It depends on your definition of a 'defensive team' really. You have teams that pull everyone back into their own half and park the bus in front of the goal, much like what smaller teams do against big sides when playing away. I'd be the first to admit that we did this under Gerard Houllier who was ultra defensive. Under Rafa however, whilst we may play deep, we push players forward when attacking. We look like a 4-5-1 on paper but when we attack, it becomes a 4-3-3, with Torres at the fulcrum of the attack and both Kuyt and Babel on either side of him. Stevie then moves up to play behind Torres. Man Utd have scored 72 goals this season thus far, Arsenal 64 and both Liverpool and Chelsea are on 60, not too far behind.

On the subject of Agger vs. Vidic, I personally think Skrtel is more similar to the Serb.

rafa plays kuyt for his defensive quality

You may take the piss if you wish but this is true. Kuyt if you watch him play works really hard, tracking back and getting forward depending on the situation. It's easy for you to criticise when you play free flowing attacking football. How many teams do that anyway? To an untrained eye, it's all about how fast a team plays and how many shots they attempt on goal. Look a little deeper and you'll notice there are other points of the game one can enjoy or appreciate. How a team plays often reflects how the manager thinks. Liverpool adopt a rather disciplined and tactical game, reflecting how Rafa approaches the game of football.

To say one is better than the other is like saying an aggressive, headstrong person is better than a cautious, more tactical one. If you ask me, it's about being different and not better.

This post has been edited by Duke Red: Apr 18 2008, 02:18 PM

i personally don't think skrtel has the abilites like vidic... in fact i prefer agger to skrtel (skrtel always look all out of sorts - jus my personal opinion when i see him playing - some might beg to differ)... perhaps is skrtel first season... maybe will do well next season like how evra n vidic went thru... needed some time to get used to the pace of the game in EPL...

You are right to say that Skrtel has yet to gel into the existing defensive unit. All it takes is a small lapse in concentration and you will be punished. Defensive units are really fragile and have to really keep their concentration levels high at all times. If you are slow to move up for example, you draw opposition players onside, especially when you play the offside trap. If you are not aware of your fellow defenders, you tend to get into a mixup when going in for challenges, etc. Skrtel has yet to fully adapt but you have to consider that he was thrown into the lions den, given that he came at a crucial part of the season for us. He had to play against you lot and against top sides in Europe, something he wasn't accustomed to at Zenit. Individually however I think he is a powerful, uncompromising defender.

skrtel and agger have different styles, but i'd like to think that both players complement each other in the central defensive unit, just the way it was back in the days of hyypia/henchoz or the more recent hyypia/carragher.

agger is more into vision and passing, good control, and reads the game well (young version of hyypia), while skrtel is strong, hard-tackling, and does all the dirty jobs (ala henchoz).

it'll take some time for skrtel to adapt, he's still prone to lapses in concentration now and then, not uncommon for a young CB. even ferdinand was committing woeful errors in his early days while at west ham and leeds. but it's easy to see if that particular player has great potential playing in this position, the only way is for the managers to stick with them and they'll eventually prosper as they mature in both age and experience.