Poll: Liverpool’s Best Centre Back Pairing

By: Noel | November 15th, 2011

In our last poll, we asked if it was important for Liverpool to include at least one traditional winger in its Plan A, first choice starting eleven. It could mean continuing with Stewart Downing, or it could mean searching for another option in future transfer windows, and it wouldn’t preclude alternate approaches based on opponent and form, but on the whole readers overwhelmingly felt that having a traditional winger as part of the club’s preferred approach was important to the tune of 66.41% for and only 33.59% against. And with that question out of the way, it’s time to move on to an issue that has been front and centre over the past few weeks, with Jamie Carragher’s recent injury providing the chance to see some of Liverpool’s other options at centre back.

In short, who would you start as the first centre back pairing? Are you a Carragher loyalist who would slot him back in as soon as he’s healthy? Is Agger too injury prone to include if you buy into the idea that stability in the middle is the key to defensive solidity? Has Martin Skrtel’s improved form over the past year removed doubts that formed over the previous two? Or is it even time to throw caution to the wind and move Martin Kelly inside should both he and Glen Johnson remain fit for an extended period?

Elsewhere on the pitch, some will defend the inclusion of Jordan Henderson over Dirk Kuyt because they believe it’s better for the club’s future if Henderson gets time to develop now. In defence, where Carragher is getting on in years and for some Martin Skrtel is no longer a legitimate first choice despite that improved form since Steve Clarke arrived, can a similar argument be made for including Coates in the first choice pairing today for what it would bring to the club in future seasons? Based on his performance in the League Cup, a near perfect outing aside from one major error that began the sequence of events leading to Stoke City’s goal, some might even argue that Coates has shown more in his time on the pitch this season to argue for his regular inclusion in the starting eleven than Henderson.

Last autumn, the Daniel Agger-Martin Skrtel pairing was, as expected, the preferred choice of Liverpool Offside readers. Surprisingly, however, that pair’s victory was exceptionally narrow, with the proposed partnership of Agger with Sotirios Kyrgiakos missing out on top spot by only a handful of votes. Since then, Kyrgiakos has of course left—and he didn’t exactly cover himself in glory in the second half of last season, when he seemed to quite nearly guarantee the opposition a penalty kick in every game he played. In the case of Agger, his ongoing injury concerns haven’t gone away over the past twelve months, and even if he’s been relatively fit this season there are more now who believe his fitness record is an insurmountable problem. Meanwhile, Carragher’s another year older and the club have acquired a young centre back who seems likely to anchor the line in the coming years.

So let us know who you’d like to see as Liverpool’s first choice partnership week in and week out for the rest of the season. Are you focused on immediate results? Putting a priority on future development? Looking to cover for players with injury concerns? And as always, let us know the reasoning behind your vote in the comment section.

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Category: Miscellaneous, Premier League

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Danny

agger skrtel. agger because hes world class when at his best. skrtel because he is competant at worst, and looks mean. him and agger may actually be our two hardest looking players. now theres a poll to be had.
Azri_lp

I will choose Daniel Munthe Agger and Sebastian Coates Nion...Does anyone know that we once had Alonso, Mascherano, Aquilani, Meireles...what a combative midfielders!!!!
KC

It's hard to vote for Coates and Agger when I haven't seen them play together. But I am really looking forward to this pairing and seeing how it will work. I voted for Skrtel and Agger though and I can't really explain why but I feel like we play a little better from the back with these two.
Mike

Noel... Rumor post soon? I'd love to read your thoughts on the villa lucas crap thats been everywhere... Also fuck disqus...
Mike

Dagger and skittles. For now. Coates and agger in the future though...give the big kid a chance...
redtrev73

I love Carra but it is time for D'Agger to be number one and at present Skrtel is due a start alongside him. Realistically speaking, it's not like our Danish man-of-glass won't give Jamie a chance to reassert his top-dog status.
Geoff Twentyman

Carra's age
D'Agger's biscuit bones
Skrtel's lack of evidence proving he's the man

These are all reasons why we need to sign a top top top centre back in January; someone who can play themselves into an undroppable position by the end of the season.
Purify_the_body

If we sign any top top top player in January, I hope he's a midfielder. Midfield is really the only position we are not ready for the CL right now.
JPR

Couldn't agree more. We have Kelly to transition to CB, DAgger, Carra, Unrealque & Jonno, Skrtel as backup and Coates in development. We need a world class mid now. We have Chaz pairing Lucas as a CDM which he is totally unsuited for and Stevie in the training room and not getting any younger and Hendo in development.
CheekyFellow

To think, we once had Aquilani, Meireles, Gerrard, and Lucas all in the center...f*ck
DJ-Chutfield

Yeah, those 0-11-0 jokes seem so far away now...
Thomas Hoppe

It would be nice to see three at the back again with some of the youth:

Kelly or Skrtel on the right
Coates, Skrtel, Carragher or even Kelly in the center
Agger on the left.

Does anyone see Danny Wilson making it at the club?
Latortillablanca

not at the rate he's gone since he's been here... to be fair, his development has been completely mismanaged. that deal shoulda been done italy style where we purchased his rights and loan straight back to rangers for like 2 seasons.
Geoff Twentyman

Having never seen him play at centre back, I can't give you an informed opinion.

He's 19 isn't he?

Same age Badstuber started the break through at Bayern and he gets quite a bit of game time although it's well known he's not the finished article.

Difference at Bayern is that they were quite happy to ship out the 32/33 year olds in front of him.

Carra's a local lad and with his service deserves to be handled well and that will just delay Coates/Kelly and Wilsons migration into the 1st team. Will it mean through reduced minutes on the pitch it hampers their development at their age? I hope not.
Thomas Hoppe

He played center back at Exeter in the Carling Cup this season. He performed fine but he was never put under pressure so it's hard to draw much from. He turns twenty in December but yes he is nineteen. I ask the question because he seems so irrelevant most of time and nobody ever talks about his progress
Sandro

I think Wilson won't get a chance. Even if Jamie doesn't remain first choice he'll still remain for a couple more years to provide squad depth (hopefully like Hyypia did in his final years when he was still great). So that means he's stuck behind 4 centre backs, one of whom will get injured alot, but being 5th in line in the middle and having shown an inability to play leftback suggests he needs to go on loan to get a chance to prove himself.
Geoff Twentyman

A loan back to a better league than the SPL would have been great. i like the idea someone mentioned on another thread that our youth should perhaps be loaned out abroad to broaden their horizons and further their education.

Some players perhaps to a techincal league ie Portugal, others perhaps to Eredivisie for other reasons..
Thomas Hoppe

I absolutely agree about sending players to other leagues for development. It seems like Comolli should have the time and resources to send some of promising talent to leagues other than the Championship so they can get a different experience. As well, it would probably help strengthen some relationships and reputation in different parts of Europe. Your mention of leagues where technical skill is more of focus is an excellent example.
Alan

Kelly and agger
Luis Suarez dentist

It's simple. If you are good enough you are young or old enough. Agger and Skrtel is the best bet on current form.
Sandro

I'm yet to actually watch Gary Cahill play in any matches for Bolton apart from against Liverpool? Was wondering what people (apart from the English media) think of him and whether he would be a better option than Skrtel in the future? With Cahill being off contract and Kenny's love of the English, him coming in either in January or year's end doesn't seem too remote?

My big concern if we were to invest in a new centre back such as Cahill would be that it would stunt Coates's growth, wish he'd get more gametime.
Geoff Twentyman

I see him as a very good play and at 25/6 is reaching his peak. Can he suddenly kick on another 10% to be classed as an NT stalwart and club legend? I'm not sure.
Latortillablanca

yeah i dont really see much between skrtel and cahill, would be kinda redundant. we need to aim higher than that.
Red2death

I'd like to see some consistency in the team selection vis-a-vis form vs. youth. It's all well and good to continue playing future stars like Hendo and Downing at the expense of better more experienced options like Kuyt and Bellamy, justified by the need to build up a strong core for the long term. But then when it comes to defence, suddenly that argument doesn't apply anymore - Carra's the automatic choice and Kelly, Coates, Wilson will just have to wait for their turn.

So, what's the real criteria? Slightly incoherent strategy.
Latortillablanca

its an inneresting idea, but kelly's definitely gotten his chances, and its been skrtel keepin coates out as much as anyone...
Waiting for Sterling

Skagger only because of form. It would be nice to see consistence from those two.
Latortillablanca

firstly, the initial reminder about the winger post - im all about wide players, and wingers, and advocated not only downing, but at least another class winger. the recent point about the 4312 after watching how class uruguay look in that formation still takes into account the wingers. Why? because tactically, it is my humble belief that the 4312, more so than a 442, is closely related and easily interchangeable with a 433. that defines stuey and to-be-purchased-winger as fully in the picture for 20-25 games a year depending on squad rotation. Tabarez is so effective with that uruguay team cuz his top attaclomg players (suarez, cavani, forlan, lodeiro, ramirez, hernandez) are easily to sub n plug from a 'trident 3' to a 'trequartista' and back. i believe liverpool has that same flexibility. that said, the king hates substitutions before the 79th minute, so maybe its a bit much to suggest squad rotation.

as far as the cb question, and i dont make this statement lightly because i hold my elders in such high regard, but the king needs to stretch out that carra injury as far as possible and continue to start skrtel-agger. two reasons. one, skrtel-agger, when you take everything into account (leadership, athleticism, matchups, tactical flexibility, chemistry) just Looks better than any other partnership we've come up with in the past 3 seasons. it just does. and i think they've earned at least the citeh game to prove that to us once and for all. secondly, i think carra's sunset era has been pushed back too far, and we're asking him to do too much. now, i dont mean this in the sense that carra's legs are gone and fuck him. i mean this in that classic italian club style of, when your guys get old you get creative in how you rotate your squad. an old talisman gets injured and is supposed to recover in 3 weeks, well, you give him 5 weeks off and play it off as 'getting his legs back'. know what i mean? and this is the way you let old guys phase out gracefully, and we just havent done that with carra. its unfair to him. its unfair to us. give him another week off, wtf not? you get the confidence boost to the skrtel-agger partnership, plus carra gets the message that its ok for him to start lettin go on some of that pride, and if all goes poorly, you slot the vice captain back in and act like nothing happened. to me, and i love carra to death, but the way the season's going, we gotta go with the hot hands in every position for the rest of the holiday period, no questions asked.
Geoff Twentyman

Absolutely - at 33, this season should have been all about migrating JC away from being 1st choice at CB.
Thomas Hoppe

I agree about Carra's victory lap being postponed a little too long. I was hoping, somewhat like you, that this injury would be milked. But with the way the club website treated Carra's return to training it looks as though he is going to slot right back in.
Wainwright

Carragher was a top centre back, now he's just there for his shouting ability. He is good at throwing himself into last ditch tackles but his tendency to play deep to protect his lack of pace undermines any pressing game Liverpool attempt. As for his hoofing, it's a disgrace to the players in the team who want to play football.
jpr

Martin Ronald Kelly, Daniel Munthe Agger.
Ishaan Krishna

Voting for Agger Skrtel doesn't really do Carra justice, though. I still couldn't stop myself from shamelessly voting for Agtel!
mg

kelly and agger!!
Geoff Twentyman

Migrate Kelly into the position from now until the summer - yes.

Throw him in there now as a 1st choice CB - sorry mate; gotta disagree with you.