Daniel Agger has explained he was left baffled by decisions made by Brendan Rodgers during the defender’s final season at Anfield.
The former Denmark international was a huge favourite at Anfield after signing for the club from Brondby in 2006. He made a total of 232 appearances before surprisingly leaving the club at the end of the 2013/14 to return to the Danish outfit in a deal worth just £3m.
Agger explains that the way he was treated by then Liverpool boss Rodgers during his final season at Anfield left him bemused as he was often overlooked despite being named as vice-captain.
The 39-year-old featured 23 times (across all competitions) as the Reds missed out on the title to Manchester City by just two points but our former No. 5 admits he’d love to know why he wasn’t selected regularly by the current Celtic boss.
“Brendan came in and he said to me that he wanted to build a team around me and a couple of others and he really wanted me there,” Agger told the Aldo Meets Podcast (via Rousing The Kop).
“I said that’s good enough for me, if you really want me I will stay. But then something happened and a month after it turned around. I don’t know why. That’s one thing that if I could change, I should have gone. If I would have known what would happen I should have gone.
“That’s the strange thing [being given the vice captaincy]. I’m normally not the type who needs an explaining but at that time I felt it was really, really strange. I remember I started the first four games of the season [2013/14] and we won them all but then suddenly after the national team break I was not in favour at all. I was nowhere near. Then there was a few injuries and I got back in and I actually think I played 23 games and won 21. I’m not sure I even lost one game that season, maybe one.
“So it was a strange one. There is still something in me that really wants to know what was going on. Because I went from getting the captaincy and him saying he really wants me to being number four or five in three weeks.”
A number of players including Steven Gerrard have spoken about how they felt they weren’t a part of Rodgers’ plans during his time at the club.
The likes of our former No. 8, as well as Pepe Reina and Jamie Carragher, all left the club while the Northern Irishman was still in charge
It was a shock to see Agger leave the club at the age of just 29 – especially to return to Denmark rather than a big European club – but he clearly felt he wasn’t going to play as much as he wanted.
He formed a strong partnership with Martin Skrtel during his time at Liverpool and will be remembered well by Kopites.
More must-reads: