Benitez eases Liverpool's defensive deficiency

LIVERPOOL HAVE gone some way to alleviating their defensive crisis with the €2.3 million signing of Sotirios Kyrgiakos from AEK Athens. The 30-year-old passed a medical yesterday before putting pen to paper on a two-year deal.

Krygiakos, who once had spell with Rangers, will go straight into the squad for Liverpool’s match against Aston Villa at Anfield on Monday, and is expected to partner Jamie Carragher in the heart of defence where he will take the place of the youngster, Daniel Ayala, who made his full debut in Wednesday’s 4-0 win over Stoke City.

Liverpool’s manager, Rafael Benitez, is optimistic the Greece international will fit seamlessly into his side.

“He has had experience in Scotland with Rangers, and in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt as well as with the Greek national side,” he said. “He is strong and good in the air, and we were looking for experience and he is the perfect answer.”

Benitez’ defence has been beset by injuries in the lead-up to the season, with Martin Skrtel breaking his jaw in the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham last Sunday and Daniel Agger requiring surgery on a troublesome back injury. The Brazilian left-back, Fabio Aurelio, has also been sidelined with a foot injury.

Kyrgiakos is Liverpool’s third signing of the summer, following the earlier arrivals of Alberto Aquilani and Glen Johsnon from Roma and Portsmouth respectively. The defender, capped 50 times by Greece, described his move to England as “the biggest challenge of my career”.

Benitez has been searching for defensive cover for weeks, having tried to sign Ryan Shawcross and Michael Turner. He was also linked this week with West Ham’s Matthew Upson. But Liverpool’s owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks are believed to have put the block on any further major signings, meaning that Benitez has had to search for the cheaper options.

Kyrgiakos, a tough-tackling defender, moved back to Greece in 2008 after one season at Rangers and two with Eintracht Frankfurt.

Benitez is still hopeful that Agger could return before too long. He said: “If everything goes well it won’t take too much time, maybe a few weeks.”

Benitez confirmed he will make a late decision on the fitness of Skrtel ahead of Monday’s match against Villa. The Slovakian is still recovering following a clash of heads with Jamie Carragher against Tottenham, and missed the midweek game with Stoke.

Benitez said: “He is training. We had to decide on Wednesday about him, but it was too soon to take any risks. Okay, we’ll see on Monday.”

One player who will be fit despite requiring stitches to his eyebrow after a collision in the win over Stoke is Fernando Torres.

Benitez added: “He has some stitches but he is okay. He is training with his team-mates and I think he will be okay for Monday.”

Benitez, meanwhile, has hit out at critics of Lucas Leiva, claiming Liverpool’s Brazilian midfielder is an easy target for those who want to find faults in his side.

Lucas was singled out after the Merseyside club’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham on the opening weekend of the season but, following a string of impressive performances in pre-season, responded with a fine display in the midweek victory over Stoke.

The 22-year-old yesterday also received his first call-up to the full Brazil squad for the World Cup qualifier against Argentina next month.

“Lucas has a very good mentality,” said Benitez. “For someone of his age to suffer such criticism from the experts on TV is wrong.

“He is so good but still he was criticised. I do not understand why they do not criticise other players, more senior players, when they do not play well. He is an easy target and maybe they are not brave enough to criticise the bigger players here.

“Against Stoke, Lucas again showed his quality,” he said. “He has a very good mentality. He can tackle, win headers and pass the ball. He will make mistakes like anyone, but he is and will be a very good player.”