Martin Skrtel Shouldn't Be Liverpool's 1st-Choice Defender Despite Arsenal Goal

Martin Skrtel proved the headline-grabber in Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Arsenal, thundering home the equaliser in the seventh minute of stoppage time—time that was added on due to him receiving lengthy treatment for a nasty cut to his head earlier in the game.

It was a well-deserved goal for the home side, who would have been unfortunate to come out of the game without any points.

Alas, though, that was almost the case—and it is due to the same defensive problems recurring among Brendan Rodgers' side.

Rodgers said the following post-match, as per Phil McNulty of BBC Sport: "We need to make better decisions defensively. We lost three one-on-one headers in the box for Arsenal's first goal. That is not about defensive organisation; that's about winning your duel." 

That first goal, which was headed past Brad Jones by Mathieu Debuchy, was particularly poor defensively. But, if as Rodgers insists is the case that it's due to individuals not winning their personal duels, then just why has he persisted with Skrtel as his first-choice centre-back for so long?

Liverpool's defensive issues have been a constant over this and last season, papered over by the attacking excellence of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge last year. The only constant in that Liverpool defence has been Skrtel.

What's most bewildering is how Skrtel has gone from being a player Rodgers completely exiled at the end of his first season in charge to becoming the staple of Liverpool's defence.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

A 3-1 defeat at Southampton back in March 2013 saw Skrtel in defence and Jones in goal. The Reds' defending on the day was shambolic. Rodgers quickly dropped Skrtel for the rest of the season, opting instead to bring back in the soon-to-be-retiring Jamie Carragher.

Skrtel was subsequently linked with moves away, most notably to Napoli for a reunion with Rafa Benitez, and he was widely expected to leave the club. A move didn't materialise though, and after a man-of-the-match display against Manchester United, Skrtel became Rodgers' No. 1 centre-back.

The problem is that the 30-year-old, one of the most experienced players at Anfield and a senior member of the squad, is not the leader of the defence that he should be.

So much so that Rodgers signed Dejan Lovren and heralded him as the leader his defence so desperately required.

To add to the bemusement was the fact that Lovren is a left-sided centre-back, the only position Liverpool's defence didn't require a player for given that Mamadou Sakho is a far superior defender to any other at the club. He showed this on his return to the side against Arsenal, keeping Alexis Sanchez quiet and showing composure on the ball.

What Rodgers should have been doing this summer was signing a right-sided centre-back to replace Skrtel and partner Sakho.

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While Sakho is a player who divides opinion, perhaps due to his ungainly style, he's strong in the air, excellent in possession and a natural leader. He's first choice for France for a reason, and a second season in England should have seen him become the cornerstone of Liverpool's defence.

Sakho had a higher pass completion than Skrtel and Lovren last season (92 percent vs. 91 percent and 82 percent, respectively, as per Squawka). Skrtel topped the most defensive errors between the three of them (four, two leading to goals) last season.

This season, Skrtel and Lovren have a whopping 10 defensive errors between them.

Rodgers talks about players needing to win their aerial duels—Sakho has the highest aerial-duel success of the three of them (75 percent vs. 72 percent and 71 percent).

It was Skrtel whose failure to jump with Debuchy allowed the Frenchman to head the equalising goal on the stroke of half-time on Sunday. The Slovakian's late goal was undoubtedly excellent, but it has quickly meant his error at the other end was what cost Liverpool a half-time lead. Such is the media narrative—his goal has taken the headlines and the rest forgotten.

"

Never has a performance encompassed every dimension of Martin Skrtel's footballing prowess than that did.

— Caff (@Caffarsis) December 21, 2014"

The truth is that poor defending is what we have become more accustomed to seeing from Skrtel this season than him scoring as he did against Arsenal. He's too error-prone to be Liverpool's first-choice centre-back, too often carelessly diving into tackles and giving away needless free-kicks around the area.

"

Skrtel is such a master at being a fraud though. At fault for both goals but all will be forgotten due to that goal.

— Ben Hart (@BenlfcHart) December 21, 2014"

"

Skrtel is a horrific defender but fair play for that equaliser, bullet header with a broken head.

— False Nine (@_FalseNumber9) December 21, 2014"

Within the new three-man defence that Rodgers is currently employing, Skrtel as the centre of those three must be the leader, organiser and communicator—tools that he doesn't possess.

Surely, Liverpool's owners are wondering how and why £20 million was spent on Lovren, a left-sided centre-back, the summer after they spent £18 million on Sakho—especially given that Sakho is clearly the superior defender of the two.

Rodgers' failure to judge his defenders accurately continues to be his and Liverpool's Achilles' heel.