Mamadou Sakho

[RichC]

I also wonder if Rodgers or any of the coaching staff are good at defensive systems. Perhaps a change off the field might help, in the style of when Fergusson bought Maclren in as assistant.

What's Sami up to

[Charly]

Sakho has done ok this season, still a bit raw & getting used to the pace of the league. Not quite convinced as others on here yet but he is not **** & wouldn't write him off just yet. Next season could really be a break through season for him.

Him and Skrtel don't work at the back so if Rodgers brings someone in... either Sahko or Skrtel with drop down to the bench. At the moment IMO if Rodgers brings another CB in.. they will partner Skrtel.

I agree with most of that. I am not sold on Sakho, but he may turn out okay. He is very raw, but has good attributes. He was nowhere near worth what we paid. I have no idea why we stumped up such a ridiculous figure. It just felt like another panic buy at the end of the window. For a centre back £20m+ you expect the finished article and a real leader at the back.

I would be happy buying four new centre backs, and selling all four of the ones we have. Only Agger seems to have real quality, and clean sheets to back it up. On this front Sakhos record is shocking (1 clean sheet in 17).

[Frenchie]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-fwIi7ve8E"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-fwIi7ve8E[/ame]

[Exiled_red]

For me he's done ok this season, he's done well at times, but like the rest of our defence has had some dodgy moments. I have to say he is yet to win me over, but he has alot of potential which is why we paid what we did, he is still young and needs time to settle into the team and the league, now is not the time to judge him IMO.

[RedSince1964]

For me he's done ok this season, he's done well at times, but like the rest of our defence has had some dodgy moments. I have to say he is yet to win me over, but he has alot of potential which is why we paid what we did, he is still young and needs time to settle into the team and the league, now is not the time to judge him IMO.

Totally agree bud

[Darkon]

I have to say none of our CBs have completely convinced me that they work well in our system. Sakho has had the least time to adapt and has looked no worse than the others so should be given more time. In the end I think you need a balanced CB pairing but also to look at the players around them. For me a big problem for all our defensive partnerships has been that the combination of attacking fullbacks, a progressive DM and a keeper who isn't great at coming out have left them with a lot of jobs to do.

I can imagine a situation where no change in personnel at CB but a change in the way we organize our defence or in the GK, fullback or DM positions would make us look more solid at the back.

I think the organizational part is the key here. With the way we set up last year, I doubt many defenders would have us looking solid at the back on their own. It's a calculated risk to the way we play, and it's worked out well for most of the season overall. Rodgers does seem to have noticed it, and IIRC did say something about the next stage is working at the way we defend.

Sakho I still have high hopes for, there is much potential there. Still think it's a huge shame we will lose Agger, as we looked more in control when he's been playing. Skrtel is a huge liability, and especially with the way we organize our defending. When the FB's and DM is not there to help out much in the breaks, it's just to dangerous having a lose head like Skrtel's. He makes some strange strange rushes at every game, and it's costly. He is good at many other aspects, but that particular weak link is even more exposed in our system of play IMO.

We do need a new CB, but as you say, and more importantly, we need to look at how we can protect the CB's a bit more from either the GK or DM position.

[tanner]

Sakho has done ok this season, still a bit raw & getting used to the pace of the league. Not quite convinced as others on here yet but he is not **** & wouldn't write him off just yet. Next season could really be a break through season for him.

Him and Skrtel don't work at the back so if Rodgers brings someone in... either Sahko or Skrtel with drop down to the bench. At the moment IMO if Rodgers brings another CB in.. they will partner Skrtel.

I go with that, I have to say I've not been convinced at all, despite what everyone else seems to think on here. He's ok, nothing special for me unfortunately. He's definitely got potential though.

[Pablo]

I really rate him. He's one of those players where you can just tell he's going to be a great player. I have very high hopes for him if we can find him the perfect partner.

[RedReet]

I agree with most of that. I am not sold on Sakho, but he may turn out okay. He is very raw, but has good attributes. He was nowhere near worth what we paid. I have no idea why we stumped up such a ridiculous figure. It just felt like another panic buy at the end of the window. For a centre back £20m+ you expect the finished article and a real leader at the back.

I would be happy buying four new centre backs, and selling all four of the ones we have. Only Agger seems to have real quality, and clean sheets to back it up. On this front Sakhos record is shocking (1 clean sheet in 17).

Maybe we should have bought one of those instead then.

[john316]

I think we just need to find a partner for Sakho. Not sure how well he communicates with Skrtel which I think is part of the issue. He hasn't been named captain of France for tonight's game for no reason at all. This guy is the real deal for me but we definitely haven't seen the best of him yet. Still very young and remember even the likes of Kompany didn't look the business in his first season in England.

[Charly]

Actually, language may be one reason. Presumably everyone speaks good English bar Sakho. Not sure how the rest of the defence's French stacks up.

[sambirken]

Couldn't see this mentioned anywhere; he'll be captaining France against Norway.

Link

[Pablo]

Actually, language may be one reason. Presumably everyone speaks good English bar Sakho. Not sure how the rest of the defence's French stacks up.

I know he helps teach French at a local primary school. I'd guess his English is good enough to get by and I can hardly see that being a contributing factor.

[meffin]

Couldn't see this mentioned anywhere; he'll be captaining France against Norway.

Link

I do rate him, but haven't seen any leadership ability from him. Promising though, suggests he does have it in him, just needs to settle here i guess

[Gibbo]

Wasnt he PSG captain at some point too?