Dejan Lovren

[CJ]

Yup, close enough I was in a conference and was trying to do it quietly.

Were you wearing your suspenders

[EwarWoo]

Yup, close enough I was in a conference and was trying to do it quietly.

Its quieter to type Argentina than Uruguay? Faulty keyboard?

[kev776]

Its quieter to type Argentina than Uruguay? Faulty keyboard?

Not remembering, just guessing to get it done quickly

[danperkins]

How long do we persist until he gets benched?

[Phoenix07]

The clash of heads with Sakho summed up our defence as a whole.

[danperkins]

The clash of heads with Sakho summed up our defence as a whole.

really did

[elrichio86]

How long do we persist until he gets benched?

He's not started well for us, that's for sure. The thing is though, who do we bench him for? None of our CBs have looked particularly good so far

Although if we did drop him, would that just contribute to our problems? We've signed three new defenders this summer, so its going to take time for them to gel and understand each others styles. Dropping one of them is just going to make that process take longer. I don't think Rodgers intended on having all three of them start quite so soon, but we've not had much choice. Three of our four starters today were new signings this summer, two of whom are pretty inexperienced - maybe we're just expecting too much too soon?

So we're trying to build a brand new back four, whilst at the same time having to chop and change in midfield - Allen injured, Can injured, Coutinho badly out of form, Gerrard having his customary slow start to the season, Lucas clearly not the player he once was. I think we could have coped with the defensive changes if the midfield was consistent and solid, but its not I think if we'd been able to stick with a consistent three of Gerrard / Allen / Henderson, all in reasonable form, it would have covered for some of the defensive mistakes. At the very least it would have given us a platform to build from.

So whats the solution? We're clearly not going to change our approach to games - nor should we IMO. So for me the solution is to try and keep a consistent back six (GK and DM included). The only way they are going to improve their communication and understanding of each others styles is through games. The more minutes they can get together the better. There will be mistakes, there will be more Aston Villa and West Ham style results, but the only way is to play through it really. Rodgers seemingly prefers Skrtel to Sahko, and with Johnson, Enrique and Flanagan all injured it pretty much leaves us with Mignolet / Manquilo Srktel Lovren Moreno / Gerrard. Stick with it - make the six of them spend their entire time in training together - and accept there will be some mistakes in the short term.

[Leyton388]

He's ****e at the minute isn't he. I hope he gets better soon as so far £20m looks about £15m too much.

[DannyMan2006]

I find it hard to moan at him when we don't have any people defending in the way that would impress me. I think we saw enough of this team last season to say that he isn't the reason we're conceding so many.

We're obviously conceding so many goals because of an issue with the team as a whole. It's what the reason is that's hard to fathom. Though I'm sue we could all take pot shots at that.....

[G]

We set up with an attacking style of play and people accepted we'd concede a lot doing it. Now we aren't even getting the attacking rewards while still being woeful at the defensive aspect. Something needs to change. More expensive players aside, Man City have shown you can do both so the manager needs to sort it out.

[Kenneth]

I find it hard to moan at him when we don't have any people defending in the way that would impress me. I think we saw enough of this team last season to say that he isn't the reason we're conceding so many.

We're obviously conceding so many goals because of an issue with the team as a whole. It's what the reason is that's hard to fathom. Though I'm sue we could all take pot shots at that.....

[Lee]

We don't have a lot of options though do we.

Skrtel, Lovren and Sakho. Oh and Toure.

Someone mentioned a Southampton fans' review on him earlier, and that he needs time to settle in. That's fine if you're Southampton and settling for 10th.

Our defence has been shaky for a year but we're stuck with these three until at least January. Dunno what the solution is but something has to change. And quick.

[DannyMan2006]

We don't have a lot of options though do we.

Skrtel, Lovren and Sakho. Oh and Toure.

Someone mentioned a Southampton fans' review on him earlier, and that he needs time to settle in. That's fine if you're Southampton and settling for 10th.

Our defence has been shaky for a year but we're stuck with these three until at least January. Dunno what the solution is but something has to change. And quick.

Well all of the centre backs we have are very good players. Not perfect, maybe not of the standard of a real quality side and maybe we should be expecting better for the fees paid. Toure is obviously in the twilight of his career, whilst Lovren and Sakho are still very young and will make mistakes. Skrtel seems to be the most trusted and probably rightly so, as he'd be considered to be in his prime.

Bottom line is you could put anyone of those lot in the City or Chelsea sides, or in the Bayern side and they'd look like really good players. They look poor because they're getting zero protection and they've had little to no protection for nearly a year.

We didn't need Lovren, Lambert and Lallana. We needed Schniderlin more than those three. Someone of that ilk. Actually, we might not even need someone like that. We just need to remove Gerrard from the quarterback role.

[danperkins]

Well all of the centre backs we have are very good players. Not perfect, maybe not of the standard of a real quality side and maybe we should be expecting better for the fees paid. Toure is obviously in the twilight of his career, whilst Lovren and Sakho are still very young and will make mistakes. Skrtel seems to be the most trusted and probably rightly so, as he'd be considered to be in his prime.

Bottom line is you could put anyone of those lot in the City or Chelsea sides, or in the Bayern side and they'd look like really good players. They look poor because they're getting zero protection and they've had little to no protection for nearly a year.

We didn't need Lovren, Lambert and Lallana. We needed Schniderlin more than those three. Someone of that ilk. Actually, we might not even need someone like that. We just need to remove Gerrard from the quarterback role.

[Lee]

Bottom line is you could put anyone of those lot in the City or Chelsea sides, or in the Bayern side and they'd look like really good players. They look poor because they're getting zero protection and they've had little to no protection for nearly a year.

Hmm. That's not really the bottom line but thanks for your reply, etc.

Our protection isn't great at all - I'm sure we all agree - but the CB's and Mignolet are making individual errors too. Skrtel, Sakho and Lovren wouldn't look good in any team with their frequent individual ****ups.