The importance of keeping Agger

Euro 2012 rather summed up Daniel Agger's career thus far. He came, he excelled, he was largely ignored.


In a summer where his team mate Martin Skrtel is being linked to Manchester City for an eye watering £20m transfer fee, it comes as a great surprise and a greater relief to this writer that Daniel Agger is seemingly not being pursued by Europe's biggest and richest clubs. It is hard for me to recall a more under rated player in the Premier League over the past 5 years or so. To these eyes at least, Agger isn't just good, he's world class. From his first few embryonic appearances at Anfield back in 2006, it was easy to see that he was extremely gifted.

Just in case some people need reminding.....

While his frame was slight and nerves were evident in those early days, his touch, technique and calmness shone through even at the tender age of just 21. As the years have progressed, so too has the Dane. Agger has quietly turned himself into one of Liverpool's most important players alongside Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Lucas Leiva. When Daniel Agger is in the team I can guarantee that every Liverpool fan automatically feels more optimistic of victory regardless of the opposition. Indeed, statistics show that when Agger started for Liverpool in the league last season they averaged nearly 0.5 more points per game and conceded at just 0.82 goals per game compared to 1.31 goals per game when he was absent. Unfortunately, during his time at Liverpool, Agger hasn't been in the starting line up regularly enough.  


He has amassed just 170 appearances in nearly 7 years during his time on Merseyside, which is a paltry amount for a player of such undoubted class. His injuries have been numerous and recurring in nature and it wasn't long ago that many Liverpool supporters felt that his wretched fitness record should have resulted in the club cutting ties with him. Many disagreed entirely of course, believing that a talent as great as Agger's should always supersede any physical problems, especially as he was still relatively young. Luckily for Liverpool, the club have retained his services. Happily, last year had a slight upturn in fortunes for the player and he managed 27 league appearances out of 38 compared to just 16 the previous season. With his muscle injuries seemingly behind him (only a cracked rib forced him out for a lengthy time this campaign just gone), Agger now seems free to show his quality over an entire season which will surely garner him the more widespread recognition that has evaded him so far in his career.

Agger and Skrtel: Are Manchester City after the wrong man?

When he has been available there is no doubting that he has been extremely valuable for Liverpool, but with the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as manager, Agger seems likely to become even more of an influential player for his club. It is universally expected that Rodgers will attempt to make Liverpool a passing side who dominate possession in the way that Swansea did last season and there isn't one player at Anfield who seems better suited to that kind of philosophy than the classy Danish defender. No centre half that I have seen in the Premier League in recent years has demonstrated greater technique than the former Brondby man. His ability on the ball is the equal of many midfield players and if Rodgers is indeed to impress a passing style upon Liverpool, then Agger's consistent availability will be of paramount importance to his new boss. 


Rodgers likes his teams to play out from the back with short passes rather than long balls, and Agger will likely be the key man in his defence when it comes to implementing this style of play. He is the most accomplished passer Liverpool have in their defence and is equally adroit at retaining possession when pressed by opposition forwards. Indeed, perhaps the most notable aspect of Denmark's play during Euro 2012 was how often Agger and his defensive partner Simon Kjaer would collect the ball from their goal keeper and look to get Denmark attacking without resorting to aimless punts up field. At times they were pressed extremely high by their opponents (Holland, Portugal and Germany) and therefore put under immense pressure, yet the Danes seldom deviated from their short passing style despite the presence of a target man to hit up front. I'm sure if he was watching it brought a smile to Brendan Rodgers' face.

Agger celebrating a rare goal at the Kop end

Perhaps Agger has flown under the radar somewhat as when he was injured for lengthy periods earlier on in his Liverpool career the immaculate Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher were there to play instead. However, since Hyypia's departure, Agger has become more of a loss to Liverpool with each missed appearance. His deputy is currently one of his former mentors, Jamie Carragher, who is now 34 years old and sadly looking his age. When the veteran scouser stepped in for the injured Agger last season Liverpool looked much the worse for it. They dropped deeper, didn't keep possession as well, couldn't build play from the back as easily and it impacted on both their attacking and defensive play significantly. It was no coincidence, but it was as much to do with the absent ability of Agger as it was to do with Carragher's decline in fortunes.


Talent wise, Daniel Agger is amongst the best defenders in Europe and the fact that teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus et al haven't yet been on the phone to Anfield to enquire about his availability is a mystery to me. I can only fathom that his poor injury record is the reason behind it. As Agger heads into this season looking fit and ready to take on a more crucial role than ever, perhaps the Anfield faithful should be thanking their lucky stars that he has missed a lot of football thus far in his career. If he hadn't, it is highly likely that he would be plying his trade at a different club next season.