What a difference a year makes. Martin Skrtel was one of Liverpool’s worst performers under Roy Hodgson (and that’s saying something). Now he’s back to his best, putting dominant performance after dominant performance in at the heart of Liverpool’s defence and helping his side to silverware. He was imperious against Cardiff City, putting a stop to all their attacks and picking up the Red’s equaliser as the ball rolled kindly into his path inside City’s area.
So what has brought about this metamorphosis? Could it be a change in tact? A change in defensive partner or a change in manager?
We should first note that Martin Skrtel’s form hasn’t come out of nowhere. If you can remember back to his first season at the club, back in 2008, you’ll remember just how promising he appeared at the time. He was billed as a defender in the Jamie Carragher mould, given the confidence of his manager (Rafa Benitez) and hit the ground running. The zenith of his then blossoming Liverpool career came with an authoritative, man-of-the-match performance in the Merseyside derby that ensured his side won 1-0.
Unfortunately he picked up an injury against Tottenham on the first day of the 09/10 season and didn’t get back to his best for quite some time.
In truth, Skrtel was great under Rafa, rubbish under Roy (but who wasn’t?) and is now excellent under Kenny. He’s clearly the kind of player who needs the confidence of his manager to perform.
A change in defensive partner has also seems to have helped. Under Roy Hodgson Skrtel often lined up next to Jamie Carragher and this never really looked like a good fit. Both players are slow, precise, good readers of the game that don’t work well in a partnership. It has taken Skrtel playing alongside Daniel Agger for him to access his best form. The two players compliment each other’s style and this has led to Jamie Carragher becoming increasingly sidelined.
He’s now at peak fitness, has recovered his confidence and is playing alongside another highly capable defender. As a result, Skrtel has become one of the major success stories of Liverpool’s rickety season. He’s the main man in one of the Premier League’s most steadfast defences and is well deserving of all the plaudits he has been getting from fans and pundits alike.
But if you had told me that was going to be the case during the first half of last season, I would never have believed you.
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