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Lovren's Leadership crucial To liverpool's Season by luvola(m): 10:52am On Aug 14, 2014 |
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. |
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