I argued we had one of the strongest defences in terms of personel last season. I am not so sure we have taken many steps forward in this transfer window. In my opinion Daniel Agger was one of the best central defenders at the club and he was certainly a lot better than Kolo Toure.
You do not go from being vise captain to being out of the frame completely in terms of playing time.
With Sakho and Lovren out with injury, albeit not for too long, Kolo toure is a decent replacement but even against Middleboro you could see he could very well be a liability. Illori, Coates, Wisdom would all be better options to come in and do a job than Toure in my eyes and hence I think we have left ourselves a bit short in that department all for 3M quid (what we got from Brøndby for Agger).
I am well aware that Daniel and Brendan had a falling out and who knows how serious it was.
To me I think the squad would be stronger with Reina and Agger in it and for that reason I would have kept them around for another season.
Only Brendan knows what that would have done with team spirit and ability to control the dressing room etc. and getting rid of "bad apples" may very well be the way to have longevity at larger clubs like Man Utd and Liverpool. I recently read Ferguson's autobiography and he said it a primary reason he was able to do so well over a long period of time. Few can argue with his success.
In any case, I think Brendan is moving in the right direction again and having Can, Sakho, Allen and Sturridge back from injury will do a lot in terms of strengthening the core of the team.
YNWA,
Stian
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