01 May 2017 22:48:05
Another fantastic performance by dejan lovren at the back. He seems to relish the physical challenge that players like lukaku and deeney pose. Him and Matip Throttled and suffocated deeney and niasse for majority of the game. But yet again, it could have all been for nothing if that prodl shot had got in. It's fine margins in this league, and you look at how top cb's like kompany suffer against the lowest scoring side in the league. It doesn't necessarily make him bad, it's just that it takes time and a settled back 4. I think lovren can be in the mold of alderweirld, vertonghen, kompany and mentioned in the top cb bracket, if we maintain consistency around him i. e. The back 4 and the one who sits in front of them, which Lucas did magnificently well again. I would much rather fine tune him, than bring in an expensive vvd, who would no doubt need time (years? ) to fix the problem.

1.) 01 May 2017
01 May 2017 23:07:02
Yeah, I loved how he marked Benteke out the game last week too.

2.) 01 May 2017
01 May 2017 23:35:38
No just no, just because he didn't make any simple mistakes like he usually does and you are now comparing him to the top centre backs in the league. Lovren is an awful defender, simple as.

3.) 02 May 2017
02 May 2017 00:00:56
Didn't know Premier League teams were allowed to field players who belong to other clubs. Surprised they played him ahead of Niang!

4.) 02 May 2017
02 May 2017 02:07:55
Lovren is not awful. He's got some bad games in him sure. But awful isn't quite fair.

5.) 02 May 2017
02 May 2017 06:45:29
Agree with TjRed, there is a big gap between top class and awful and Lovren sits in that gap. He is limited and not top class but there are worse in the division and far worse as you go down the leagues and those guys aren't awful defenders just not very good.

6.) 02 May 2017
02 May 2017 07:16:18
He could be top class if he starts focussing on his game more. He has all the elements of a top class defender apart from concentration.

{Ed001's Note - and bravery. He turns away from shots, rather than facing up to them. That means he has no idea where the ball has gone, which costs him seconds that can, and have, cost us goals while he recovers.}

7.) 02 May 2017
02 May 2017 09:26:40
I know what you're saying ed and I think his fairly regular but brief injury spells are the cause of that.
When he's playing well and had a period of fitness I've seen him put himself about.
We're not getting the best out of him and the fact that he's got a new contract hopefully means Klopp has plans to remedy this.

{Ed001's Note - he still puts himself about, I am talking about the bravery to take a shot to the face, rather than turning away. And not to pussy out with a bit of blood in the nose like in the last game, when he was not even off with a broken nose or anything, just a bleed. When a shot comes in, he always turns away, every time. It is not due to injuries, it is because the modern day player is too much of a pussy to take a whack to the face from these feather light balls that barely hurt.}

8.) 02 May 2017
02 May 2017 11:43:15
We should put our defenders through 'police horse training'.
Fire tennis balls at them until they learn not to flinch 😎.

9.) 02 May 2017
02 May 2017 17:32:45
The players of today wouldn't get on the pitch 20 years ago with that useless attitude of not wanting to take one in the face. Spoiled children really who don't want their hair cuts or lips busted to save a goal.

I never turned away from a shot when I played for the exact reasons you mentioned. It's like heading the ball. You can 't close your eyes and head the ball then are shocked when the header is inaccurate. You need to look at the ball in order to direct it where you want it to go.

Same with blocking a shot, you need to face the shot so you can block the angle the shot will go to or at least have a better chance of blocking the shot cos turning away is just stupid.