Oh Danny Boy

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Agger. Daniel Agger.

http://www.football.co.uk/Images/news/400x400_1222200236_spt_ai_liverpoolvcrewe_07.jpg

What are your thoughts?

First off. I think he needs to get a new agent. Second off. I think he needs to stop going back to Denmark and/or stop speaking to the Danish press. Those are the two things that are causing the biggest problems with Liverpool trying to get him a new deal, with Liverpool trying to seal his long-term future with .

Here are my thoughts on Agger and the whole situation.

Right now. Skrtel and Carragher are ahead of Agger. Carragher is our defensive stalwart, and Skrtel is an in form defender. One thing that Daniel Agger has above Skrtel is his attacking and ball-playing abilities from the back. However, Skrtel is quickly closing the gap in that department, and on top of that Skrtel has settled nicely and has formed a good defensive partnership with Carragher.

I really do think Rafa has a big job ahead of him. He has to convince Agger to stay. He has to convince a quality defensive player, who has drawn interest from all around Europe, to stay, fight for his place, and be alright with not starting every game (or even every other game). I honestly don't know how he is going to do it.

Now losing Agger wouldn't be the end of the world. We do have some quality young center backs coming through the ranks (Hobbs, Kelly, Huth, San Jose, Kennedy, etc.). However, none of these players have proven that they will be/are the quality player that Agger is.

I am hoping we can keep him. I think we will keep him. All I am saying is that we shouldn't hold our breath on his stay, and we should be prepared to look at our other options.

If Rafa does decide to sell him, I hope he can get a good price for him (12+ M would be ideal, and not too much at all).

[AussieLFCfan]

Rafa better not f'n sell Agger!

Here's my solution. Play Carra at RB occasionally and Skrtel and Agger in the middle. At least against weaker teams then everyone is happy.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

Rafa better not f'n sell Agger!

Here's my solution. Play Carra at RB occasionally and Skrtel and Agger in the middle. At least against weaker teams then everyone is happy.

Our performances went to shit when Carragher moved to right back. We can't make our team worse just to satisfy one player.

I think against weaker teams we should play the 3-4-3. Much like we did against Pompey. Agger, Skrtel, and Carragher can all get the start.

[blanconi]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_4914133,00.html

[Kawklee]

People who look terrible in the LFC kit: Bellamy, Keane

People who look like they've been ready for it all their life: Agger. (Plus all the other greats :P)

[AussieLFCfan]

I think against weaker teams we should play the 3-4-3. Much like we did against Pompey. Agger, Skrtel, and Carragher can all get the start.

That suits me fine....

[juanca]

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Does His contract really Expire at the end of This season?

[kingb71]

No, NEXT season (2009/10)

[el-capitano]

He should know comments like this may turn the fans away from him. At the moment he's well liked, but if he starts to portray himself as a martyr, Crouch, Keano style, then that opinion may change quickly.

He needs to suck it up. Carra won't be an every game player in a few years, and Agger 'could' become one of our greats, if he sticks around. I guess it depends whether its about his loyalty to the club or not. ;)

[pete99]

something that i've been wondering is how agger is attracting all this attention yet skrtel is not. why would other teams want a center back who isn't playing over one who is in form? it's either a case of agger really is the better player and rafa doesn't see it or skrtel is just not a wanted item for some reason? rather confusing to me

[kingb71]

Or Agger has pissed off Rafa somehow, like Keane must have.

[juanca]

A player can only begin talking to other clubs when his contract has 6 months remaining on it, correct?

What if he refuses to sign a contract extension? do you guys think Rafa would sell him this summer or bench him in the reserves?

He is a very good CB, and one that shouldn't have to wait 2-3 years for carragher to retire in order for him to play, IMHO. But, at a top club like any other, there are allways several good players at the same position,so....

Ill be watching this, I'd love to see if Arsene wenger could turn his head to The Gunners. hey, its just a dream;)

[adammac19]

I don't blame him for being a bit mad about how things turned out for him. He had to wait at the start of the season for his chance to play because Skrtel was playing quite well from the start and then Skrtel got hurt Agger got his chance. After a rusty couple games he played as good as Carra/Sami has all season.

Now Skrtel comes back from injury and simple logic was that Skrtel was going to have to wait like Agger did at the start of the season because Agger/Carra was doing well but no Rafa takes Agger out and puts Skrtel right away leaving Agger out of the starting XI and squad in some games. When something like this happens and it seems the rules don't apply to everyone then you have to think the manager doesn't rate you as high and he can't waste his career waiting for Carra to retire because who knows how long that will be.

I think it will be a damn shame to lose Agger who I think brings something that none of the other defenders do which is great passing and vision. Skrtel has gotten better and more confidant in bringing the ball up unlike Carra was has always been a hoff ball master.

[CCSC_STRIKER20]

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Does His contract really Expire at the end of This season?

Next season, but he could buy out his contract this summer for something around 2 M.

[Matt Clark]

Tricky situation. Basically, he needs to shut up and stop whining, recognise that he has the opportunity to become one half of the strongest starting CB partnership we've had since the 1980's and get himself a bit of perspective.

If only life were that simple. Of course he's jugged at not being played as much as he would like. Especially when he knows he can go to another big club, for more money, and will probably be able to choose one that's looking for a new starting CB.

The impasse at the moment is about his wage demands, which are said to be £70k a week (i.e. more than Carragher, Alonso, Reina and Mascherano, all of whom are on Tier Three in the wage structure). Thing there is that, as a free agent, he will easily get that sort of money from AC Milan or whomever he ends up going to, if he leaves. So the club need to do some delicate sums. Replacing Agger with a player of similar calibre is likely to cost the club more than keeping him on that level of deal. But they will have to factor in the likelihood of a not entirely orderly queue forming outside the manager's office when word gets round that the bit part CB has been promoted up the pay structure. Certainly, if that were to pass, any scaring looking people called Martin might look anew at what they find in their pay packets.

[revelationx]

Tricky situation. Basically, he needs to shut up and stop whining, recognise that he has the opportunity to become one half of the strongest starting CB partnership we've had since the 1980's and get himself a bit of perspective.

If only life were that simple. Of course he's jugged at not being played as much as he would like. Especially when he knows he can go to another big club, for more money, and will probably be able to choose one that's looking for a new starting CB.

The impasse at the moment is about his wage demands, which are said to be £70k a week (i.e. more than Carragher, Alonso, Reina and Mascherano, all of whom are on Tier Three in the wage structure). Thing there is that, as a free agent, he will easily get that sort of money from AC Milan or whomever he ends up going to, if he leaves. So the club need to do some delicate sums. Replacing Agger with a player of similar calibre is likely to cost the club more than keeping him on that level of deal. But they will have to factor in the likelihood of a not entirely orderly queue forming outside the manager's office when word gets round that the bit part CB has been promoted up the pay structure. Certainly, if that were to pass, any scaring looking people called Martin might look anew at what they find in their pay packets.

Yes the wages may be a reason for the delay. However Agger will only leave over playing time. If he is not getting enough playing time then he will seek it out elsewhere. There is no point him going elsewhere if he is still not playing there.

Unlike some, I don't think Rafa should move Carra to RB in order to accommodate Agger. Team selection should be made for tactical or fitness reasons only rather than contractual reasons. I don't think it helps the team to drop Arbeloa for Agger. If this move improved our chances of winning matches then this is what we should be doing anyway. Similarly changing formation to keep one player happy is not the way forward either. It is possible to change a formation to maximise the characteristics of a player and enhance the team's performance (like 4-2-3-1 is built around Gerrard and Torres). I am not sure that switching to a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 makes us more effective except against certain weak defences.

Agger has to play in place of Skrtel or Carra or not at all. Rafa should not rotate his centre-backs too much as partnerships in that area are so important.

[revelationx]

A player can only begin talking to other clubs when his contract has 6 months remaining on it, correct?

What if he refuses to sign a contract extension? do you guys think Rafa would sell him this summer or bench him in the reserves?

He is a very good CB, and one that shouldn't have to wait 2-3 years for carragher to retire in order for him to play, IMHO. But, at a top club like any other, there are allways several good players at the same position,so....

Ill be watching this, I'd love to see if Arsene wenger could turn his head to The Gunners. hey, its just a dream;)

If Agger refuses to sign a contract extension then he will be sold in the summer.

You should be aware that Walcott and Van Persie have contracts that expire at the same time as Agger.

[juanca]

If Agger refuses to sign a contract extension then he will be sold in the summer.

You should be aware that Walcott and Van Persie have contracts that expire at the same time as Agger.

Yes i am aware of that, its a normal occurence.
hopefully both will sign new contracts soon.

In our case, The only difference is that We desperately could use a player like Agger, which is why i said it would be a dream come true if we got agger, however unlikely that is.

[AndSomeAreAngels]

Yes i am aware of that, its a normal occurence.
hopefully both will sign new contracts soon.

In our case, The only difference is that We desperately could use a player like Agger, which is why i said it would be a dream come true if we got agger, however unlikely that is.

We could desperately use a pacy right-winger; I'm not holding my breath that Walcott will be wearing our shirt any time soon.

[juanca]

We could desperately use a pacy right-winger; I'm not holding my breath that Walcott will be wearing our shirt any time soon.



Look, I was under the initial presumption that Aggers' Contract expires at the end of THIS season. Which means that he "could" allready be discussing terms with other clubs, Any club.
Hopefully no harm was done here, And i understand you animosity towards another club or me, especially a rival one, trying to take or talk about your players (allthough we know this is completely false and just speculations from blogs & tabloids).

But....after that was cleared up, and in fact he has 18months left, that basically cancels out my initial post.

In that time, alot can happen. Rafa will either sign him up, or sell him out of the league, as i'd doubt he'd want to strengthen a Rival Team.

But he is a Good player and a Liverpool player.