Martin Skrtel - The Terminator

Rafa Bentiez struck gold when he signed unknown Martin Skrtel from Zenit St Petersburg for a club record fee of 6.5m for a defender overtaking the price we paid for Daniel Agger in 2006.

You know what you are going to get with Martin (says what it does on the tin) a tough tackling centre half who puts his life on the line with a cheeky eye for goal (4 so far this season) with his most importantly coming in the Carling Cup Final last weekend.

He has doubled the amount of times he managed to find the back of the net in the whole of last season.

Nonetheless, while pleased to be offering more in attack for Kenny Dalglish's side, Martin Skrtel insists he takes more satisfaction from a job well done in defence.

"I have got a few more (goals) and I'm pleased about that because before I came to Liverpool I used to score a few," he said.

"It is not my focus, though. It is my job to help the team defend. I would prefer it if the goals were scored by someone else and I helped the team keep a clean sheet."

Martin Skrtel admits that 'this is the best period in my career and definitely since I came here to Liverpool' I agree with this and I think it is down to Steve Clarke who has improved the whole back line in since he arrived last year. 'We work a lot in training on defending with Steve and that has helped not only me but all the guys who play at the back' he says 'since Kenny Dalglish  and Steve Clarke have come in the atmosphere changed around the team. Everything is much, much better now. If I feel the confidence of the manager that is important for me and maybe that is the reason'.

I remember  Martin Skrtel  making a rocky start to his Anfield career making his full debut against Havant and Waterlooville and he needed Rafa's support afterwards. ' I remember going back to the hotel knowing it wasn't my best performance. I knew people were talking about me that I wasn't good enough for Liverpool'.

Rafa encourage him and said 'don't worry about this game look ahead to the next one. I will give you a chance and you have to show me you are a better player.

People fail to realise that  Martin Skrtel  arrived from a different culture in Russia and he had the language barrier as he didn't speak english.

For me Martin is the main contender for Player of the Season.

I would like to use statistics to highlight the following points.

Cutting straight to the chase Martin's defensive partners have been Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger.  Martin Skrtel's main strength is his no nonsense "terminator" like tackling although he has been criticised in the past for a few rash tackles and at times a lack of judgement - these stats tell a different story.

*currently our number 37 is Liverpool's top tackling defender with 84% success rate compared to Agger 75% and Carragher 67%

*breaking it down to ground and aerial duels  Martin Skrtel  has a healthy 70% in ground duels while Daniel comes in at 68% and Jamie tops it with 72% and if we take into account the number of extra games  Martin Skrtel  has played then he beats Jamie hands down.

*in the air Martin is the run away winner having won 77% of the duels while Agger and Carragher have a percentage of 64 and 57 respectively.

*Agger however completes more passes than his team-mate being the more stylish and attack minded of the two with an 86% completion rate.  Martin Skrtel  comes in at 83% with Carragher behind at 79%

But on a four year average Martin Skrtel beats his team-mates in all of the above variables.

Cast your minds back to when we played Spurs at White Hart Lane (sorry to bring it up but...) apart from the score line it was the red cards received by Adam and Martin respectively (for a foul on Bale) the team didn't play well but something became crystal clear  Martin Skrtel  isn't a RB especially if he's faced with pace and tricky wingers. Fast forward to Anfield and the defining moment was when  Martin Skrtel  out muscled Bale won the ball and cheekily shoved him in to the hoardings.

He is now a confident man when flying into a tackle a prime example was yesterday when Martin tackled Theo Walcott in the first half having won the ball and Theo falls down remonstrating for a free kick.

We don't see him getting involved in a goal mouth scramble with one of our rival teams attackers. Martin is more composed when it comes to marking his target and has hardly lapsed under pressure in front of goal. He has also improved his positional sense a considerable margin too.

Martin Skrtel's reliability has been one of his game aspects this season allowing Agger the freedom to go forward especially since Lucas has been injured without worrying about his defensive partner.

We could of drew another home game this season (against Newcastle). We were 2-1 up courtesy of a Bellamy goal. Newcastle countered attacked with Demba Ba the next minute Pepe is beaten and the ball is bouncing and going towards the empty Kop net. And just like a bolt out the blue  Martin Skrtel  lunges in for a clearance and in wonderful fashion clears it off the line and gets tangled into the nets.

Martin Skrtel is more than committed to the task at hand and is serious about representing LFC which are all attributes of a classy defender.

Martin achieved the magic number of 3420 minutes last season. Even though he can't repeat it this year he has gained valuable experience from playing regularly to playing every week. Which is good news for everyone.

Hopefully it won't be just the Carling Cup he will win this season. But Player of the Season trophy for the recognition he truly deserves.

On Wednesday 7th March Martin was rewarded with his good performances by winning the Standard Chartered Player of the Month for February.

The defender scooped the accolade after a month in which he played a starring role in helping Liverpool end a six-year wait for silverware.

Skrtel started all four of Liverpool's matches in February and followed up a goal in the 6-1 FA Cup victory over Brighton by netting a crucial equaliser in the Carling Cup final against Cardiff at Wembley.

The Slovakia international was the overwhelming winner following a vote on the official website, collecting 46 per cent of the total.

"I would like to say thank you very much. I am very happy" he said

"February was a very good month for all of us because we won the Carling Cup, and I happy to have won this trophy and also the Carling Cup.

"I've scored four goals so far and it's the most I've scored in one season in my career, but the season is not finished yet and I hope I can get a few more goals before the end of the season."

Well Done 'The Terminator'

By Katie Price

Follow  Katie on Twitter: @MRSSG

4th Place - Where did it all go wrong?

After Liverpool's defeat to Arsenal FC on Saturday, 4th place is surely out of reach now. This will mean another season without Champions league football at Anfield which is obviously disappointing. After thinking for some time I have thought of the 5 main reasons our Premier League form has been off the mark this season.

HOME FORM

Liverpool FC have dropped 19 points at home this season, this is more then the last two seasons combined. 8 draws and only one defeat. The draws have really killed any type of momentum we have had in the race for 4th. Drawing with the likes of Stoke City FC, Swansea City FC, Norwich City FC, Sunderland FC and Blackburn Rovers FC has been really frustrating for the fans. Of course most of those teams have just parked the bus and been tough to break down but that's what you expect.

I think that the new signings have struggled to realise what it's like to play in front of the Kop. There has been no late winners, no back to back home wins to get the fans excited. Just missed chance after missed chance after missed chance. Anfield this season hasn't been the fortress it normally is and this will have to change in the future if we are going to get anywhere.

Sebastian Larsson celebrates after securing Sunderland FC a point.

INJURIES & SUSPENSIONS 

Liverpool haven't had too many suspensions or injuries just the ones they have had were to crucial players. Right from the start we without the captain Steven Gerrard. He missed the first five weeks of the season with a groin injury which kept him out the back end of the last season. Once he was back he somehow managed to pick up an ankle injury at the beginning of October which kept him out for another two and a half months.

With our captain missing a large part of the season we were always going to struggle but one man had really stepped up in his absence. Lucas Leiva was having a fantastic season until at the end of November he did his knee cruciate ligament which ruled him out for the season. This was a huge shame as he had really been excellent and the shining light of the Liverpool team.

Just when Steven Gerrard was coming back to full fitness, Luis Suarez was given his infamous eight match ban which ruled him out for a month. In that period, Liverpool FC played four Premier League games and only won one.

Lucas Leiva sustains a nasty injury which will keep him out for the season.

MISSED CHANCES

If there was a trophy for missing chances we would definitely win it. With the worst conversion rate in the league of 8%, Liverpool have only scored 30 goals. To put that in to perspective, Robin Van Persie has scored 25 goals on his own in the league. Chances have come and chances have gone. Luis Suarez and Craig Bellamy are our top goal scorers in the league with 6 goals each. When you see Demba Ba, Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Sergio Aguero all have 20+ then 6 is a really pathetic total.

Luis Suarez is a truly fantastic player, some of the things he does are unbelievable but for the amount of chances he makes/gets he really needs to score more. In saying that the midfield really need to chip in. Between Steven Gerrard, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson there is 5 league goals. That is just not good enough.

Another chance goes a begging.

WOODWORK

Liverpool FC have hit the woodwork a outstanding 21 times. Sometimes you need a bit of luck and when it's come to shooting it just hasn't been with us. Against Arsenal FC we hit the post twice, for me we should of really scored both of the chances but instead we just added to the tally.

If we could make the goals a couple of inches wider then we would of scored a lot more goals. Luis Suarez has hit the woodwork 19 times in his 46 games at the club. That is surely some sort of record.

Andy Carroll after he hits the bar against Swansea City FC.

PENALTIES

In the league alone we have missed 4 penalties. That's a crazy amount, if those 4 had gone in we would be 5 points better off. That's 3 kicks of a ball going differently and there's 5 more points in the tally. That's how close we have been this season. Would  Steven Gerrard of scored those penalties? Probably... That's an easy thing to say though, everyone should really back themselves from 12 yards.

Wojciech Szczesny saves Dirk Kuyt's penalty at Anfield.

In conclusion, this season we have made progress under Kenny Dalglish this season. That's not what frustrates the fans, the frustrating thing has been how close we have been. If little things had gone our way then we could be sat in 4th spot right now. I'm keeping the faith in Kenny Dalglish and I'm backing him to get us in to 4th next season.



By James Mannion


Follow James  on Twitter: @AnfieldReds_

Carling Cup - Route to the final

With the first domestic English trophy on offer this Sunday, I’m going to analyse and recall how Liverpool got there.

Liverpool had to start their run in the 2nd round of the competition due to the fact there was no European football at Anfield this year. The draw threw up a potentially tricky away game at League 1 Exeter.

Exeter City FC 1-3 Liverpool FC

Andy Carroll scores to silence the Exeter fans.


Team – Reina, Flanagan, Skrtel, Wilson, Robinson, Spearing, Meireles, Henderson, Adam, Maxi, Suarez.

Liverpool showed their intentions right from the first game of the competition as they put an extremely strong side who cruised past Exeter. Early on Raul Meireles broke his collar bone and was subbed for Andy Carroll(this proved to be his last Liverpool game) Jordan Henderson crossed for Luis Suarz to volley in. 2 goals in 3 minutes killed of the game. First Luis Suarez squared to Maxi Rodriguez who tapped in, then Andy Carroll smashed it in to net from just outside the box to kill of the game. Exeter did score through a late penalty but this was just a consolation.

Brighton & Hove Albion FC 1-2 Liverpool FC

Dirk Kuyt scoring his first goal of the season.

Team – Reina, Kelly, Coates, Carragher, Robinson, Lucas, Spearing, Maxi, Kuyt, Suarez, Bellamy.

The third round draw threw up another tricky away game at the Amex. Liverpool were on the back of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Spurs so a win was crucial. Kenny again named another strong side to dispose of the championship outfit. Liverpool came out the blocks very sharply as Luis Suarez set Craig Bellamy up for his first goal on his return to Liverpool. Luis Suarez then missed two great chances and Craig Bellamy smashed the bar with a 35 yard free kick.

In the second half Steven Gerrard returned from a 6 month absence from football and helped make the 2nd goal which Dirk Kuyt finished off. Just as the previous game, Livepool conceded a late penalty which lost them their clean sheet but they had done enough to get through.

Stoke City FC1-2 Liverpool FC

Luis Suarez celebrates after his superb  goal.

Team – Reina, Agger, Coates, Carragher, Kelly, Lucas, Spearing, Maxi, Henderson, Suarez, Carroll.

Another really tough draw for Liverpool, having already lost at the Britannia earlier on in the season they  had a point to prove. Liverpool went 1-0 down just before half time as a mistake from Sebastian Coates allowed Jonathan Walters to set up Kenwyne Jones to head in. On balance of play this was an undeserved lead as Liverpool had created a couple of really good opportunities.

The second half was all about Luis Suarez as he took the game to Stoke, nutmegging Ryan Shotton before a curling an unstoppable shot in to the bottom corner. As the game looked to be heading to extra time, Jordan Henderson put in a cross straight on to the Uruguayan’s head and routinely headed home to send the travelling Kop and Tony Pulis bonkers (in different senses of course).

Chelsea FC 0-2 Liverpool FC

             The team celebrates Maxi's goal. 

Team – Reina, Kelly, Coates, Carragher, Enrique, Lucas, Spearing, Henderson, Maxi, Carroll, Bellamy.

The quarter-final was Livepool’s 4th game of the competition and the 4th away game in a row, the draw was really being unkind to us! Liverpool has just played Manchester City 48 hours before this game in a really gruelling encounter. Jordan Henderson, Jose Enrique and Lucas Leiva  started both games which is a really impressive feat as they played exceptionally well.

The game did come with one huge downside as in the 70th minute Lucas Leiva went down  with an injury he would not come back from for the rest of the season. He injured his cruciate knee ligaments, this was a massive blow to Liverpool’s season as he had been by far one of the most consistent performers in the team.

Back to that game, the first half was a half of penalties. One that was given to Liverpool and missed by Andy Carroll. One at the other end where Sebastian Coates blocked off David Luiz and it looked like a stone waller but it wasn’t given.

In the second half, Chelsea’s defensive woes came back to haunt them as Craig Bellamy got in down the right and whipped in a delightful cross for Maxi Rodriguez to score from almost the same spot as he did 9 days before. Craig Bellamy assisted the second goal as he put in a world class free kick which Martin Kelly headed home for his first Liverpool goal.

Manchester City FC 0-1 Liverpool FC

Daniel Agger wins a penalty at the Etihad after he is fouled by Stefan Savic of Manchester City.

Team – Reina, Kelly, Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Spearing, Henderson, Gerrard, Downing, Bellamy, Carroll.

Liverpool were drawn against Manchester City in the semi-final knowing if they could get through a championship team would await in the final. The semi-finals being two legs of course so once Daniel Agger won a penalty early on which Steven Gerrard dispatched it, the game plan was obviously to sit back and take the 1-0.

Liverpool were very effective at keeping their lead but the second half made for very dull watching.

Liverpool FC 2-2 Manchester City FC

Craig Bellamy's goal made sure Liverpool would be returning to Wembley.

Team – Reina, Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Adam, Henderson, Gerrard, Downing, Bellamy, Kuyt.

Liverpool made it through to the Carling cup final and their first final in 5 years. They didn’t do it the easy way as twice they had to come from behind. Nigel De jong scored in the 30th minute to give City the lead totally against the run of play before Liverpool hit back 10 minutes later as Steven Gerrard scored another penalty against Hart.

In the second half, City again took the lead against the run of play as Aleksandar Kolarov put in a great ball across the 6 yeard box which Eden Dzeko half volleyed home. Liverpool rallied again and with 17 minutes left Craig Bellamy and  Glen Johnson played a one-two in the box before Craig Bellamy curled in to send Kop crazy!

The buzz around the club recently has been amazing and like all Liverpool fans I can’t wait for Sunday’s game. Come on you reds!

By James Mannion

Follow James  on Twitter: @AnfieldReds_