Our New Attacking Force

[Frogfish]

Benitez admits he is delighted to have landed his man and feels the centre-back can become a genuine threat at set pieces for his new team.

"Since Sami left the club, we have been looking for a player with quality and Sotirios is the kind of player we were looking for," the boss told his weekly press conference at Melwood.

"Our fans have knowledge of international football and he has played in Scotland, Germany and Greece, so I think everyone will know he is a strong, aggressive player who is good in the air.

"He will be a physical presence in both penalty areas, which is good for us because he is exactly the kind of player we were looking for. He can give us something different."

It is true that we are missing goals from our CBs at FKs and especially corners. Sami was brilliant and so much of a threat that he created more space for those around him. We have been missing this - Agger should score more but usually puts it wide, Carra is never a threat and Skrtel - for some reason, though he should be - almost never is as well.

Hopefully Kyrgiakos won't get many games because Carra / Skrtel / Agger will stay fit, however it will be nice to have the added threat at set-pieces in their penalty box again and maybe take some pressure off Torres too.

 

[Friend no. 2]

it would be nice if our centre backs could pitch in with a few goals from set pieces..Sami was not only good for this, but as said above often provided a distraction leaing space for other players.

 

[Squiggles]

It's all meaningless if he defends like a spaz.

We did need someone who was commanding in the air though, in both defence and attack.

I like big, tall CB's so lets see how he does.

 

[HC]

Aggers a danger from set pieces. Other than that, we are short on goal from the back.

Hopefully Johnson can help fix that, a fully fit Aurelio is more than capable of pitching in with a few too over the course of a season

 

[mom]

Does he have a history of scoring many goals? Or are we assuming he will because he is tall? Crouch is tall and wasn't great with his head.

 

[Asbo]

Ummmm ..........................................................










Not really!


1998–2004 Panathinaikos 60 0(5)
1999–2001 ? Agios Nikolaos (loan) 56 0(3)
2005–2006 Rangers 43 0(1)
2006–2008 Eintracht Frankfurt 51 0( 8 )
2008–2009 AEK Athens 20 0(0)
2009– Liverpool 0 0(0)

 

[inijjer]

Aaaah but Asbo... those teams didn't have the quality of delivery from corners that he'll get at Liverpool.


Oh crap. :-\

 

[Rafiagra]

[quote author=inijjer link=topic=35396.msg930354#msg930354 date=1250959286]
Aaaah but Asbo... those teams didn't have the quality of delivery from corners that he'll get at Liverpool.


Oh crap. :-\
[/quote]

haha

 

[mom]

[quote author=Asbo link=topic=35396.msg930349#msg930349 date=1250957884]
Ummmm ..........................................................










Not really!


1998–2004 Panathinaikos 60 0(5)
1999–2001 ? Agios Nikolaos (loan) 56 0(3)
2005–2006 Rangers 43 0(1)
2006–2008 Eintracht Frankfurt 51 0( 8 )
2008–2009 AEK Athens 20 0(0)
2009– Liverpool 0 0(0)
[/quote]

:'(

 

[rurikbird]

[quote author=mom link=topic=35396.msg930386#msg930386 date=1250967989]
[quote author=Asbo link=topic=35396.msg930349#msg930349 date=1250957884]
Ummmm ..........................................................










Not really!


1998–2004 Panathinaikos 60 0(5)
1999–2001 ? Agios Nikolaos (loan) 56 0(3)
2005–2006 Rangers 43 0(1)
2006–2008 Eintracht Frankfurt 51 0( 8 )
2008–2009 AEK Athens 20 0(0)
2009– Liverpool 0 0(0)
[/quote]

:'(
[/quote]

What's those zeros stand for exactly? Here's the stats I found:

Career of Sotirios Kyrgiakos
Season Club Championship European Competitions Caps
98-99 Panathinaïkos Athènes (-)
99-00 Agios Nikolaos ((FC)) 1 Goals, 28 Games (-)
00-01 Agios Nikolaos ((FC)) 2 Goals, 25 Games (-)
01-02 Panathinaïkos Athènes 1 Goals, 18 Games (-)
02-03 Panathinaïkos Athènes 24 Games (-)
03-04 Panathinaïkos Athènes 1 Goals, 6 Games (-)
04-05(déc) Panathinaïkos Athènes 3 Goals, 12 Games 6 Games (Champions League)
04-05(jan) Glasgow Rangers 15 Games (-)
05-06 Glasgow Rangers 1 Goals, 28 Games 1 Goals, 8 Games (Champions League)
06-07 Eintracht Francfort 5 Goals, 27 Games 6 Games (UEFA Cup)
07-08 Eintracht Francfort 3 Goals, 24 Games (-)
08-09 AEK Athènes 19 Games (-)
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/sotirios-kyrgiakos.html

So our big Zorba the Greek scored 4 goals for his national team and 18 for club teams in his career. 21 career goals is not a bad return for a defender at all. Some of those goals have been decisive, like the 85th minute winner against Porto in the CL, or a double in the Scottish Cup final.