scout report on martin skrtel

[bigfooty]

This modern day obsession with pace really is tiresome.

It's generally quite important in the English game, especially when it comes to players moving leagues. Pace can get you out of trouble / mistakes you make and cause problems on its own for opponents.

[CJ]

I mentioned this some time ago on the Skrtel thread.

well done ben gold star to you

[AFII]

Maybe Rafa will play with a back three more often and use wing backs.

[Alpha]

I mentioned this some time ago on the Skrtel thread.

There you go mate.

[Alpha]

Maybe Rafa will play with a back three more often and use wing backs.

Maybe Carra will find himself under a bit more pressure.

[AFII]

Maybe Carra will find himself under a bit more pressure.

Also a possibility but if I had posted that then I would have been at for the rest of my life.

[Maestro]

Maybe Rafa will play with a back three more often and use wing backs.

I wish I had a fiver for all the times you've posted that.

[AFII]

I wish I had a fiver for all the times you've posted that.

I have not said that that often

[Alpha]

I have not said that that often

In fairness, you do mention wingbacks quite often.

[AFII]

In fairness, you do mention wingbacks quite often.

Well, maybe because Rafa plays with wing backs I actually think that that is a very good reason.

[Morph]

I have not said that that often

well not today anyway

[CharlieMansonsSquint]

cisse or kuyt ?

Cisse.

Honestly, at least he had pace.

Kuyt has **** all.

[Alpha]

Well, maybe because Rafa plays with wing backs I actually think that that is a very good reason.

You can call them wing backs if you want mate.

[dww]

Maybe Rafa will play with a back three more often and use wing backs.

I wish I had a fiver for all the times you've posted that.

To be fair he's not the only one. Everytime we buy a defender someone comes out with it.

Well, maybe because Rafa plays with wing backs I actually think that that is a very good reason.

I don't think Rafa has player with wingbacks regularly ever. Arguably in a few games we have used them but we have also played Finnan on the wing and that was never a long term solution of any merit either.

Rafa likes fullbacks that join in with play but I firmly believe he will (like all other top managers) continue to use a back four in nearly every game. Largely because a 3-5-2 formation is rubbish in all but exceptional circumstances.

[Johnny]

from eurosport - good read. http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/090120...in-skrtel.html

With Liverpool about to finalise the signing of Slovakian Martin Skrtel from Zenit St Petersburg for £6.5 million, we bring you a Euroscout of the centre-half that could become Rafael Benitez's very own Nemanja Vidic.

Rafa failed last season with a bid to sign Gabriel Heinze from rivals Manchester United, but is now set to plug the gap left by injured duo Daniel Agger and Sami Hyypia with the most expensive defender in the club's history.

"The last two weeks I have been in constant contact with my agent Karol Csonto," he told Plus. "I hope everything will turn out well in the end, the dream will come true, and I will become a player for a famous club. I cannot wait to put pen to paper.

"I have realised that in all likelihood a new era of my life is beginning. I have been pondering what will be waiting for me there and how I will get used to the conditions."

But is he worth it?

Skrtel, 23, is widely considered the number one stopper in Slovakia. The keystone of the national team's backline is very strong in the air, possesses good positional sense, has great technique on the ball and most of all is lightning-quick.

He has been praised by many at Zenit for maintaining good form over a long period of time, avoiding costly dips - which resulted in the club winning the Russian title in 2007, their best finish in a domestic season since the USSR league victory in 1984.

Another quality that marks him as a Vidic clone is his penchant for hard tackles, added to a generally whole-hearted style of play, which should see him slot straight into the Premier League's rough-and-tumble weekly shenanigans.

There is an occasional question mark against his defending from set-pieces, something that Benitez - or his replacement in the summer, if you believe the papers - may look to iron out.
Still, for a young player he certainly looks the part. Zenit coach Dick Advocaat has long tipped the international to grow into one of the top defenders in Europe, just as Serbian Vidic is now considered as indispensable to Manchester United's back four as the likes of Rio Ferdinand.

Skrtel has played for both Zenit and Slovakia since 2005, earning 15 caps for his country and scoring one goal against Cyprus in their unsuccessful attempt to qualify for Euro 2008.

Liverpool have a genuine goal-threat in Fernando Torres; but if they are to seriously challenge for the Premier League title in the coming years, perhaps an investment in a solid defender such as Skrtel will make the difference.


If he is genuinely quick then that's a brilliant addition to our squad - god knows we need some pace at the back.

FFS!!!!


I stopped reading after that.