Agger

[cannotmakeit]

And the two Chinese symbols on his shoulder blades?

Chinese words for Tiger and Dragon

[banditos]

Chinese words for Tiger and Dragon

Cheers mate.

[Vermilion]

[James P]

No wonder he was out for ages with a back problem.

No wonder he gets back problems.

*cough* Plagiarism *cough*

[Rudo]

Fernando Torres failed to show Liverpool respect, says Daniel Agger

• 'It is unacceptable to play for one of Liverpool's arch rivals'
• 'I will never go to another club in England'

*
o
o Share92
o Reddit
o Buzz up

* Dominic Fifield and Andy Hunter
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 February 2011 23.00 GMT
* Article history

Fernando Torres of Chelsea Fernando Torres has been accused of a lack of respect by joining one of Liverpool's arch rivals, Chelsea. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar

Daniel Agger has denounced Fernando Torres for showing a lack of "respect" for Liverpool by joining Chelsea but admitted the Merseysiders' dismal start to the season had contributed heavily to the Spaniard's inconsistent form.

The Denmark centre-half has been a key member of the Liverpool side revitalised under Kenny Dalglish, rising to sixth in the table and six points from the fourth Champions League qualification place. The arrival of the £23m Luis Suárez from Ajax and Newcastle's Andy Carroll for a club record £35m could add even more impetus, potentially offsetting the £50m departure of Torres to Stamford Bridge.

The Spaniard's move, triggered by a desire to leave Anfield, frustrated Agger. "It is unacceptable to play for one of Liverpool's arch rivals," he said. "For a Dane, it's about having respect for the club you play at. I am proud to be able to pull on my Liverpool jersey and will never go to another club in England. I would never go to Manchester United or Everton, for example. It's about a form of respect for the club.

"I suppose Liverpool got a lot of money for him and, if the player doesn't want to be there any more, there is no reason to keep him. I should say I think everyone at Melwood liked him and still do, because he is a good guy and we wish him all the best in a blue shirt – except against us."

Asked why Torres's form had been so stodgy in the first half of the season, Agger said: "That is a big question, isn't it? How to explain that ... Look at the team – we played awful, we were ****. And he is a part of the team. When every element of the team plays well, he plays a lot better. It is the same for everybody – for me, for Stevie [Gerrard], everyone. When the team are performing, look at every single player and he is playing better. But when we are losing, everybody is on top of us. Everybody is playing poorly."

Liverpool have rediscovered their poise in recent weeks, with Dalglish overseeing a run of four successive victories, the last of which came at Torres's expense last Sunday. "A big part of it is down to Kenny and [the coach] Steve Clarke," said Agger. "They have made a major difference. But it is also something to do with confidence, because we are the same footballers. Confidence can win games and, somehow, Kenny and Steve have put the confidence back into the players. It is looking good, but there is still a long way to go."

Liverpool's assistant manager, Sammy Lee, attended Denmark's defeat to England in Copenhagen to watch Agger's international team-mate Christian Eriksen. The impressive 18-year-old midfielder is attracting interest from several leading clubs, including Arsenal and Milan, but believes his apprenticeship is best served by staying with Ajax and that he may not suit a move to the Premier League.

"I think I'm going to play in Ajax until my contract expires," said Eriksen. "There are a lot of young players who are busy looking at other clubs but that's not the way I think. There are still lots for me to learn and improve, and I can do that in Ajax, which is one of the best clubs in the world to develop talents.

"Every time Ajax are playing there are clubs watching me. So, yes, Liverpool have probably seen me, but I am not spending time wondering about it. No matter what, the Premier League is not the most obvious place for me to go. I'm not sure that I've got the physical ability to play there. Serie A or La Liga would suit me better, but it [a transfer] is not going to happen now."

Dalglish has rejected a claim that Carroll could miss the rest of this season with the thigh injury that has delayed his Liverpool debut. The forward has not played since 28 December but Liverpool's caretaker manager insisted: "We said right at the beginning that it will be a few weeks. There is nothing sinister in it.

"He has been thoroughly checked over, he is progressing well and I think whoever made that assertion has got a good chance of being wrong."

The Liverpool midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has been ruled out for 12 weeks with a knee tendon problem.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/10/fernando-torres-liverpool-daniel-agger

[Chazza]

Agger vents his anger at Torres for 'unacceptable' move

By Jack Pitt-Brooke

Friday, 11 February 2011

Daniel Agger has criticised Fernando Torres's decision to leave Liverpool for a rival club as "unacceptable" and lacking respect, though admitted that the Spaniard failed to perform opn Merseyside because the side were "****" earlier this season. The Danish defender, who greeted Torres on the pitch at Stamford Bridge with what appeared to be an elbow to the face on Sunday, said he would never leave for an "arch rival" and declared: "It's about a form of respect for the club."

Torres scored nine goals for Liverpool this season before his departure, but frequently appeared listless in a side that was struggling in mid-table. Roy Hodgson was dismissed as manager last month with Liverpool in 12th place in the table after 20 league games. They have moved up to sixth place under Kenny Dalglish, and when Agger was asked why Torres failed to perform in the first half of the season he explained that individual performances would inevitably suffer in an under-performing unit.

"That's the big question, isn't it?" said Agger. "How to explain that: look at the team; we played awful, we were ****. And he is a part of the team, so when everyone is playing well, he plays a lot better. It is the same for everybody, for me, for Stevie [Gerrard], it is the same. When the team are performing, when you look at every single player they are playing better. But when we are losing, everybody is on top of us, everybody is playing bad."

When asked about Torres's decision to join Chelsea, though, Agger was fiercely critical. Speaking to Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet, Agger said "it is unacceptable to play for one of Liverpool's arch rivals".

"For a Dane, it's about having respect for the club you play at. I am proud to be able to pull on my Liverpool jersey, and will never go to another club in England. I will never go to play for Manchester United or Everton. It's about a form of respect for the club."

Torres's Chelsea debut was against his former club last Sunday, a game which Liverpool won 1-0. The victory was their fourth in succession, and the upturn in form under Dalglish has led to their moving to within six points of fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Agger believes that if Liverpool maintain their form they can put pressure on the European places, although he made no promises on qualification.

"It is a six-point gap, with a game in hand," Agger said. "We are on a good run with four straight wins and if we can continue playing the same way, with the same confidence. I think we can get close. I don't know if we can get in there. Everybody at Melwood [Liverpool's training ground] agrees, and it sounds simple and stupid, but we have to take every single game and see where it takes us. I know that is the standard answer, but if you start to look ahead and count the games left and how many points you can get, you lose your focus."

Regarding the influence of Dalglish, Agger added that his attitude and approach to the game were responsible for the upturn in Liverpool's fortunes. "He is a positive guy and he is, in football terms, positive," Agger said.

"First of all because he likes to play positive football, going forward, and keeping the ball on the ground and I think he is good among the players. The training sessions have been really good and I think everything starts at the training ground. If you can get that right you have a big advantage in the games."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/f...e-2211027.html

[Mostar]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...l-daniel-agger

True class. I wish every footballer we have thinks and speaks like him. I always liked him but he's really turning into one of my favorites.

[SB]

True class. I wish every footballer we have thinks and speaks like him. I always liked him but he's really turning into one of my favorites.

Always has been one of my fav players. Great attitude he's showing there. And the way he flattened Torres the other day sums him up in a nut shell.

[little dave hedgehog]

True class. I wish every footballer we have thinks and speaks like him. I always liked him but he's really turning into one of my favorites.

[Red_Polo]

Always has been one of my fav players. Great attitude he's showing there. And the way he flattened Torres the other day sums him up in a nut shell.

The funny thing is, Agger has always given me the impression that although he enjoys it, he just plays football for a living and just plays for us because he's happy and seen no reason to move yet. I would never have expected all that much loyalty from him, for him to never play for another English club. It's nice to hear he does thik along those lines, of course

[MrMichael]

we played awful, we were ****.

Now that's a great way to sum up the Hodgson era in 6 words. Agger

[SB]

The funny thing is, Agger has always given me the impression that although he enjoys it, he just plays football for a living and just plays for us because he's happy and seen no reason to move yet. I would never have expected all that much loyalty from him, for him to never play for another English club. It's nice to hear he does thik along those lines, of course

The last 6 months or so must have been difficult for him. What with his injuries and then he went from being a guaranteed starter to being out in the cold with the bodge. He's never gived us any cause for complaint, he gives his all and after reading that article he's gone up even further in my estimates. He could teach the youngsters a thing or two.

Skipper material in the making maybe?

[SB]

Now that's a great way to sum up the Hodgson era in 6 words. Agger

or change the last 3 words to "he was ****e "

[Red_Polo]

The last 6 months or so must have been difficult for him. What with his injuries and then he went from being a guaranteed starter to being out in the cold with the bodge. He's never gived us any cause for complaint, he gives his all and after reading that article he's gone up even further in my estimates. He could teach the youngsters a thing or two.

Skipper material in the making maybe?

Yeah it can't have been great for him working with Bodger. The comments he made about him were not, as both he and Roy later suggested, misinterpreted. If you watch the video it's pretty obvious he is slating Roy's dinosaur style/tactics.

Fortunately, that was only a brief period. I've never thought of him as captain material, but he does have a composed presence and seems pretty professional. If injury problems were truly put behind him, then long term I can't think of too many currently with us I'd give the armband to ahead of him. The press conferences would be fun

[SB]

Yeah it can't have been great for him working with Bodger. The comments he made about him were not, as both he and Roy later suggested, misinterpreted. If you watch the video it's pretty obvious he is slating Roy's dinosaur style/tactics.

Fortunately, that was only a brief period. I've never thought of him as captain material, but he does have a composed presence and seems pretty professional. If injury problems were truly put behind him, then long term I can't think of too many currently with us I'd give the armband to ahead of him. The press conferences would be fun

To his credit he never kicked up a fuss when the bodge was here He just got on with it .

It will be interesting to see how he's handle the captaincy as CB is a great place to direct the team from IMO. Time will tell but his personality could suit the position.