On a good day, Daniel Agger is one of the best centre backs in Europe. He’s good in the air, has good awareness not to mention quite superb technical skill for a central defender. This season, despite not being too consistent in his marking abilities, the Dane continued his progress in the most important aspect – staying healthy, which seemed like his biggest problem for most of his career.
Until the 2011-2012 season, in which Agger played a record of 27 league matches for the team, he missed over half the matches during a season four times since joining the club in 2006. The injuries kept piling up, and the man that was destined to become one of the leading central defenders in Europe couldn’t hold to his place under Rafa Benitez, opting to stick with the unimpressive Martin Skrtel next to Jamie Carragher, because Agger’s fitness couldn’t be trusted.
Then comes 2012 under Kenny Dalglish, which wasn’t as successful as some might though it would be, but Agger was flying high. He played in 27 matches and for the first time in his Liverpool career showed a consistent run with good form in the Liverpool lineup. Soon, offers for him from Manchester City (refused twice) and Barcelona were threatening to take him away just when he was finally in a good place.
Agger denied those rumors and added a Liverpool tattoo on him so fans wouldn’t be worried. Agger has missed only one match this season, scoring a career high 3 goals. While his marking has been off a time or two, playing next to the terrible Martin Skrtel, hitting rock bottom this season, or the slower than ever Jamie Carragher, has hurt his own performances on the pitch.
Next season? Agger has to stay. Liverpool need defensive upgrading bad, but not by replacing, or selling Agger. He’s 28, with not too much mileage on his feet, which don’t seem to be so fragile anymore. In general, Liverpool players haven’t been falling down like flies this season, except for bad luck injuries like the ones Lucas and Fabio Borini have suffered. Agger is someone to count on, despite the less than perfect season in 2013. Losing him, or giving up on him, would be taking a step backwards for the club, who needs to stop trotting in the same place.