Why Dejan Lovren has a future at Liverpool beyond Christmas
The hard crunch of the tackle couldn’t be heard that well but Dejan Lovren’s screams of pain were echoed loud and clear around Anfield. The Croatian felt the force of a tough but fair challenge from Craig Gardner in the 2-2 draw against West Bromwich Albion and the deep gash on his right knee was much worse as the defender had to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
The game itself was another highlight in Klopp’s short reign as Liverpool manager. The German was absolutely ecstatic with the draw – earned via a deflected effort from Divock Origi – but the more important issue was the vocal support of Anfield was firmly behind the team, something that has been amiss for quite a while.
Klopp though didn’t blame Gardner of tackling Lovren with the intention of injuring the defender. Speaking after the game Klopp absolved Gardner of any maliciousness but didn’t know the full scope of Lovren’s injury.
"“It was like this the whole game, on the edge of everything. But he played the ball. If he didn’t play the ball, we don’t have to talk about this. We hope the injury is not too serious. We have to wait for the scan. I spoke to him and he said it felt not too bad.”"
The Croatian was brought into Liverpool last season by Brendan Rodgers for £20 million, a fee deemed too high for the former Southampton and Lyon player. Lovren though excelled in pre-season and even scored in the 4-0 win over Borussia Dortmund but reality struck soon and his performances tailed quite a bit under Rodgers.
The Liverpool fans were not happy with a lot of the transfer dealings from last season and Lovren faced the greatest ire, his performances weren’t the best either and were littered with mistakes in the first half of the season. That did change in the second half of the season under Rodgers but the damage was already done.
A new beginning under Klopp
Mamadou Sakho might be the best defender Liverpool have but his injury record isn’t the greatest and that means Liverpool need to have another central defender who can step up during the French defender’s absence. Lovren did just take, step up, during Sakho’s absence and has been one of the best players for the club this season.
Klopp was appointed as the manager of Liverpool at the start of October and Lovren got his first chance to impress under the new manager in the home game against Bournemouth, where Liverpool kept a clean sheet.
The defender was part of the starting lineup at the start of the season where the Reds kept three consecutive clean sheets; in fact he was the most impressive defender and got the highest rating according to Whoscored.com in the first game of the season, a 1-0 away win at Stoke City. The turning point was when Liverpool were humbled at home against West Ham losing 3-0.
He was then subsequently dropped after a 3-1 loss at Old Trafford but he made his way back into the team and has been impressive. Lovren might miss a month of action for the Reds and this includes the Christmas period where Liverpool play close to three games in eight days but with Sakho returning in the game against Watford, the loss will be felt a little less.
Lovren to stay at Liverpool?
As soon as Klopp was appointed as the manager of the club there were rumblings about which players would stay and which would leave the club. Klopp would be looking to bring in players that can fit his style of play and doubts from the fans were on the futures of Lovren, Mignolet and even Sturridge.
While the manager did state that he has complete faith in Simon Mignolet and there have been talks about a contract extension for the Belgian goalkeeper, there hasn’t been much talk about Lovren’s future at the club.
Lovren though should be a mainstay for the club; he has been one of the most improved players under Klopp and is the highest rated defender for the club this season after Martin Skrtel. Lovren’s 6.99 rating is the seventh highest for the club this term and the Croatian has averaged 1.4 tackles per game, which is higher than Martin Skrtel and is tied with Sakho.
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The Croatian had a poor time of it last season but things look up for him, he has looked great under Klopp and seems to be improving. The mistakes that had beset his time last season seem a thing of the past and with Martin Skrtel getting old and Mamadou Sakho constantly being injured, it should be Lovren who plays day in and day out for the Reds.
Lovren was all smiles after the 4-1 win over Manchester City where the defender was one of the impressive players for the Reds.
"“We scored four goals and we must have had three or four other one on ones with their keeper. It was so intensive – up, down, up, down.“What’s changed? We are working harder. We are running now more than ever, more than any other team in the Premier League.“The gaffer has given us a lot of belief. On his first day he talked about having many non-believers around the club, but belief is growing.”"
If Lovren performs at the levels he has done under Klopp, he would have turned everyone in believers as well.