Daniel Agger Debut

On this day in 2006 former Liverpool defender Daniel Agger made his debut.   Born in Hividovre, Denmark he started his career at Danish club Brondby. Making his debut on 25^th July 2004 in a league match against OB Odense after being on the club’s books since the age of 12. He was voted Brondby’s best player three games in a row and became an established member of the first team at only 19 years old.   After impressing at Brondby, he caught the eye of Rafa Benitez and signed for the Reds on 12.01.2006 for £5.8m. The Danish defender scored the best goal of Liverpool’s 2006/07 season with a long range strike outside the penalty area against West Ham at the Kop end, it was his second league game for the Reds. He put in some great performances for the team during that season, a notable one being in the second leg of the semi- final of the Champions league against Chelsea where he scored a goal and got Man of the Match.   He was kept out of the 2007/08 season due to a metatarsal injury, this kept him out until the start of the 2008/09 season. The signing of Slovakian defender Martin Skrtel in the summer of 2008 meant that Agger was kept on the bench up until October when Skrtel was side-lined due to injury, he had a good run of games until the Slovakian returned to the team. A reoccurring back injury meant that he didn’t play much towards the end of the season and the first two months of the 2009/10 season also.   He featured in 23 league games and 13 cup matches in the remainder of the 2009/10 season, sometimes at left back and most of the time in his preferred centre back position. He reached his 100^th appearance for the club when he played in the home leg against Urinea Urziceni on 25^th February 2010. He also got picked for the 2010 World Cup squad for Denmark, he featured in three matches but the Danes couldn’t get past the group stage, finishing third behind the Netherlands and Japan. His career at Liverpool so far had been stop start due to injuries and the 2010/11 season was no different. Having to be replaced in the opening game of the season against Arsenal due to a concussion and other niggling injuries meant that he didn’t feature in the first half of the season. Agger was not first choice CB under Roy Hodgson but once he was replaced with Kenny Dalglish the Danish defender returned to the starting XI and had a good run of games between January and February but it was short lived as in March he picked up another injury in a game against West Brom, this was his final appearance of the season. The following season was much better for the defender as he featured in majority of the games and formed a great partnership with Martin Skrtel.   There was constant speculation about whether he would remain at the club but this was put to bed when he signed a new long-term contract wit in October 2012 and in the November he was voted Danish Footballer of the Year for the second time in his career, the first was in 2007.   The 2012/13 season was the best for his Liverpool career, he appeared in 35 Premier League matches and reached 200 appearances for the club in the Europa League tie against Zenit and scored three goals that season. He was appointed the clubs vice-captain due to the departure of Jamie Carragher in the 2013/14 season, unfortunately that season he was again troubled with ongoing injuries and it was difficult for him to get back into the starting XI due to the great form Skrtel and Sakho where on.   After eight and a half years at the club his Liverpool career came to an end after he moved back to his boyhood club Brondby in the summer of 2014. He made a total of 232 appearances for the Reds, scoring 14 goals and was a fan favourite due to his loyalty to the club.   In the summer of 2016 Agger announced his retirement from football at the age of 31 saying ???Thank you for your support, it is the right decision to stop. I’m proud of my career’. Article by Lauren Black @LaurenBlack9 For more Redmen TV content including podcasts, subscriber exclusives and three new shows every week subscribe now and get your first month for FREE bit.ly/RMTVjoin