Congratulations to Reds centre-back Daniel Agger who has been voted the PFA’s Fans’ Player of the Month for September. After signing during the January transfer window for £5.8 million Agger was given time to settle in by boss Rafa Benítez and this along with some slight injury problems saw his appearances limited – until this season.
He has seen himself picked for a lot more games this season as partner mainly to Jamie Carragher. It’s thanks to Rafa’s much-criticised (mainly by non-Reds) rotation policy that Agger has been able to get some experience in the games where the manager felt it was appropriate. With Sami Hyypia getting towards the end of his career Rafa had to let Agger find his feet in the Premiership sooner or later and Danny has found his feet in style. Fellow Dane and one of our all-time greats Jan Molby pointed out that Agger was still something of a rooky even in the Danish league when Rafa brought him to the club. Speaking to the PFA website Molby said: “Daniel had only played first class football in Denmark for 12 months. He's a good talent and I rate him. He's very calm, left-footed, good in the air and a good reader of the game.”
Another former Red, Torben Piechnick, told the PFA website how Agger had now become a huge name back in Denmark where many feel he’s going to be an important part of the Danish national side in the forthcoming years: “In Daniel Agger Liverpool have bought themselves a player who I believe will turn out to be one of the best signings the club has ever made. Everyone in Denmark is really excited about him and delighted he has joined such a big club as Liverpool. He is tall, strong, good in the air and equally adept on the ground. There's no doubt Agger is one of the hottest Danish prospects in years and he has the potential to be the mainstay of our national team for years to come.”
Piechnick admits that he knew nothing about Danny before his promotion to Brondby’s first team, but since then he’s been highly impressed with the player: “His rise to prominence has been a meteoric one. I personally, hadn't heard of him until he broke into the Brondby first team. He just seemed to appear from nowhere but quickly made an impression at club level and it was not long before he was a deservedly called up by his country. At 21 his best years are ahead of him and I can only see him improving at Liverpool.” Piechnick is also impressed with how Rafa let Danny settle in: “I noticed Rafael Benitez didn't throw him into the first team straight away and I think that is the right strategy to adopt.”
Agger was the victim of a recent burglary along with other Liverpool players but police today announced they’d found the goods and made some arrests.
Four men in all were arrested in connection with robberies from the homes of Agger, and Peter Crouch. The police recovered medals and shirts along with expensive audio and video equipment from a house in Tuebrook this morning. Crouch’s home, in Alderley Edge in Cheshire, was ransacked at the same time as he was scoring his two goals in the Champions League at Anfield last Wednesday.
The four arrested are all in their twenties and are all from Liverpool. They were arrested on charges of burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary and handling stolen goods. Speaking about the arrests, Merseyside Police Detective Sergeant Peter Cain said: “This has been the result of hard work and persistence in partnership with our colleagues in Cheshire and while working closely with Liverpool FC. I would like to remind the public that handling stolen goods is a crime and one that Merseyside Police takes very seriously.”