Dejan Lovren

[baitman]

we have brought him in to organise the back four - be our leader and be positive and aggressive. its almost like he is thinking he has to be that talismanic leader in every moment of each game. he didnt do that for southampton last season so is he trying to live up the the hype around us bringing in a 'front footed' defender.

he is attacking balls which he shouldnt. as a centre back there are times when you cant win every challenge so you drop off and look to pick up the second ball or just contain the situation but in his own mind he has to do that every time.

has he been told to be aggressive in every challenge because he is making some really poor choices at the moment - things he wasnt doing last year for his previous club.

i think both lovren and skrtel are both guilty of this. it is almost certainly that they both see the player coming through the hollow of our midfield and no DM making the challenge. then they could afford to hold back a bit, then step in and take the second ball one the attacker had been pressed/challenged by the DM.

they step forward and leave the gap behind, true, but its a case of now or never. they read the play from their perspective, no one is making the challenge, dont just sit there, go and make a challenge.

this was often the problem last year for skrtel, stepping across to cover for glen johnson as he was too often walking back from further up the pitch having gone for a little jog before then playing a wasted ball

whoever our CB pairing is we will struggle until we play a proper holding midfielder.
gerrard is too often too far back. he has often been positionally naive, preferring to gallop around the pitch fighting fires. stevie has had a few good games playing from the back, but now we dont have the blistering front line to hit teams on the break with the quick long ball the added benefit of the long pass will be a wasted tool in our box.

if gerrard isnt going to be the 'attack started' from the back then he really isnt going to be the guy to ambush the opposition before they get to our defensive lines. currently the opposition are waltzing through our wide open midfield relatively unchallenged. our pressing game has gone to ****e. this is nothing to do with losing suarez. rodgers really needs to get these lads doing the basic things well, as currently we are all over the place. its like a team of strangers meeting in the park for a kick around.

[G]

When Can gets established in our league we might see an improvement. It was interesting that Stevie was moved to accommodate him and to be fair, even though we had hairy moments, we had a clean sheet while Can was playing DM I think it's clear stevie can be a great deep lying midfielder in spotting passes and spraying the ball around but he's not a protective DM and we clearly need one.

When Sturridge is fit it'll be interesting to see who gets picked, where they play and if Can is still played in the DM role.

[The_weatherman]

Agreed. No idea who to partner with Sakho though as Skrtel is worth a goal a game to the opposition.

Maybe Lovren needs to be taken out of the firing line a bit and cool down, I think there is something in it, like someone said before, that maybe Lovren is trying too hard to be the vocal leader he isn't.

[wongers]

who would you say are our D Ms? lucas was doing a great job until his injuries but has lost any pace he had , stevie g certainly isn't, joe allan?? hendo seems to be preferred on the right, can is 20 and getting used to the league,so if you look at it we don't have any stand out candidates,l this isn't in any way trying to gloss over the ineptness of our centre halves of which none are worthy of wearing the shirt our defending for set pieces has been dire for at least 3 seasons and nothing seems to have been done about it the staff keep banging on about sorting it out on the training pitch but still we conceed goal after goal from set pieces so what are they actually doing to rectify it

[fah-q]

That said there is a genuine derth of good quality centrehalves

City have 2 or 3 decent ones, as do Chelsea

Outside of that I am struggling to name any other good quality players who I would pursue for this position

I like the look of that Stones lad at Everton but we wouldnt get him, outside of that there is nothing of note that I can see

There's loads but they all seem to play in Germany.

[Lecter]

There's loads but they all seem to play in Germany.

Like who??

[Slinky Skills]

I can't stand the bloke. He doesn't do anything well. **** at passing, **** at marking, **** at heading and **** at tackling. Leader?

Not a fan then.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Like who??

Matip, Howedes, Hummels, and Subotic to name four of the more well known ones.

Papadopoulos and Toprak would be two more that might be worth a punt.


Not bothered to name any of the Bayern CBs as they would be unavailable, which is a pity as Benatia looks class, whereas some of the above *might* be gettable.


Am sure that anyone that watches the Bundesliga on a regular basis would be able to add more names, but I am only a casual viewer of that league.

[fah-q]

Matip, Howedes, Hummels, and Subotic to name four of the more well known ones.

Papadopoulos and Toprak would be two more that might be worth a punt.


Not bothered to name any of the Bayern CBs as they would be unavailable, which is a pity as Benatia looks class, whereas some of the above *might* be gettable.


Am sure that anyone that watches the Bundesliga on a regular basis would be able to add more names, but I am only a casual viewer of that league.

[Daniel 7]

When Can gets established in our league we might see an improvement. It was interesting that Stevie was moved to accommodate him and to be fair, even though we had hairy moments, we had a clean sheet while Can was playing DM I think it's clear stevie can be a great deep lying midfielder in spotting passes and spraying the ball around but he's not a protective DM and we clearly need one.

When Sturridge is fit it'll be interesting to see who gets picked, where they play and if Can is still played in the DM role.

Don't think Gerrard was moved to accommodate Can, more like he was moved to see if he could provide a bit of support to the useless entity up front.

[danperkins]

Don't think Gerrard was moved to accommodate Can, more like he was moved to see if he could provide a bit of support to the useless entity up front.

Can in there for some legs in front of the defence (unfortunately he struggled but he isn't fit) & Gerrard moved to try and link to the frontline (unfortunately didn't work & Gerrard was non existent in the game).

Doesn't mean to say that it won't work again though.

[captainfog]

That was the last we'll see of Gerrard in an advanced role.

[G]

Don't think it is. Rodgers spoke about how we didn't get the ball to him and that's why it didn't work. You'd assume he'll give it a a few more go's. Not tomorrow though. He spoke about Can's best position being DM too so I'm sure he sees him there long term. If he does he's going to have to give him games there which means moving Gerrard elsewhere.

[RichC]

I hope we don't see Gerrard in an advanced role again that role in the team is over for him imo

[Chazza]

I hope we don't see Gerrard in an advanced role again that role in the team is over for him imo

I hope so.

For all his defensive issues and the way he stops the centre backs from being able to head the ball we pass and keep possession much better with him deeper.