OpinionDejan Lovren, the last reminder of a chaotic period for Liverpool, has reached the end of his time with Klopp’s Reds
- Defender has failed to live up to the excitement surrounding his £20 million switch from Southampton in 2014
- The 30-year-old is now well down manager Klopp’s pecking order
The low point for the £20 million buy from Southampton came two years ago at Wembley in a 4-1 Premier League rout by Mauricio Pochettino’s team. Lovren was withdrawn by Klopp after 31 minutes after a horrendous first half-hour. Liverpool were only 2-1 down at that point but could have conceded five. The chaos was not all down to the centre back but his lack of leadership, flawed positional sense and his tendency to unravel after making a mistake made him the most obvious scapegoat. It was something of a surprise that he played any part in Klopp’s plans after that match. Many players would have struggled to come back from that experience.
Now he is fourth choice central defender. Virgil van Dijk exudes the authority Lovren lacks. Joel Matip is more consistent and has a better capacity to put errors behind him during the game. Joe Gomez has pace and the ability to distribute the ball. If the 22-year-old can prove his fitness he will partner Van Dijk for the foreseeable future.
It means Lovren is likely to move. There will be many regrets about his time at Anfield, however.
In his single season at St Mary’s – under the managership of Pochettino – Lovren looked like a man who could solve Liverpool’s defensive problems. He was part of a hardworking defensive triangle with Jose Fonte alongside him and Morgan Schneiderlin operating in front of the pair to form a solid unit. Lovren looked ready to take a step up in class.