On Sunday the 22nd of October 2017, the sporting world witnessed one of the worst footballing cameos in history. As Liverpool took on Tottenham Hotspurs at Wembley Stadium, Dejan Lovren responded to the enormity of the situation by costing his team the game. In just 12 minutes, Dejan Lovren had caused so much damage that Liverpool were 2-0 down with no hope of getting back into the match. Jürgen Klopp responded by taking the Croatian off in the 35th minute, with no injury in sight. Now the reports suggest the German will be dropping the Croatian for the foreseeable future.
And the saddest part of the scenario is, these occurrences are not few and far between. The Croatian is prone to making errors, and on several occasions, he’s cost his team valuable points. The 28-year-old is arguably the worst defender in a top team in the Premier League today. His on the ball skills are mediocre at best, his positioning is comical, his tackling is often rash, and his decision-making has always been irrational.
He’s not got the temperament to be a quality CB in the Premier League, as quite frankly, the league’s style of play is too fast for him. He needs more time to react to situations than he’s currently given and that’s why he always makes the wrong decision. It’s not just football experts who have picked up on his deficiencies, and the fans are also starting to see it. And once the whole fanbase starts to see it, the downward trajectory of a player only quickens.
The truth is, Jürgen Klopp’s high-octane style of football will never prosper at Anfield until the German brings in sufficient defensive reinforcements. Joel Matip is the only competent CB currently present at the club, and without a quality defensive partner, Liverpool will only further continue to fall behind.
Since arriving in Merseyside, Jürgen Klopp has spent £146,300,000, bringing in a total of 13 players. You can’t say this isn’t the German’s team anymore, he’s had four transfer windows to address the problems of the squad, and he hasn’t. The transfer market may be at its most inflated point ever, but there are several CBs available that could improve the Reds, here are a few:
- Mamadou Sakho: Liverpool sold the French CB because of a falling out he had with the manager, but there’s no doubt about it, he’s a better CB than Lovren.
- Benedikt Höwedes: The Schalke defender is an experienced German international that would have been available for just under £18-million, a steal in today’s market.
- Aymeric Laporte: The French youngster is one of the most highly touted defenders in the game, and his experience at the age of 23 is something that cannot be taught.
- Virgil van Dijk: The failure to capture the Dutchman has ultimately cost Liverpool a chance at the title this season, and he would have been a far better investment than Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Liverpool will attempt to eradicate their 4-1 loss to Tottenham when they take on Huddersfield Town on Saturday. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 1972, a game in which the Terriers lost 1-0. Funnily enough, the newly promoted side are coming off a famous victory over Manchester United, and they’d love to add Liverpool to their growing list of scalps.
