Martin Skrtel

[Exiled_red]

He's been our best centre back for the last couple of years, although it is an area we need to improve. You would imagine he will be first choice this season and we will see what happens from there.

[Paul12]

Worth keeping but he shouldn't be a starter for us

But it looks like again we will start a season with him first choice.

[Gazzla]

A good third choice CB. He's a lucky boy to get a three year contract.


A year ago we Agger away pretty much for free.

The same Agger that's played about a dozen games all season in the Danish league?

Skrtel was our best and most consistent defender last season and one of the few in our team that looks like he gives a ****. I'm happy he's signed a new contract because at this moment in time we have nobody better

[baitman]

The same Agger that's played about a dozen games all season in the Danish league?

Skrtel was our best and most consistent defender last season and one of the few in our team that looks like he gives a ****. I'm happy he's signed a new contract because at this moment in time we have nobody better

people cant be whinging that skrtel isnt good enough when we give a new contract to kolo. what a ****ing joke.
if we need better then get someone better in or bring through some of the young lads we spend money on and play them. its only ever worth considering skrtels future when we have better alternatives.

[danperkins]

The same Agger that's played about a dozen games all season in the Danish league?

Skrtel was our best and most consistent defender last season and one of the few in our team that looks like he gives a ****. I'm happy he's signed a new contract because at this moment in time we have nobody better

[Chris]

Worth keeping but he shouldn't be a starter for us

Yep, it's a bit worrying when even his biggest fans on here can only come up with lame cliches like "well liked in the squad", "experienced" and **** as his supposed best attributes.

[McDermotX]

He is our 'most consistent CB' over the last few seasons......it's not glamorous I know, but thems are the facts.
But I get it, we've not won **** and are repeatedly failing in the the CL race, so it's certainly down to this one player. Let's dump him and sign up another CB who is guaranteed to come in and do a job..........still waiting for a name with a realistic chance of being signed up BTW.

No takers ??

OK, just for the moment then, lets stick with our most consistent performer at the back, as that's not too bad a place a start from. When someone else becomes available, we'll see what the story is.

[McDermotX]

The same Agger that's played about a dozen games all season in the Danish league?

Skrtel was our best and most consistent defender last season and one of the few in our team that looks like he gives a ****. I'm happy he's signed a new contract because at this moment in time we have nobody better

people cant be whinging that skrtel isnt good enough when we give a new contract to kolo. what a ****ing joke.
if we need better then get someone better in or bring through some of the young lads we spend money on and play them. its only ever worth considering skrtels future when we have better alternatives.

[Chris]

Apart from it's not a fact. He doesn't play better than Agger did or Sakho does. He gets injured less than them though, well done him. Hardly a ringing endorsement, then again you are the weird fella who constantly posts **** from Manc trolls about "bindippers" and "Brentan".

[Montana]

Proper defender just needs full backs to do their jobs. Midfield needs to step up too

[McDermotX]

Shortly after signing a new Liverpool contract on Friday, defender Martin Skrtel told Liverpoolfc.com why prolonging a seven-and-a-half-year stay at Anfield was always his priority.

The Slovakian centre-back briefly took a pause from the first week of pre-season training to put pen to paper on a fresh extension with the Reds.

Skrtel insisted it was a straightforward decision to make, given the affection he and his family feel for the city and his confidence in the side's prospects.

The 30-year-old also pondered the possibility of reaching a decade of service to the club and pledged that the team will be ready to hit the ground running in the new season.

Congratulations on signing your new contract - how does it feel to have completed the deal?

Thank you. It is great for me and my family because we have spent seven-and-a-half years in Liverpool and in that time we have fallen in love with the city and the people. Our son was born in Liverpool. I can say the same about the club, the supporters and the people working for the club. To have the deal with Liverpool is a great thing for me and my family.

It sounds like it was an easy decision for you...

It was easy. My priority was always to have a deal with Liverpool. I'm happy we have got the deal and have agreed everything and I've signed the deal.

Were you keen to get this done and dusted early in pre-season so that you can really focus on football going into the new season?

That's always important. When you have your head clear, you can focus and concentrate on your job, the football and the upcoming season. I'm glad I've signed the deal before the tour and now I can focus on doing my job.

Is it almost difficult to imagine yourself at any other club now that you have been here for so long?

Yes, seven-and-a-half years is such a long time and the priority was always Liverpool. There were rumours about me but there always has been, in every single transfer window, but as I have said many times, my first choice was always Liverpool and that's why I'm glad that I could agree terms with the club.

There's now potential for you to stay for a decade at Liverpool. Could you have imagined that when you first joined in 2008?

When I first came here in 2008, I didn't expect to be here for such a long time. But now I have signed and it could bring me to 10 years in Liverpool - that would be great. But at the moment, I'm not thinking about that; the main thing and most important thing is the upcoming season. We have to be ready, we have to get fit and be ready for the season.

Is that length of time that you've been here something you take a lot of pride in? Do you look at the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, who stayed for such a long time, and you're kind of following in their footsteps?

Obviously I won't be here as long as those two, but if I can stay for 10 years it would be great. Liverpool is a great club and it was always my dream to play for a big club. In my eyes, Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world, so my dream came true. I have enjoyed my time here and I hope I will do the same for the next few years.

At 30 years of age, do you think you're entering the best years of your career?

We will see... I hope so! Obviously I'm not 24 or 25 anymore but I can see the young players coming into the team and they push us to work harder, because we have to fight for a place. But that's only good for the football club and the team. I try to be as fit as I can and try to be ready to show that I'm the right player to start the games.

Do you take extra responsibility with each year here, passing on your wisdom and experience to the younger players coming through?

For the more experienced players, one thing is always to help young players to develop and show them if they need something. I'm happy to do that. There are a lot of young players in our team and a lot of talented players, so you try to help them and make it easier. That's our job.

Both personally and collectively, there must be a real buzz around the club? You've signed your new deal and some exciting signings have joined the club this summer...

Yes, we have signed quality players. Our team will be stronger than it was last season and we just have to show that on the pitch. We have got four weeks until the Premier League starts and we are working very hard every day to get fitness. Next we'll go on tour and we have some friendly games coming. We'll just try to be ready for the first game, which is Stoke away, and I believe we will be.

In terms of the squad's ambitions, there must be a lot of hunger there after last season? Is Champions League qualification high among the aims this season?

We played in the Champions League last season and if you play in it once, you always want to play in it. That will be the main target for next season, to get a Champions League place, and obviously in the Premier League to be as high as we can. We'll see, but I think if we go from game to game and try to get as many points as we can, it will be good for us

Good lad, and interesting the comment around responsibility with the younger players, as he really took the mantle in the 3 CB setup, and frequently helped Can through some tough times when things weren't going so well, and found himself swapped around on a few occasions to lessen the threat from the opposition down that side. It's not a system I see us persisting with, but it requires someone like Skrtel operating well, as we saw ourselves all over the shop during his injury and stupid self-inflicted suspension towards the end of the season (more so than usual anyway)
Wouldnt have been a bad choice as VC, but it's good to see him thinking of a possible 10yr stint at the club as he's been a fine servant since his time here and has found himself recognised under successive managers in that time, so it's vital we don't let that level player slip through our fingers, which is why it's a good thing we have professionals doing the hiring and firing as opposed to some of the 'experts' out there.
Lord knows where we'd be.

[baitman]

with all his experience lets all hope that this is the year that skrtel learns how to step forward at the right moment and catch opposition players offside.

[McDermotX]

Not a tactic suited to the system we played last season IMO, and it's a facet of a well drilled and settled unit......something that we've lacked over the last couple seasons, even with our close run a couple years back. If we were not finding Sakho drifting to cover Moreno or Can losing the diagonal ball, we were finding centre runs though our yogurt-soft midfield........last thing we needed was our main CB to be flipping coins on a regular basis as our defensive midfield disappears yet again allowing 2-3 free runners in the last third.

Let's get the defense nailed down (ala a settled duo, FBs, and DM) and try again, because I wouldn't be looking forward to see us repeating the mistakes present in our system last year.

[Chris]

His mistakes are always someone else's fault. Mignolets, Lucas, Gerrard, Sakho, Can, Agger, Johnson, it's relentless. And also slightly embarrassing that you claim he's so amazing yet we apparently need this perfect set up around him so he can play well! Doesn't make much sense but I will concede it is refreshing to see you stick up for a player as you seem to loathe every other person connected to the club including Steven Gerrard. Still can't work out if you are a troll or not.

[danperkins]

Jesus ****ing christ relentless, back on ignore it is