Topic: Dejan Lovren

[Funky_Gibbons]

Not writing him off or anything, hopefully he'll improve like, but he's a walking fucking mistake at the moment.

What mistake did he make? He was covering the left centre back who was in no man's land and the keeper came out when he should have stayed at home. Don't think any of them covered themselves in glory there.

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

Hmmm, I thought he did well tonight, but he was exposed as the whole of the midfield was on the attack, and their counters meant our defenders were thrown to the wolves at times at times. Important interceptions and tackles here and there tonight. Might have gotten away with that penalty decision though

[Anywhichwayicant]

Just not good enough.


That's the long and short of it.

[Camarero25]

It's like watching Skrtel with hair.

It's honestly worse at this moment in time. I've had a go at Skrtel in the past for wrestling players but Lovren does the same without even standing goal-side of them for fuck's sake. I was actually pretty keen on him signing as well- still very early days though, hopefully he improves.

[Twelfth Man]

Gets done with through balls too much. Big lad so slow starting acceleration. Could perhaps have held his ground for the goal.

[The Batman.]

Not writing him off or anything, hopefully he'll improve like, but he's a walking fucking mistake at the moment.

Really? Sakho was the one who nearly cost us a goal tonight, not Lovren.

A little concerned that he seems susceptible to the ball in behind but think its very harsh to call him a walking mistake.

[LFCDynamic]

Just not good enough.


That's the long and short of it.

Agger  for life

[reidy125]

So it has nothing to do with their AMs seemingly having the freedom of our final third?

[NealFrom25Yards]

It's like watching Skrtel with hair.

Seriously harsh on Skrtel, who's somewhat limited but extremely solid and dependable.

Should be straight in the team beside Sakho when he's fit.

[JackWard33]

Really? Sakho was the one who nearly cost us a goal tonight, not Lovren.

Nope you're wrong
The goal is scored by both our CMs and our left back getting caught up the pitch and a Ludo player receiving it and turning in the number 10 position - not the CB's responsibility. One of  Henderson and Gerrard should have been sitting
Mignolet then does whatever that was he thinks he was doing....

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

So it has nothing to do with their AMs seemingly having the freedom of our final third?

Exactly, which is what I pointed out in my post. I think it's a bit unfair to lambast our CBs too much, when they had such little protection. Ok, we had so much of the ball and our midfielders wanted to push up the pitch to support the attack but they have to track back, because every defender in the world will have trouble when they are getting dribbled at one on one.

[Funky_Gibbons]

Seriously harsh on Skrtel, who's somewhat limited but extremely solid and dependable.

Should be straight in the team beside Sakho when he's fit.

Yeah we really need a central defender in the team dragging us back to the six yard line and who has made more errors leading to goals than any other defender in the last five seasons.

[Rojo O Muerto]

Reminded me of the Aguero goal.

[Red Sea]

Having wanyama, and schneiderlin would have helped dejan, compared to our midfield right now at least. He's better than what he's showing I think however. Is he the dominant defender we wanted? Don't think so

[Fitzy.]

Seriously harsh on Skrtel, who's somewhat limited but extremely solid and dependable.

Should be straight in the team beside Sakho when he's fit.

Is this how you build teams? Change stream at the first sign of trouble? Or do you take a measured approach and improve with players you're invested in.

[Harris96]

Judgements after a solid 5 or so games. Nice.

[The Batman.]

Nope you're wrong
The goal is scored by both our CMs and our left back getting caught up the pitch and a Ludo player receiving it and turning in the number 10 position - not the CB's responsibility. One of  Henderson and Gerrard should have been sitting
Mignolet then does whatever that was he thinks he was doing....

Nope I'm not wrong. Sakho nearly cost us a goal. Tried to bring down a 60 yard punt on his thigh on the edge of his own box, fucks it up, gives the ball away then gets megged before the player hit the post.

[Hazell]

Exactly, which is what I pointed out in my post. I think it's a bit unfair to lambast our CBs too much, when they had such little protection. Ok, we had so much of the ball and our midfielders wanted to push up the pitch to support the attack but they have to track back, because every defender in the world will have trouble when they are getting dribbled at one on one.

That's pretty much how I saw it. Both Lovren and Sakho individually played well but as team, we're having major issues in our defending. Their chance for the goal tonight IMO initially came about because our midfield collectively didn't deal with their attack and it left their players attacking our our CB's. Was a poor goal to concede when you're 1-0 up.

[firing squad]

It's like watching Skrtel with hair.

I bursted out laughing when I saw this, well done Sir.


Anyway, he wasn't all that bad tonight but I'm afraid he's still too much the Lovren we Croats know.

[please, I have my reasons for it but...]

Him and Miggy are a disaster waiting to happen.

Ludo's goal is a carbon copy from City's 3rd goal. Early signs are worrying and at this point, I'd prefer Skrtel next to Sakho again.

[clinical]

Him and Miggy are a disaster waiting to happen.

Ludo's goal is a carbon copy from City's 3rd goal. Early signs are worrying and at this point, I'd prefer Skrtel next to Sakho again.

Kind of agree. But think he can improve. Its his positioning which can be learnt

[Melbred]

Positioning was always suspect before he arrived, and was a valid observation for those who didn't want him here.

Hopefully he can improve.

[The Batman.]

Him and Miggy are a disaster waiting to happen.

Ludo's goal is a carbon copy from City's 3rd goal. Early signs are worrying and at this point, I'd prefer Skrtel next to Sakho again.

What has Sakho done to be 1st choice? Seriously baffled how nobody seems to ever talk about Sakho but Skrtel and Lovren, and previously Agger, get dogs abuse. Sakho gets talked about as if he's some fusion of Prime Carra, Hyypia and Hansen yet has been involved in 2 clean sheets in 22 games. Both away at Spurs.

[Funky_Gibbons]

Him and Miggy are a disaster waiting to happen.

Ludo's goal is a carbon copy from City's 3rd goal. Early signs are worrying and at this point, I'd prefer Skrtel next to Sakho again.

Where was Sakho for the goal? He is in no man's land and left Lovren exposed and needing to cover the left centre back position. If Sakho is in position then that ball isn't on. 

But yes let's put Sakho and Skrtel back together as that was a roaring success in the past.

[Saul Goodman]

I thought it was a clear penalty when he pushed the player over in the first half with no attempt to play the ball.

[morgsa]

Don't get me wrong he has been hot and cold but Fuck me, the guy is hung drawn and quartered after just 5 games.  Talk about giving a player time to adjust to a new club, and don't forget he didn't have a pre-season with us.  Perhaps the real issue is not Lovren but the protection the defence gets from midfield, or should I say lack of it.  New personnel this year but same problems as last.

[chrisevry]

His game at Southampton was to push the defence up and help their pressing game from the back. Thus far it seems like he knows that it is exactly this Brendan wants him to do, but he doesn't have full faith in those around him to do the same. Hence he sometimes over commits, leaving him a yard or two further up than his cohorts, meaning he looks slow or like he dives in.

I don't think tonight, and their goal was a representation of this though. The impressive Marcelino picked up a pocket of space in an inside right position as Moreno was bombing beyond Sterling, which left Ludogrets two on one with Sahko. The ball was neat, Lovren was in a relatively decent position given the situation, it just seemed worse by Mignolet's rush of blood.

He will come good. It's 3 new players of a back 4. It'll take time.

[reidy125]

Exactly, which is what I pointed out in my post. I think it's a bit unfair to lambast our CBs too much, when they had such little protection. Ok, we had so much of the ball and our midfielders wanted to push up the pitch to support the attack but they have to track back, because every defender in the world will have trouble when they are getting dribbled at one on one.

Our system means that once an AM breaks our CBs are horribly exposed, the full backs have pushed on to an extent that they can't make it back. It's ultimately 2 against 2 and they have the momentum.

SG is meant to dictate the play which he does very well when we have the ball but when we're exposed to the counter he is either out of position or too slow to make up the ground. 1-0 up we shouldn't be leaving ourselves in that position. Henderson had pushed on at that point in the game and Lucas hadn't played for a month so he wasn't sharp enough either. Yes Raheem lost the ball (should've got a free kick IMO) but we should be prepared to mop up in these instances.

[Fromola]

Positioning was always suspect before he arrived, and was a valid observation for those who didn't want him here.

Hopefully he can improve.

Any centre back in football would struggle at times in our team with our defensive issues that go beyond the defence. At Southampton, Lovren was covered by two midfielders in front of him screening, such as Schneiderlin and Wanyama. He's not going to be protected at Liverpool, just like our centre halves last season weren't.

Lovren is no better than Agger, Skrtel or Sakho.

[Melbred]

Lovren is no better than Agger, Skrtel or Sakho.

Which is what many, including myself, were saying prior to him signing.

I do think he has been okay, but is as prone to a mistake as any of our other CB's.

[NealFrom25Yards]

Yeah we really need a central defender in the team dragging us back to the six yard line

I think the whole 'passive defender' label that Skrtel has received is harsh - and when it comes down to it, I'm not sure that we need, or even can afford, to have two extremely agressive front-foot defenders as a combination. Not when both full-backs are bombing on and doing so to great effect.

I'm not head of the Skrtel fan club, but last season he was quite comfortably our best defender and one of the better defenders in the league. His tackles won % was the best in the league, he was in the Top 5 for aerial duels won, top in successful clearances, 91% pass success and chipped in with 7 goals.

I think his season was underrated by both our own fans and the media.

Is this how you build teams? Change stream at the first sign of trouble? Or do you take a measured approach and improve with players you're invested in.

At this point in time I just think Skrtel is the better defender, and I don't think it's a regressive move to employ him beside Sakho.

[Fromola]

Which is what many, including myself, were saying prior to him signing.

I do think he has been okay, but is as prone to a mistake as any of our other CB's.

And the more exposed he gets the more mistakes he'll make (as would any other centre back). A centre back makes a mistake and it's going to lead to a chance or a goal. They should have less to do and be covered more, especially in games like tonight.

Imagine David Luiz in our defence. He'd give a goal away most weeks.

[Funky_Gibbons]

I think the whole 'passive defender' label that Skrtel has received is harsh - and when it comes down to it, I'm not sure that we need, or even can afford, to have two extremely agressive front-foot defenders as a combination. Not when both full-backs are bombing on and doing so to great effect.

I'm not head of the Skrtel fan club, but last season he was quite comfortably our best defender and one of the better defenders in the league. His tackles won % was the best in the league, he was in the Top 5 for aerial duels won, top in successful clearances, 91% pass success and chipped in with 7 goals.

I think his season was underrated by both our own fans and the media.

At this point in time I just think Skrtel is the better defender, and I don't think it's a regressive move to employ him beside Sakho.

If you're going of stats then compare Skrtel's to Lovren's so far this season and they are very similar while not retreating to the six yards line. We have conceded two goals in three games with this back line, compare that with Sakho and Skrtel who conceded something like 26 goals in 17 games together.

[Fiasco]

Any centre back in football would struggle at times in our team with our defensive issues that go beyond the defence. At Southampton, Lovren was covered by two midfielders in front of him screening, such as Schneiderlin and Wanyama. He's not going to be protected at Liverpool, just like our centre halves last season weren't.

Lovren is no better than Agger, Skrtel or Sakho.

And he was still unconvincing then. It's not a massive surprise that he doesn't quite look up to it yet with our system but it works both ways.

[Haggis36]

I thought he made some really nice challenges when Ludogorets were trying to spring us on the break. He's not that quick but that's hardly his fault. Not to blame for the goal, he can't catch the player but he puts a good amount of pressure on the goalscorer.

Thought the protection in front of the defence was non-existent in the second half.

[Caligula?]

He's a good defender, but is he a massive step up in what we already had in Skrtel, Agger, and Sakho? I honestly don't think so, at least not at this point in time.

[Fromola]

He's a good defender, but is he a massive step up in what we already had in Skrtel, Agger, and Sakho? I honestly don't think so, at least not at this point in time.

I don't think anyone would really claim he's particularly better than any 2 of the above. The idea was he's an organiser and that's what we needed apparently.

[Cid]

I'm not sure he'll be keeping Skrtel out on current form.

[Funky_Gibbons]

He's a good defender, but is he a massive step up in what we already had in Skrtel, Agger, and Sakho? I honestly don't think so, at least not at this point in time.

No, he's as good as most of them, but he will also push the defence higher up the pitch and squeeze the space. We have conceded the fewest shots in the Premier League, compare that to lay season when we were dropping deep and conceding numerous shots on goal.

[Sat1]

Give him time.

And less of the ball in defence.