Dejan Lovren

[SB]

I think Widsom will provide cover at RB and Gomez cover at LB at least until Flanagan gets back, unless we sign someone else of course.

So where would that leave Ilori? On loan?

[BobTheCharmer]

Do you think Lovren is popular amongst the other players? I think he's a misfit on and off the pitch.

[Exiled_red]

So where would that leave Ilori? On loan?

I'm not sure, having looked at how much football Ilori and Wisdom have played over the last couple of years (Wisdom 60+ games at a Championship /PL club; Ilori ~ 25 games in La Liga and Ligue 1) I think Wisdom is ahead of Ilori in terms of pushing for a place, and Gomez has been given games in preseason. I would say at the moment those two are ahead of Ilori. I don't see there being many opportunities for any of the 3 of them to play at CB, so the ability of Widsom and Gomez to play at full back (where we are lacking depth) gives them an advantage.

On the basis of this I don't really see where Ilori fits in, he is at a stage where he needs games so loaning him out again seems the best option to me. If we believe that he has a future here we should look to get him some experience in the English game, although I don't imagine many PL sides would give him much game time at CB either. Looking at his time here so far I could see a situation where we sell him on after being here for a few years without ever playing a competitive game for us.

[McDermotX]

Do you think Lovren is popular amongst the other players? I think he's a misfit on and off the pitch.

Judging from the pics on tour and such, he seems to be pretty content and hanging out with the rest of 'em, so you'd imagine so.

Personally, I'm really looking forward to his mad dashes beyond the defensive line which usually result in him having to chase opposing players towards our goal...........Headbanger Defending.

[baitman]

...Does anyone remember who was the Southampton leftback when he was there? Was it Shaw?

was it ryan bertrand, the lad who wasnt good enough for us

just checked wiki.

shaw was lb in 2012/13 with 28 games, 2013/14 with 38 games.
bertrand was lb in 2014/15 with 22 games.

[Fredo]

I can see that rodgers didnt hqve too many options last season and can initially did well there. Now rodgers has more options so its up to him to make better use of what he has available.
sticking can back in at rb.will be a lazy option, one that may see can decide he cant be arsed.

Not at right back though. He's shipped out Johnson for Clyne, which is still an issue if Clyne is not available. Flannagan is out for a while I think.

[Mostar]

Rodgers must know - he must - that if he starts the season with Lovren in the side ahead of Sakho he will be making a rod for his own back from the word go. Quite apart from it being a plain piss poor footballing decision, he really needs the fans onside. As BrooklynRed rightly said, Lovren kinda represents how many fans view Rodgers and his assessment of players. Lovren is a total disaster, one of the worst defenders I can ever remember playing for us - while Sakho is largely excellent. There would be no justification for making such a decision.

I think it is clear that he is fully aware that he lost the support of the most fan base at this point and I do not think he cares one way or another if supporters want to see Sakho start Lovren if he sees Lovren as his preferred 1st choice.

That said, if he does go with Lovren over Sakho his chances of managing L4 past Christmas are probably cut in half no matter how small they are from the go.

[Mostar]

Nothing has changed with Lovren's game, everybody is just seeing alot more of him... as he's on TV & his performances are getting more exposure.

That's unfortunate part.

He looks completely lost out there.

I had some serious concerns about buying him especially for the sum we decided to pay for him but I didn't think he'd be this bad.

Shame really.

[danperkins]

That's unfortunate part.

He looks completely lost out there.

I had some serious concerns about buying him especially for the sum we decided to pay for him but I didn't think he'd be this bad.

Shame really.

I don't think anyone thought he'd be this bad to be honest. Surely he can't be any worse than last season! I just hope Rodgers has learned his lesson from last season and doesn't try the Lovren experiment this season.

[Venton]

I thought Lovren looked better at Southampton than he does here but you have to have a cut off point and we've reached it. He's not going to get any better. It's horrible that Sakho is the only alternative though. Half the time after he passes the ball he ends up on the deck and whenever he gets the ball to feet from the keeper he looks like someone has tied his shoelaces together. How did we end up with this awful choice?

[BubbaZanetti]

Lovren is the defensive version of Joe Allen - he's a ****ing clanger... £20,000,000 down the drain. I wonder if we kept Kolo so Dejan doesn't feel he's the worst centre half in the squad

[peekay]

That's unfortunate part.

He looks completely lost out there.

I had some serious concerns about buying him especially for the sum we decided to pay for him but I didn't think he'd be this bad.

Shame really.

I think it was Billy Beane who once said players who appear more dashing or more visible on the field (either due to physical appearance like tall blond players or the way they play the game) tend to be overrated. Maybe our scouts made that mistake. Given the way Lovren plays - vocal, noticeable, rushing into tackles - maybe it gave our scouts the impression that he was organizing the Southampton defense when in reality it was the Southampton system which was making him look much better than what he is. Because I remember when Lovren was signed, Brendan made a big point about his leadership and organizational skills.

[danperkins]

I think is blatantly obvious now that Fonte was the boss in the defence & Schneiderlin & Wanyama covered the gaps in front of the CB's.

[baitman]

...I wonder if we kept Kolo so Dejan doesn't feel he's the worst centre half in the squad

other teams will attack our weak areas. if any of our centre backs have the ball and try and piss about they will be closing down and putting them under real pressure. i hope they are under instructions to forget all the ****ing about and launch it up the pitch to our new saviour, Big Chris.

by all means play out when the time is right, but if we are being pressed we need to put the other team on the back foot and go long.

[EwarWoo]

I wonder if we kept Kolo so Dejan doesn't feel he's the worst centre half in the squad

He should do because he still is.