Three reasons why Dejan Lovren still has an Anfield future

He’s the best… in his role

Simply put, Lovren is the best person available for his specific role. Unfortunetly for the defender, that role happens to be the one of four choice defender and general arse-kicker.

Arse-kicker because Klopp is using his selection of the Croat to give Gomez a real kick. It’s not enough to *be* the fill in when Virgil van Dijk or Matip get injured, you have to play like Matip or van Dijk when you get in the side. And when you don’t, there are consequences and you get dropped.

Lovren is good enough to be a threat, but he’s not good enough to be a threat to the pecking order on Merseyside. For the rest of the season, unless a miracle happens, it’ll go like this: Virg, Matip, Gomez and Degsy.

But as a tool to make complacency go away, the former Saint is perfect. He’s also the best fourth choice player in the Premier League, and having that security of position is brilliant for Klopp and takes a lot of pressure off starlets like Ki-Jana Hoever or Sepp van den Berg, who would otherwise have to fill that role.

Also, Lovren has a couple of years left in his playing at the highest level. It would be silly to give that away and have to buy another defender who would barely play or promote from within before the youngsters are ready.