What Now for Martin Skrtel

From regular starter to bench warmer, Martin Skrtel finds himself in a complex scenario at Anfield since the turn of the year. Although, manager Brendan Rodgers has reiterated his desire to keep Skrtel at Liverpool but the situation may as well remain the same for the defender next season and he may have other ideas.
The Slovakian has been largely inconsistent for the reds this year and after series of average displays, Skrtel lost his starting place to veteran Jamie Carragher who will retire after playing the last remaining game of the season against QPR on Sunday.
Skrtel started no less than 33 games last season for Liverpool as compared to 22 this season. Since his horrific performance against Oldham in January, he has only featured in mere 3 league games for Liverpool, twice coming on from the bench.
Carragher will soon be joining Sky Network after finishing his playing career with Liverpool. The reds on the other hand are looking to sign his replacement as soon as possible. A host of defenders have been linked with the club but replacing a legendary figure is by no means easy.
Surely, Liverpool will look to sign a top quality defender keeping in mind their defensive fragilities this season and that might just mean that Skrtel will most probably remain a bench warmer. Agger and the new signing will most likely start for the reds next season.
Agger has been Liverpool’s best defender this season and is more versatile than Skrtel. The opinion about Slovakian is that he lacks leadership in defense. Without a senior defender by his side , Skrtel turns average and the best example of that was seen against Oldham where Liverpool lost 3-2.
Adding to that, when Skrtel was given a start after an entire month to perhaps redeem himself against a weak Southampton side, the defender failed big time against their attack as the home side defeated Liverpool 3-1 on the day.
It will be a crime to say that Skrtel is a poor defender but by all means his standards have fallen badly as far as this season is concerned. He was deservedly benched by Rodgers and lost his place as Carragher proved fruitful for the reds.
Rodgers only recently claimed that Skrtel is an important part of the squad and the club wants to keep him. Whether or not Skrtel is up for the fight to reclaim starting place with Liverpool, we shall see.
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