Liverpool's shaky defence

Kenny Dalglish

Dalglish must have a major headache after the previous two league games and it won’t get any better it seems. First it looks like Jamie Carragher’s time at top level is starting to run out. The defender has shown time and time again that he doesn’t have the pace that is needed at the top of the league. And Dalglish needs wake up and realize that Carragher can’t compensate the lack of pace with experience and smartness. The problem might be that without their talisman and captain Steven Gerrard he has lacked leaders in the side and therefore can’t bench Carragher? In my opinion Daglish needs to think further then just this season and start planning Liverpool without a Carragher. That being said I have the deepest respect for what Carragher have done for the club. He is a type of player that shows the dedication and effort that all the managers, supporters and clubs dream of. It’s like The Kop sings “We all dream of a team of Carraghers”.



Carragher is not the only problem in the Liverpool defence. Daniel Agger is a world class defender when he is fit. He is a playing defender that got the technique and skill run with the ball and support the midfield with threw balls. The problem with Agger is that he plays 10 or top 15 games in a season. Some might say he is unlucky but one starts to wonder if you look at the long list of injuries during his time at Anfield. But I guess Liverpool is stuck with Agger even if they wanted to sell him, because who would buy a player that is injuried 60-70% of the season? Latest news is two broken ribs after a fall against Tottenham in the last match.



Sebastian Coates looked like a good signing after winning Copa America with Uruguay. Some experts questioned his pace tough and wondering if the young defender could adapt from the slow play South-America to the fast playing style in England. I will be careful to slaughter him after the performance against Tottenham. Because to be fair to the young lad the team was poor and defending with 1 or 2 less players than the opponents are impossible. So I will give him more time, but to me he looked like some said, very slow. And if you don’t have pace you won’t be able to perform at a top team in Europe in my opinion. Then you at least need to have a fast companion besides you, and at the current time Liverpool don’t have a central defender with pace. But as I said, I will give the young talent more time to show what he is capable to do.


Now that was Liverpool’s problem in the central defence. Looking at their right back position the things aren’t looking much better. Both Glenn Johnson and Martin Kelly have been out with injuries. And even though they are both named in the national side when they are fit, it’s still a huge problem for Liverpool when they are injuried all the time. They have like Daniel Agger whey to many injuries during a whole season. This have left Daglish to experience on the right side after young John Flanagan lost 2 points to the club in the opening match against Sunderland it doesn’t look like Daglish have enough faith in him. This has left the manager with Martin Skrtel at right back which is ridicules at this level. Skrtel looked like a little boy against Tottenham. He didn’t know what to do or where to go, and rounded it up with getting a red card with an awful challenge on Bale.


Only thing that is looking good for Daglish at this time is that Enrique has looked very strong and Reina is still the best goalkeeper in the league in my opinion. But I think Dalglish is having a rollercoaster feeling ending up with a huge headache when it comes to his current Liverpool defence.