imposing figure. He’s not as confident on the ball and with more regular game time he will surely become a much better player. Look forward to seeing him star in the upcoming season.
Pass Completion Percentage: 92.5%
Tackles: 1.5 per game
Interceptions: 1.5 per game
Blocks: 0.4 per game
Clearances: 7.6 per game
Defensive Errors: 2
Fouls: 0.6 per game
2013/14 Form: B
Pre-season Form: A-
1) Dejan Lovren
Although donning the Red shirt for the first time recently, Lovren is quite simply the best defender Liverpool currently have at their disposal. He can make devastating tackles, but is very well known for his ability to begin attacks from the back. He is an astute dribbler of the ball, which is very uncanny for a centre back. He can also produce pinpoint long balls forward which are very important in Liverpool’s counter attacking style. Lovren doesn’t make many mistakes and he supplements by scoring a couple of goals or more a season, most noticeably against his current side a year ago at Anfield. A fluent speaker of French because of his time at Lyon, he can be paired with Sakho. Lovren is also extremely versatile, able to play on both centre back roles.
Pass Completion Percentage: 82%
Tackles: 2 per game
Interceptions: 2.7 per game
Blocks: 0.3 per game
Clearances: 7.7 per game
Defensive Errors: 1
Fouls: 0.8 per game
2013/14 Form: A
Pre-season Form: N/A
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