Former Liverpool defender Daniel Agger has expressed his regret at the timing of his Anfield exit.
Agger was a top player for the Reds for almost 10 years. But by the time he left Liverpool in 2014, injuries had taken a real toll on him.
Despite playing 232 times and being named club vice-captain, the Dane was no longer an automatic starter for Brendan Rodgers at centre-back. As a result, Agger surprisingly headed back home to play for former club Brondby.
Just 29 at the time, the move came as a bit of a shock. And speaking to The Athletic today, the 39-year-old admitted that the decision had ultimately been a mistake.
“I only did it because I was p_____ (off),” says Agger. “I’d gone from being made vice-captain to being fourth or fifth choice centre-back at times. I can see now I should have been calmer. I wish I had stayed here for another six months and maybe things would have changed. But at the time, I felt like I had reached my edge and took my career into my own hands.
“I always wanted to finish at Brondby because the fans are unbelievable, but the timing was all wrong. The year before, they had nearly been relegated and almost went bankrupt. I went there at a bad time. After I finished my two-year contract there, I didn’t feel like I could stay but I didn’t feel like I could go back out again either so I retired.”
Agger reveals Reds regret
Agger himself isn’t the only one who will always feel a sense of ‘what if’ about this football career.
On his day, the former Denmark international was a truly classy defender. Left-footed and as elegant as they come, Agger had everything a modern-day centre-back should.
However, injuries just wouldn’t leave him alone. He still played a fair bit for Liverpool across eight-and-a-half years, but it should have been more.
Because of what had been robbed from him with the fitness problems, Agger’s exit in 2014 was all the more disappointing.
Liverpool had just finished second in the Premier League and looked ready to become a force again. Although things didn’t play out that way, maybe they would have gone a little more smoothly with Agger involved.
Remarkably still just 29 when his Anfield career fizzled out, there’s no real reason Dan couldn’t have then seen in the start of Jurgen Klopp’s reign from 2015.
As one of the most senior members of the squad, Agger could have been one who Klopp really relied on in his early days. In his interview today, the Dane even admits that he’d have loved to have played under the current Liverpool boss.
“I’m a little bit jealous because I wanted to be part of something like that at Liverpool,” he says. “Klopp is the type of manager I would have loved to play for.” Oh, what could have been.
This time last year, Liverpool’s loan army were having a fairly good time of things.
Conor Bradley was on his way to being named Bolton Wanderers Player of the Season, while Leighton Clarkson was showing why Aberdeen were later convinced to buy him permanently.
But despite the success of Bradley and Clarkson, we rated young Tyler Morton as Liverpool’s top loanee at this stage of 2023/24.
Ultimately Morton was perhaps edged out of it by Bradley. But this season, the 21-year-old has certainly kicked things up a notch.
Recently described as ‘outstanding’ by Hull City manager Liam Rosenior, Morton has been brilliant in the Championship with the Tigers.
Having forced his way into the starting XI, the Liverpool academy graduate has bagged two goals and registered three assists in 17 league games. Roaring.
Morton beats away the competition
In fairness, this season’s batch of Liverpool youngsters in temporary homes is a little less impressive than last years’.
The only other real challenger to Morton’s crown here would be Sepp van den Berg. Sepp scored his first goal for Mainz this week and has been a solid performer for them in a difficult season.
If the Dutchman can keep having an influence on the Bundesliga side, then perhaps he can stake a claim at Anfield next season.
Meanwhile, the other notable names the Reds farmed out during the summer are really struggling to make any kind of impact.
Fabio Carvalho is the most high-profile of these. Unfortunately the 21-year-old’s stay at RB Leipzig has been pretty much a disaster. He looks set to be recalled in January, although Leipzig are reportedly putting up a fight.
Two more who look set to return home in the New Year are Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams. Neither have impressed on-loan up in Scotland, with Williams failing to even make a single appearance for Aberdeen.
All of this makes the choice to crown Morton as the loan Player of the Season so far an easy one.
Tyler dropped off ever so slightly at Blackburn Rovers during the second half of last season. Let’s hope that he can go on for a little longer this time around and show Jurgen Klopp that he deserves to be in the Liverpool first-team in 2024/25.
This time last year, there weren’t too many contenders for Liverpool’s Player of the Season so far.
With the Reds struggling to get going, the only player to truly stand up and be counted was Alisson Becker. As his teammates struggled around him, Alisson was a bastion of dependability in the Liverpool goal.
And while the Brazilian has once again been brilliant in 2023/24, he now has competition for the crowning of the Reds’ best player at Christmas.
For us, Ali can still take his spot in second place, just ahead of Mohamed Salah. But unfortunately for the big man, he’s going have to cede his crown to Liverpool’s captain, the imperious Virgil van Dijk.
Much had been made of Van Dijk’s steady form by this point last season. With a World Cup looming, the centre-back seemed to be getting criticised at every turn.
This season, those same critics have gone a little quiet. Virgil has been back to something approaching his very best. For us, no one has matched the No.4’s displays so far this campaign.
Van Dijk is Liverpool’s Player of the Season so far
Going into the season, there were still question marks over whether Van Dijk would ever reach his top level again.
The side effects of the knee injury he suffered in 2020 seemed to be lingering still and there were suggestions that the Dutchman was even starting to decline.
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With those doubts ringing in his ears though, Virgil has well and truly answered them all. And more.
Never one to mince his words, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has been one of those to recognise just how good the Reds’ captain has been all season long.
“Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker outstanding again,” Carragher wrote after Liverpool’s win over Crystal Palace earlier this month. “They have been doing some very heavy lifting this season.”
Jurgen Klopp is another to have lauded Van Dijk’s influence, claiming that the 32-year-old is once again ‘the best defender in the world.’
That was a title that followed Virgil around without question between 2018 and 2021. On last season’s showings, there was real doubt about whether he would ever be worthy of it again.
Thankfully, with half of the season now pretty much done and dusted, Van Dijk has shown that that was simply a blip. If the Reds are to win anything in 2024, they’ll need their captain at his very best. Should he end up lifting a trophy above his head in May, no one will have deserved it more. Keep it going, Virg!
Liverpool’s transfer business in 2023 was quite extraordinary, yet the moves the Reds make next year could be even more ground-breaking.
The past 12 months has seen Liverpool completely transform their midfield with four new additions in the summer as Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were shockingly sold to Saudi Arabia.
With club legend Roberto Firmino also leaving, Liverpool’s attack saw a huge shift as Darwin Nunez has this year taken on the mantle as Jurgen Klopp’s leading man in the frontline.
And heading into 2024, Liverpool have some major issues to address in the squad, and here are our three main problems the Reds have to resolve heading into the new year.
Find as perfect a Mohamed Salah replacement as possible
Aside from blowing up the midfield, the main transfer story for Liverpool this year has been the potential departure of Mohamed Salah, with Saudi Arabia coming close to a deal in the summer.
Whilst the Reds managed to stand strong, there’s a reported expectation that Salah will be heading to the Middle East in 2024. And as such, a replacement is needed at Anfield.
Given how important the 31-year-old is for Liverpool, the Reds will need as perfect a successor as possible for Salah in 2024. Yet for some, this could prove to be an impossible task.
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