carra has been underperforming since the last 1/3 of last season, i dont know know if a rest will be then answer cause he has had the summer off and doesnt play for england any more maybe when agger comes back it might be time to get a new partnership develope but i do think this could be carras last season as a first time regular, suppose only time will tell really...
I dont think anyone is writing him off but he is clearly not the carra of 2005! eventually he will have to be phased out of the team and this could very well be the season!
unfortunately i agree - it'll be a tough call cos he's been the only mainstay in the team since rafa's arrival (bar stevie g) and the guy rafa trusts the most to carry out his instructions on the pitch. however i think in the past 18months or so the legs have gone and he's even struggling to get off the ground for headers now and being beaten comfortably in the air at times in 50-50 challenges - which never happened at his peak. even when hyppia's legs were gone he was still peerless in the air...i'd still play hyppia today in a game with lots of high balls into the box if he were still with us. once agger is fully fit rafa has a tough call to make, cos neither skertl or agger are as vocal as carra. tough one that
I don't think there alot between Carra, Skrtel or the big greek...but when Agger's fit he should go straight into the team, he's by far our best centre back now...
I agree I'm afraid. great servant to the club. Still possibly useful in the big games. His lack of pace is costing us games now big time because he's too reluctant to push the line further from the goal because he hasnt got the legs to get back. I think its time for Agger Skrtel partnership now
To be fair Skertel hasn't been perfoming as good as last year either. If you take Carra out of the side you lose the organising of the defense and Im not sure Karagiorgos or Agger would put their body on the line like Carra. I don't think he's undroppable but the defense as a unit hasn't been as clinical as last year, not just carra.
If ti means his performances improve against the bigger sides and his career is lenghtened, Im all on for not playing him in the Carling Cup and the early rounds of the FA Cup
All very true mate. I suspect part of the problem is the forced rotation, rather than us sticking to our core four in defence. Mind you, with with the recent additions, the question arises as to who our core four actually are now ? Having said that, sadly I also have to admit that JC is starting to show signs of aging, just the same has happens to everyone else. While he was never faster than a rocket, I think he's slowing down a little .... but thats just age, he still has the heart of a lion and no one will ever take that away from him. I wonder if it's time to start holding him back for the "bigger" games, rather than play him quite so often - hence maybe help him prolong his career a bit and give him more time to recover after each appearance ? While it's a few years yet before JC would be retiring, I'm getting flashbacks of people around me on the KOP on Sami's last day and thinking, there's going to be floods of tears from all of us in years to come when JC does have to retire. He's defo one in a million .... if not a billion and we've been extremely lucky to have him play for LFC, that will never change.
I disagree thats its time to drop him. He is still our best defender by along way. I was very surprised he played on Tuesday though, maybe its time to give him Carling cup and FA cup days off and hopefully the last 2 champions league group games too.
ok he hasnt been his best and the pressure is on people are wondering is it his last season as a first team regular. sounds very much like 2005 with hypia and look what followed he is definitly not at his best true, but his organisational skills are second to none but agger and skrtel are definitly the future and can i ask this question if all 3 where fit for chelsea who would people play?
Agger cant hold the defence like Carra, he is too quiet for a centre back and he wanders forward leaving gaps (he doesnt score every time he goes forward) and he couldnt hold down a place (even when he wasnt injured). Yes I agree his football can be easy on the eye at times, but he is not our best centre back, not by a long shot. Being a centre back is about defending, Agger is not a good (consistant) defender. Ive heard people compairing him to Alan Hanson, I think thats an insult to Alan Hanson, he is no where near his league. You need to replace players with better players to improve and personally, not only do I think Agger is not better than Carra (including at the moment), I dont think he will ever be as good as Carra. If there was ample cover at the moment, Id have sold him. Im all on for reducing Carra's games if it means he can last longer - Carra, although he peaked in 2006 for me, is still our best defender and centre back.
The team started a bit slowly this year as a whole. A lot of our players have had at least one bad game, and I'd include Gerrard and Torres in that. But dropping either of them wouldn't have made sense. We seem to be up and running now. So I'd be inclined to keep as much continuity as possible. Therefore I'd be keeping Carra in the side.
carra is still our best central defender, however rafa done him no favours playing him against leeds. the carling cup was an excellent opportunity to give him a rest as he did with stevie, nando, dirk etc - our other key players. we have plenty of young centre backs who could have played this game - eg ayala, kelly etc
Carra still has plenty of miles left on the clock! Far as I know Red, Kelly's away for the U-20 World Cup
For me Carra was maybe the best centre-back in europe between 2005-2007....everything you said above about him i would have agreed with about a year ago, but since around the time we played Chelsea at Anfield (in the CL) i dont think he's been playing at the same level... I agree about Carragher being better at organising the defence and a better talker, but is this enough for him to stay as first choice? because i think thats all he has over Agger and Skrtel...
Carra still top centre back for me, he hasn't been playing that great so far this but either has Skrtel both been fault with errors, when Agger is fit and 100% I would play him with Carra and Skrtel are to similar and Agger offers something else, between the 3 of them we should be good at centreback posistion for few more seasons
Whilst he has made a few high profile errors this season I don't think its time to drop him simply because he is the soul of the defence. Based on pure ability alone he wouldn't be in the side but its the things we don't notice like organising, motivating, putting his body on the line and all round leadership that he excels at. He also provides an added link between the fans and the team. I don't see any reason why he can't play for on for another 3 years. there is no doubt though that he isn't playing at the same level as before and I believe this has been going on for longer than a few months. Legend though he is, the one thing that always drove me nuts about Carra is the amount of long aimless balls he plays from the back. This seems to have got worse in the last year or so. However in games against the top teams he always excels where its last ditch back to the walls defending required. For me its horses for courses. Against the top teams Carra and Skrtel. Against park the bus teams Agger and Carra/Skrtel.
Nail on the head there mate, he is irrecplaceable for us at the moment! Neither skittles or agger has the authority to run the defence, both good footballers but defence is a lot more complicated than just putting in tackles. He calls the shots for all those around him and would definitely take a bullet for the club.