Fairclough on why Jose Enrique is not a Spanish International

Jose Enrique has been Liverpool’s first choice left back since joining from Newcastle in 2011. He has had mixed reviews from the Liverpool faithful during his tenure at the club. But former Liverpool player David Fairclough has dug into the Spanish defender on 5times.co by saying Enrique’s predictability and “one-footedness” is what has resulted in him not being called up to the Spanish national side.

On the other side we got a chance to see what Aly Cissoko has to offer in the absence of the injured Jose Enrique, I feel people have been misled by Liverpool’s first-choice left back. I look at what we have got from his service down the left and he is too predictable, he is so one-footed and I think he closes himself down when he gets into a corner, he doesn’t get himself out of tight situations – I think that is why he hasn’t forced himself into the Spanish squad.

Fairclough does raise some valid points when it comes to Enrique being very one-footed but having seen Cissokho against Newcastle, the French left back is equally as one-footed as Enrique or maybe even worse.

If you look across the league, there are very few left backs who you can say are ‘very good’. Enrique may not be world class but by Premier League stands, he has to rank right up there when you compare him to the likes of Evra, Clichy, Baines, Cole and Gibbs.

What I have noticed though about Enrique is that he seems to be too calm and casual on the ball and it often results in him having possession taken away from him. He enjoys using his upper body to shield the ball from his markers but when he is up against very physical players he tends to get knocked off the ball.

There is no doubt that Enrique is better going forward than he is a defender whereas Cissokho seems to be the opposite. If Rodgers decides to continue playing the 3-5-2 formation whereby Enrique or Cissokho are required to be wingbacks then Enrique should get the nod ahead of Cissokho in my opinion simply because he is a better footballer than Cissokho.

When it comes to Enrique and the Spanish national side, one can only ask Vicente del Bosque why he has not picked the Liverpool man. Jordi Alba is the current Spanish left back and arguably one of the best in that position in the world. As good as Enrique may be in the Premier League, or not according to Fairclough, the step up to International level may be a bit too far for him.

It will be interesting to see what Brendan Rodgers does when Enrique is fit again and we see if he picks Enrique ahead of Cissokho.

 Loading ...