Worst of the TLW Era - YOU decide: Right backs

[tlw content]

With the 100th and final issue of ‘The Liverpool Way’ fast approaching we’re looking to get your input on a series of articles featuring ‘the best and worst of’ the TLW era, which spans from August 1999 when the first issue was printed, to now as we prepare to declare once reaching a century.

 

You’ve already voted for your best team of the last 16 years (if you haven’t you can do so here) so now let’s go for the worst. Yesterday we had the keepers so today we’ll look at the right backs. Josemi will be looking to secure a place in the side but even if he misses out he’ll no doubt muscle in on the team photo anyway. Perma-crock Degen and Unable Xavier provide the photobombing Spaniard with some stern competition.

 

So who's it gonna be? You decide.

 

 

 

Click here to view the article

[J-V]

Not even a choice.

[Section_31]

 

Where's Johnson? 

[njackets]

Don't remember Xavier being all that bad, i'd have had Kromkamp in there before him.

[dave u]

Xavier was brutal. Couldn't stop a cross coming in. Blackburn away jumps out as one of the worst performances I'd seen in a long time.

 

Nowhere near as bad as Emre Can at Stoke mind, but it would have been sly putting him in there when he's not a right back.

[dave u]

I voted Degen but it won't feel right having a worst XI without Josemi in it. 

 

Remember when Rafa would bring him on as a sub to shore things up when we were winning (moving Finnan to right mid) and he'd end up making everyone shit themselves as we'd be hanging on for grim death?

 

Think he even got on against Olympiakos and almost blew that one through being shite.

[The Golden Eel]

I can't really remember these too well tbh.  I remember Degen having a decent game once and overall Xavier wasn't a bad player in his career, so I'm going for Josemi.  

[Scott_M]

Josemi's bought good comedy value by getting front & centre for all the Istanbul pictures.

 

Xavier did Ok in the first few months we signed him, scored a couple of goals and looked reasonably assured. We came 2nd in his first season so he did Ok.

 

Degan was one of the most pointless players ever. Never played or contributed fuck all. Got a rare start at Fulham once and got sent off (didn't we end the game with 9 men that day?).

 

Anyway, Degan.

 

Early centre half vote for the nightmare duo of Paletta & Lovren here.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Quite a lot of these worst players are going to come from the Rafodgson period aren't they? Chin up Brendan.

[Trumo]

The trouble with Degen was that he actually had the ability to make a decent right back but he spent all his time either out injured or getting injured, rendering him about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Xavier was mediocre rather than shit, as was Kromkamp. I've gone for Josemi as he was given enough game time to show that he wasn't up to it. I remember him switching off completely in a home game against Portsmouth. Gerrard had put us 1-0 up with a belting free kick but we ended up hanging on near the end because our right back decided our right midfielder should do all his defending for him. We ended up conceding a last-minute equaliser.

 

One of the reasons we've fallen away so much over the last 25 years is that when given the option to either sign a shit/totally the wrong player/expensive one-hit-wonder/doomed to fail player or no player at all, we've always ALWAYS decided we'd rather throw our money away.

[Kevin D]

Are we going to do one of these for managers?

[Scott_M]

Are we going to do one of these for managers?

 

There is only one winner in that race - anybody who doesn't vote for The Hodgeasaures is a big bag of wrong.

[Russ Atmosphere]

Are we going to do one of these for managers?

How far would you trust JP?

[Dr Nowt]

It's a little known fact that the name Degen features within the phrase "Physically degenerate".

 

He set the standard for our appalling subversion of the term "free transfer", which subsequently became such a rich Anfield comedy tradition.

 

He owned a website called degendegen.com back in the day, and even if we'd got two of him for the overall price paid we would still have been royally seen off by his agent, through a deal he must still dine out on now.

 

Him.

[Moctezuma]

The trouble with Degen was that he actually had the ability to make a decent right back but he spent all his time either out injured or getting injured, rendering him about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Xavier was mediocre rather than shit, as was Kromkamp. I've gone for Josemi as he was given enough game time to show that he wasn't up to it. I remember him switching off completely in a home game against Portsmouth. Gerrard had put us 1-0 up with a belting free kick but we ended up hanging on near the end because our right back decided our right midfielder should do all his defending for him. We ended up conceding a last-minute equaliser.

 

One of the reasons we've fallen away so much over the last 25 years is that when given the option to either sign a shit/totally the wrong player/expensive one-hit-wonder/doomed to fail player or no player at all, we've always ALWAYS decided we'd rather throw our money away.

 

I've mentioned this before but if you were in the academy it would be fucking infuriating seeing a pile of pish get playing time instead of you. Throughout Liverpool's recent history we have done this, nearly seriously pissing off both Gerrard and Carragher in the process. Realistically were any of these lads mentioned better than Stephen Wright (certainly all of them wouldn't have fought as hard as him). It'll be the same with the left backs and Warnock and various others from the academy we sold for bugger all (whilst buying expensive tripe).

 

For me in this vote it's Degen, not even sure he's the best footballer in his family.

[setreal]

Degen didn't cut it.

 

 

 

 

Anyone?

[JohnnyH]

It's Josemi. Whenever Degen played he was nearly always good. I even remember a few man of the match vote awards on here in league cup games. He just rarely played due to being made of crumbs. So if it's being shite, then it has to be Josemi.

[Moctezuma]

Early centre half vote for the nightmare duo of Paletta & Lovren here.

 

It depends what kind of shite nightmare you want:

 

Want a back three with the pace of a snail who are completly ill-adept at playing in english football (due to it's generally higher line of defence)? Then go Coates, Paletta and Pellegrino

 

Want a pair of 'hilarious' fuck ups with zero positional sense? Sling in Lovren and Song

 

Want a centre halves that defined how shit we'd become as a club in a ludicrously short space of time? DIcks and Piechnik

[aRdja]

Glen Johnson.

[Juan Galonso]

Degen by a mile. I hated his stupid square shoulders that made him look like he had one of those wooden coat hangers in his shirt and I remember we lost 1-0 v Arsenal in 2009-10 season and Gerrard pinged a truly glorious 60 yard pass for him to run on to and control on his instep without breaking stride. What did he do? Miscontrolled it out of play. It was harder to do that than actually control the thing but that useless git somehow managed it.

[Juan Galonso]

Degen by a mile. I hated his stupid square shoulders that made him look like he had one of those wooden coat hangers in his shirt and I remember we lost 1-0 v Arsenal in 2009-10 season and Gerrard pinged a truly glorious 60 yard pass for him to run on to and control on his instep without breaking stride. What did he do? Miscontrolled it out of play. It was harder to do that than actually control the thing but that useless git somehow managed it.

[billypilgrimnz]

I refuse to vote in these Worst Of polls; it's like a footballer releasing a biography when they are still halfway through their career - there is still a shitload of potential crap to come!

[Tony Moanero]

I refuse to vote in these Worst Of polls

What do you want, a Blue Peter badge?

[Kurt]

Xavier all the way for me. Degen was'nt that bad. But he made Aurelio and Sturrigde look like The Hulk. Josemi was very poor. How poor do you have to be when Kromkamp was an upgrade? But not even the Spanish Carra (that nickname did not help him ) reached the level of shitness that Xavier server us.

[Ted]

Degen, for the simple fact that added to his shitness he couldn't even get a hand jibber out of Amanda Harrington.