Martin Skrtel and his continuing improvement for Liverpool

Skrtel celebrates his goal against Arsenal

At the beginning of the season, it seemed inevitable that Martin Skrtel would leave Liverpool Football Club. In the second half of last season, Skrtel was replaced by Carragher , who was playing his last season for the club. This season, Kolo Toure had taken over Skrtel’s place in the team. Brendan Rodgers had questioned Skrtel’s temperament and said he lacked leadership qualities on the pitch. When Liverpool were looking to sign Sakho, it seemed the end of the road for Skrtel’s career at Anfield.

Due to injuries, Skrtel started his first game of the season against Manchester United at Anfield. It was a solid display by the Slovakian centreback. Since then, he has not looked back and has cemented his place in the team.

“He is aggressive, quick, is good in the air and I think he’s a very good player for the future and also for the present. He is very competitive, but his mentality for me is very good”

This is what Rafa Benitez had to say when he signed Skrtel. The way Skrtel stuck to his task shows his mentality. He has worked on his weaknesses since last year. During the start of Rodgers’ tenure, Skrtel made rash challenges and also made some defensive errors leading to crucial goals scored against Liverpool. His defending in the FA Cup game against Oldham was deemed as soft by Rodgers and since then he did not figure in the team till the end of the season.

This season has been completely different for Skrtel. He has curtailed his rash challenges. He has been quite composed on the ball , knowing when to clear and when to pass. This can also be attributed to a change in philosophy by Rodgers, where he emphasized a lot on passing out of defence last season.

Skrtel has shown improvement on a lot of footballing metrics. He has the most number of clearances per game in the Premier League this season. Although this doesn’t necessarily prove his defending has improved, what it does reflect is the number of times he has prevented a goal scoring opportunity. Skrtel was never as good a reader of the game as someone like Agger or Koscielny , but what he has been good at is making last ditch tackles and clearances. He has put his body on the line quite a lot of times this season.

As per the stats at Squawka, Skrtel averages almost 12 clearances per 90 minutes this season compared to about 7 last season. He has made 3 defensive errors this season compared to five last season despite playing more games this season.

His fouls have gone down from 0.95 per 90 minutes last season to 0.82 this season. This clearly shows that he has reduced his tendency to tackle rashly. Skrtel, though has been quite lucky not to concede goals from set-pieces this season. On quite a few occasions, he has been pulling the shirt of the opposition player rather than clearing the ball away. Even this has reduced in the last few games.

Skrtel’s biggest contribution has been his goals this season. He has scored four goals in the Premier League this season. The two goals against Arsenal were crucial in the victory. He also scored the early goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Skrtel has been a part of a back three as well as a back four for Liverpool. His partnership with Toure has been quite a nightmare, but he has looked quite solid when paired with Agger or Sakho. Defence has not really been Liverpool’s strength this season and Skrtel still has the tendency to put in the odd rash tackle or grab an opponent’s shirt.

However, his improving performances and his mentality have been a reason for joy for Liverpool fans. His hunger and passion is a reflection of the improved team spirit at Anfield this season.