Liverpool edged Swansea in a seven goal thriller today to keep the Reds in the title race being just four points behind the leaders Chelsea. Despite Liverpool's amazing form recently, especially when at Anfield, there are plenty of questions being asked of the porous defense. The Reds have conceded five goals in the past two matches against lesser opposition and it has been their amazing goal scorers that have saved them. It is not only the past two matches that their defense has been poor, it has been happening all season long and so I believe that Liverpool must clear out the old guard and start anew in the summer with new defenders. I do not say this lightly because of the great work many of these defenders have done in the past, but this is a team on the rise and so improvements must be made and better players replacing under-performing ones. Below I go over which players need to go and which ones should replace them in order to keep Liverpool on the up for next season.
Who needs to go?
Aly Cissokho
When the summer comes Cissokho will have finished his year long loan at Liverpool. The Reds have the option to make his move permanent, I believe that the fee would be in the region of 3-4 million pounds to prize him away from his home club, Valencia. Due to the long term injury to first choice left back Jose Enrique, Aly has gotten a good run in the starting lineup recently and has done a lot better than his first showings towards the beginning of the season. Despite his improved form I believe he does not have what it takes to make it at Liverpool unfortunately. Left back has been perhaps the weakest position of Liverpool's for many years and now that Champions League should be returning next season we should be able to attract better defenders than Cissokho.
Daniel Agger
I have been a fan of Agger's for many years now but I believe that his time is finally up at Anfield. Agger has endured many injuries while at Liverpool and missed a lot of matches, including this season, because of them. He is a great passer of the ball but it now seems as though Mamadou Sakho will be the first choice left-footed center back in the future. Daniel is the vice-captain this season but has been out of the side too often, and been inconsistent when he has been in the side. After Swansea scored their tying third goal it was Agger that came off for Toure, and it is very rare to substitute a center back which I think demonstrates Rodgers' unhappiness with him. Agger has been linked with many clubs in the past few years including Barcelona and Napoli so there will suitors for him in the summer I'm sure. Selling Agger should give Liverpool sufficient funds to purchase a replacement.
Martin Skrtel
The Slovakian came very close to moving away from Anfield in the summer with Napoli being heavily linked. Skrtel recently admitted his frustration last season and how close he came to leaving. Like Agger, Skrtel has been a very strong and loyal servant of Liverpool for many years and was even the player of the season in 2011-12. He's improved from last season and has been the most constant starter this season but he has had perhaps even more blunders than Toure has, for example him deflecting Bony's header into the goal and bringing him down later to award them a pk. Skrtel also has many admirers around Europe and so should be able to bring in a hefty fee to go towards a new signing to help improve the center back position.
Sebastian Coates
I don't need to do a whole lot of writing to convince Liverpool fans that the 23 year old Uruguayan should be traded. He never really adapted to the English game and lacked the necessary speed to succeed. The long term injury he got last season has left him unable to play for the entirety of this season and it would be in everyone's best interest if he moved on, especially with Tiago Ilori here now for the future.
Glen Johnson
This is probably the most controversial of my picks of players to leave this summer. Johnson has been one the strongest performers since his signing but I don't think he is what Liverpool needs under Rodgers' system of play. He is great at going forward on the attack but is slow to come back when the ball is lost and I believe he is to blame for Swansea's first goal by not staying close enough to Bony, which seems to happen much to often. Liverpool has a plethora of young right backs including Kelly, Flanagan, Wisdom and McLaughlin who could use with some more playing time. Johnson is just coming back from another injury and it seems as though the injuries are coming all to often for the 29 year old. He has many who would love to have him and will also command a large fee.
Who will replace them?
As you can see, I wish that almost all of the old guard to be shipped away in the summer and so there needs to be many recruits of the highest quality to improve the starting 11. I will only list players that have been linked with a move to Liverpool recently.
Angelo Ogbonna
The 25 year old was linked with a move to Liverpool in the summer but instead moved to Juventus. Ever since the Italian center back's move he has struggled to establish himself in the starting 11, only having 10 appearance in Serie A so far. Now reports are resurfacing that Liverpool will return for Ogbonna in the summer. It might be a bit of a long shot seeing as he plays for the Italian champions and might be reluctant to leave Italy only one year since his move but I think he would be a good partner to Sakho. He is a good overall center back, the only weakness I've observed is his speed but that can be overlooked a bit in his position. He would cost around 10-12 million pounds but I think it would be worth it.
Bacary Sagna
The 31 year old's contract with Arsenal expires in the summer and seems to be looking for a move away. Liverpool and Inter are the clubs most strongly linked with a move for the right back. Last summer's free signing of Kolo Toure demonstrated Rodgers' willingness to bring in experienced and older Premier League players if he can get them on the cheap. Sagna has been a starter for Arsenal for years now and is just the kind of defender Rodger likes, able to get forward and a great passer of the ball. It is being reported that Liverpool are offering Sagna an offer to him that he can't refuse and I hope that they do. As I said before, Liverpool have many up and coming right backs but none are quite ready to start week in, week out. He would be great to cover right back until one of these youngsters emerges as the front-runner for the role and the best part is that he come free.
Ashley Cole
The 33 year old Englishman's situation is much like Sagna's but with Chelsea. Mourinho has given the starting left back spot to Cesar Azpilicueta instead this season and his contract expires in the summer as well. It is rumored that Rodgers will offer him a better contract than Chelsea will and so might be playing for Liverpool next season. He would be a welcome addition to provide experience and cover for first chance left back Enrique and also help mentor young Jack Robinson for the future.
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