By Patch Hudson
This summer has been ace from my perspective. Rather than gambling on foreign players who were at, or approaching the age of 30 with no experience in the quick, physical Premier League, we are going for players who are young, hungry, and British, with experience in the Premier League. Most importantly, these players want to be at Liverpool.
Having addressed our midfield quite sufficiently, now being in a dilemma of who to sell or loan, we already have another dilemma on our hands.
In the early period of the summer it was reported that we were interested in Phil Jones, Gary Cahill, and Scott Dann. While the midfield recruits headlined our transfer news, alongside the longing need of a top-quality left back, the topic of buying a top-quality centre-back slowly faded into the shadows.
Until now.
In the recent match against Hull, not only was the score line embarrassing, but some of the defending was just dreadful (mostly speaking of the second and third goals, the first was pretty poor as well). There was nobody taking charge, organising the defence, or even pressing themselves! This prompted me to ponder our centre-back situation:
Carra – Legend. Always has been and always will be. Even at 33 he has proven he is still one of the top defenders in the league.
Agger – Oozes class and is easily one of, if not, the best defenders in the league when fit, which is his downfall. Statistics show he’s only played 41% of Liverpool’s games since at the club. Very injury prone.
Soto – The big Greek. Soto has proven to be a valuable asset on corners to us in the past few seasons. Hardly top class, but has proven to be a good back-up, but has too often been first choice. Simply not LFC class.
Skrtel – The man who could kill with a stare. Played all 90 mins of every match during the season. Very good CB but if we want to win the title, or be back in the Champions League, we must have a better centre-back.
Wilson – Too young, to put it simply. I rate the kid highly, but hasn’t played enough to garner any hype or put pressure on the starting CB’s. Also played out of position far too many times. I would love to see him loaned out to another Premier League club to get experience.
Upon assessing these options, I felt we need a Centre-Back badly. One that is international class, while being young, and British in order to fulfil FSG policy. It was clear that Phil Jones was our priority, but he’s buggered off to the scum. Which leaves Scott Dann and Gary Cahill, both highly rated.
Gary Cahill is the only one of the two to have any international experience, and he’s just a year older than Dann. He is also one of the most highly-rated defenders in the country, and would be the first choice centre back for England alongside John Terry, once (the twat) Rio Ferdinand has finally been shifted. John Terry himself has told Chelsea to buy Cahill. For LFC, this represents an opportunity: a chance to capture a prized asset, in a position in dire need of reconstruction. However, his price tag seems to be the major issue.
Bolton are demanding £17m pounds for the player, which, for some reason is a stumbling block. Seeing as how crazy the market is today with young, English players, £17m seems reasonable. Also, after being presented with this opportunity, we’ve been given an absolute gift from god in this scenario. Bolton have shown interest in David N’gog (please don’t ask why). This means that with the ball in our court, we could possibly negotiate a deal for Cahill, with cash + N’gog offer. With us valuing N’gog at £6m, and Bolton valuing him at £3m. Even getting £5 mil for him would be a bloody miracle! This would also mean Cahill would just cost £12 million, a mere £1m-£2m more expensive than Dann.
It is a common-sense move that would adhere to the old adage “defence wins championships”.
Please follow me on twitter @itsphud I’m desperately lacking in LFC followers :(