Rate our Centre Backs

[SB]

With talk on here that we need a new CB I'd like to know where people rate each of our CB's at present.

Hull are sniffing around trying to buy young Ayala and i thought he was highly rated by some on here ?

So I've probably forgotten some but to my knowledge here's our CB's and I'd like to know where you rate them in order of being ready to play in our first team.

1.Carra (No1 for now but needs replacing soon)
2. Agger ( a must when fit )
3. Skrtel (ever present last season but injured at present and handy )
4. Kyriagos (last year for him I'm sure )
5. Wilson ( could be ready one day ?)
6. Kelly ( yet to be seen at CB but some think he's doing his apprenticeship at RB )
7. Ayala ( I thought another year or so on loan would see him push on )
8. Wisdom ?
9. Sama ?

So who have I forgotten and where do you rate them in order .

I do think we need one CB now with Carra getting older, Agger's injury record and the Greek's age all lead to at least 1 new player being needed.

[CJ]

With talk on here that we need a new CB I'd like to know where people rate each of our CB's at present.

Hull are sniffing around trying to buy young Ayala and i thought he was highly rated by some on here ?

So I've probably forgotten some but to my knowledge here's our CB's and I'd like to know where you rate them in order of being ready to play in our first team.

1.Carra (No1 for now but needs replacing soon)
2. Agger ( a must when fit )
3. Skrtel (ever present last season but injured at present and handy )
4. Kyriagos (last year for him I'm sure )
5. Wilson ( could be ready one day ?)
6. Kelly ( yet to be seen at CB but some think he's doing his apprenticeship at RB )
7. Ayala ( I thought another year or so on loan would see him push on )
8. Wisdom ?
9. Sama ?

So who have I forgotten and where do you rate them in order .

I do think we need one CB now with Carra getting older, Agger's injury record and the Greek's age all lead to at least 1 new player being needed.

the best two are carra and agger. For me both need replacing but for different reasons.

Carra getting on and realisticly he will only get worse, the question is how long does he have left at this level. If he has another year or two then its not urgent.

Agger is my favourite CB but his injury record makes me think replace him and replace him now. Its more to do with a settled cb pairing. IF agger is a must when fit we will not have a setteld pairing.

Skrtel confuses me. Sometimes i think actually he isnt dodgy he is quite solid. He is good enough for this season with the right partner

those for me are the current options at first choice CBs

[Kenneth]

Not great overall. Bit controversial, but I'm not totally convinced that Agger is as good as is made out. He's a classy player but the sentiment seems to be that he is a world class player hampered by injuries. Still, I agree that he probably is out beat CB at the moment.

So, agree, one more CB (who isn't Scott Dann) still needed.

[SB]

the best two are carra and agger. For me both need replacing but for different reasons.

Carra getting on and realisticly he will only get worse, the question is how long does he have left at this level. If he has another year or two then its not urgent.

Agger is my favourite CB but his injury record makes me think replace him and replace him now. Its more to do with a settled cb pairing. IF agger is a must when fit we will not have a setteld pairing.

Skrtel confuses me. Sometimes i think actually he isnt dodgy he is quite solid. He is good enough for this season with the right partner

those for me are the current options at first choice CBs

So would you give Wilson or Kelly a go at CB in Cup games ? Are they ready for that ? Or do we only have 4 CB's that can be relied on in some shape or form ?

[Kenneth]

Don't care much about the cups so we can play whoever, certainly in the earlier stages.

[BillobShaisley]

I'd swap Agger to top spot and worry that Carra may slip behind Skittles any day now too. His legs are shot.

I'd seriously consider selling Agger if we got a big offer, everyone else is available for the right price too. We need at least 2 new starters over the next 18 months.

[SB]

Not great overall. Bit controversial, but I'm not totally convinced that Agger is as good as is made out. He's a classy player but the sentiment seems to be that he is a world class player hampered by injuries. Still, I agree that he probably is out beat CB at the moment.

So, agree, one more CB (who isn't Scott Dann) still needed.

I think that a lot of us rate Agger as he's great to watch with the ball at his feet instead of watching hoof ball. But that's another thread completely

[SB]

I'd swap Agger to top spot and worry that Carra may slip behind Skittles any day now too. His legs are shot.

I'd seriously consider selling Agger if we got a big offer, everyone else is available for the right price too. We need at least 2 new starters over the next 18 months.

That's the reason I want to get peoples ideas on who will make the grade and where all of our CB's are at in their development !

[MrMichael]

I'm pretty concerned about our central defence... we don't lack bodies, but there's question marks over almost all of them. You can really divide them into 2 groups, established players and youngsters:

Agger is made of glass, shame as he's by far our best all round CB now when fully fit.
Carra's been a great servant but his lack of mobility is starting to get exposed more
Skrtel I've never been entirely convinced about, he's ok but not really ever going to be any better than that
Kyrgiakos is awful. Unless playing a team that hits long balls and has no pace or skill I'd never have him anywhere near the team

I'm worried about the upcoming season with these 4. Unless Agger stays fit its going to be pretty tough.

Kelly we've just not seen at CB yet so its hard to judge but he's defo got promise
Wilson I think needs more first team action to help his development; I'd send him out on loan if we think we've got cover.
Ayala looks like he might be getting sold
People at the club rate Wisdom but its impossible to tell if he'll make it yet.

We've certainly got players coming through, its just a question of whether they get opportunities and then whether they can then take them.

[CJ]

So would you give Wilson or Kelly a go at CB in Cup games ? Are they ready for that ? Or do we only have 4 CB's that can be relied on in some shape or form ?

no this year i would like to bring in one or two cbs (i know we wont bring in two)

and bed them in by playing virtually every game.

i would hope to get in the top 4 and then introduce those you mentioned in cup games .

[SB]

I'm pretty concerned about our central defence... we don't lack bodies, but there's question marks over almost all of them. You can really divide them into 2 groups, established players and youngsters:

Agger is made of glass, shame as he's by far our best all round CB now when fully fit.
Carra's been a great servant but his lack of mobility is starting to get exposed more
Skrtel I've never been entirely convinced about, he's ok but not really ever going to be any better than that
Kyrgiakos is awful. Unless playing a team that hits long balls and has no pace or skill I'd never have him anywhere near the team

I'm worried about the upcoming season with these 4. Unless Agger stays fit its going to be pretty tough.

Kelly we've just not seen at CB yet so its hard to judge but he's defo got promise
Wilson I think needs more first team action to help his development; I'd send him out on loan if we think we've got cover.
Ayala looks like he might be getting sold
People at the club rate Wisdom but its impossible to tell if he'll make it yet.

We've certainly got players coming through, its just a question of whether they get opportunities and then whether they can then take them.

I think one more established CB is a must and agree with everything you said. The lack of European football is going to see the youngsters get less chances this year obviously .

[SB]

no this year i would like to bring in one or two cbs (i know we wont bring in two)

and bed them in by playing virtually every game.

i would hope to get in the top 4 and then introduce those you mentioned in cup games .

[Fernandinho]

1. Carra is too old, he should have already been replaced by now and being used in a Sami type role, he still has the ability but he shouldn't be first team.

2. Agger, for ability is the best CB at the club. But unless he proves himself fit this season we need to move him on, as people have mentioned a solid CB partnership is paramount to a title challenge.

3. Skrtel, perfect squad player, he should be our number 3 CB, he is decent and other then now does have a good injury record.

4. Soto, I think should have been moved on at the start of this season, Carra should take his spot as the number 3/4 competing with Skrtel.

5. Wilson, From what I have seen of Wilson he has been quite poor to be honest, although it could be argued that CB's tend to mature later as a lot of their skill has to do with experience in reading games and not just about technique, if Kenny rates him then lets see how he matures.

6. Kelly, from last season I would have almost said that he could be our starting CB by this season, but he has gone backwards during pre season (although it may be argued that this is due to being stuck with people like Joe Cole and Poulsen in midfield), still have high hopes for him to replace Carra. He is a beast of a player, incredibly quick, strong with a decent engine. It would be nice to have some real pace in central defence, although his heading would need to be worked on.

7. Ayala, had some early chances a few years ago but has spent a lot of time on loan, if Kenny feels he should be moved on then I wouldn't argue, maybe slipping a buy back clause in the contract wouldn't be a bad idea...

8. Wisdom, barely seen anything of this guy. He is a bloody giant of a kid and he is highly rated, if he has the talent then a loan deal in the PL would be lovely to see if he has the ability.

9. Sama, No idea...

[SB]

1. Carra is too old, he should have already been replaced by now and being used in a Sami type role, he still has the ability but he shouldn't be first team.

2. Agger, for ability is the best CB at the club. But unless he proves himself fit this season we need to move him on, as people have mentioned a solid CB partnership is paramount to a title challenge.

3. Skrtel, perfect squad player, he should be our number 3 CB, he is decent and other then now does have a good injury record.

4. Soto, I think should have been moved on at the start of this season, Carra should take his spot as the number 3/4 competing with Skrtel.

5. Wilson, From what I have seen of Wilson he has been quite poor to be honest, although it could be argued that CB's tend to mature later as a lot of their skill has to do with experience in reading games and not just about technique, if Kenny rates him then lets see how he matures.

6. Kelly, from last season I would have almost said that he could be our starting CB by this season, but he has gone backwards during pre season (although it may be argued that this is due to being stuck with people like Joe Cole and Poulsen in midfield), still have high hopes for him to replace Carra. He is a beast of a player, incredibly quick, strong with a decent engine. It would be nice to have some real pace in central defence, although his heading would need to be worked on.

7. Ayala, had some early chances a few years ago but has spent a lot of time on loan, if Kenny feels he should be moved on then I wouldn't argue, maybe slipping a buy back clause in the contract wouldn't be a bad idea...

8. Wisdom, barely seen anything of this guy. He is a bloody giant of a kid and he is highly rated, if he has the talent then a loan deal in the PL would be lovely to see if he has the ability.

9. Sama, No idea...

Never heard of him till the other day when he traveled to Norway

[Fernandinho]

Yeah I remember the name but I don't know anything about him, didn't even know he was a defender and I missed the game in Norway.