Lovren's Leadership
Crucial to
Liverpool's Season
Dejan Lovren celebrates his first goal
for Liverpool
JAMES WYNN
Brendan Rodgers feels he's finally
found his successor to Carragher in
Lovren and on first glimpses it's hard
to argue.
After the retirement of Jamie Carragher
at the end of the 2012/2013 Liverpool
began the search for his long term
replacement, 2 defenders and 50 goals
conceded later Brendan Rodgers feels
he’s finally got his man:
"He is exactly what I’ve been looking
for since Jamie Carragher left.”
Rodgers said
"He is a dominant, No 1 centre-half,
who reads the game well, offers good
guidance to the back four and the rest
of the team – and shows his qualities
of range of passing too.”
You can sense by the glowing assessment
of the Croatian’s debut that Rodgers is
both ecstatic and somewhat relieved to
have finally found himself a central
defender he can fully trust.
Over recent times leadership at the back
has been something of an issue for
Liverpool. The absence of the shrill
Bootle accent of Jamie Carragher was
sorely missed as Liverpool finished
runners up last season and yet you could
still make a good case for saying that
Liverpool’s defensive line has lacked
unity since the 2008/09 campaign.
Yes Liverpool’s defence was relatively
solid under Dalglish and at different
stages under Rodgers but managers in
recent times have never quite been able
to replace an aging Carragher or the
towering presence of club legend Sami
Hyypia; even the assured presences of
Arbeloa and Aurelio have up until now
failed to be addressed.
The players who were expected to
succeed the two Anfield stalwarts have
never done so with any conviction.
Daniel Agger, a favourite amongst fans,
has been tormented by injury during his
8 years at Anfield and it has only been
in recent years – when his ability has
diminished – that he’s been able to
successfully string 5 or more games
together in succession. Even then the
Dane has never quite been able to stamp
his authority on the defence.
Martin Skrtel has had similar leadership
problems; his lack of communication is
what led Rodgers to drop him for
Carragher at the beginning of 2013.
Unlike the Dane however the big Slovak
has taken Rodgers’ criticisms of him on
board and has tried his best to eliminate
the deficiencies that blighted his game
over previous seasons. Rodgers
acknowledged the improvements and
made him a mainstay of Liverpool’s
defence as a reward for his hard work.
The additions of Kolo Toure and
Mamadou Sakho were also made with
the intention of adding greater
leadership to the defence. Off the pitch it
would be fair to say Toure has made a
significant impact by adding personality
and experience to the dressing room, on
it however it became clear over time
that the Ivorian was a far cry from the
invincible of the previous decade. Sakho
too has also added personality to the
team but overall didn’t quite make the
impact that Rodgers would have liked;
cultural and language barriers possibly
being behind that.
Cue the arrival of Lovren.
Strong, experienced, good on the ball
and with a big voice on the pitch he
appears to tick all the boxes for what
Rodgers wants. Importantly he has a
perfect grasp of English which will only
aid in the cohesion between Skrtel,
Mignolet, the fullbacks and Steven
Gerrard.
Sat in line with the back four during the
first half against Dortmund I could hear
the Croat order Johnson into position –
which made a pleasant change – as well
as control the defensive line, impressive
from a player who has had minimal
training with his new teammates.
He also showed good understanding and
cohesion with Skrtel; his superior on the
ball ability and surprising ambidexterity
allowing Liverpool to move up the pitch
at a greater speed.
The pairing hasn’t been welcomed
unanimously by supporters. Some
already have preconceived ideas about
Lovren while Skrtel still suffers from a
stigma that he’s too rash to start for
Liverpool. If Lovren can be the man to
calm the occasional impulses of stupidity
then it’s a partnership that is unlikely to
change; both have also shown over the
years to be more dangerous when
attacking set pieces than their
teammates.
Never the less the success of the signing
will be judged on the next 38 games
rather than a friendly, and without the
genius of Luis Suarez the success of
Liverpool as a team will be intrinsically
linked to how well Lovren can settle and
galvanise his fellow defenders.