Dejan Lovren

[Mostar]

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.

[SB]

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.

I didn't understand the decision to loan Ilori out to a La Ligament side when surely it's the physicality of the English game that he'd need educating in.

[G]

He's far from vocal or a leader. He never says a word on the pitch and gave an interview saying the manager asked him to be the leader but it's not something he's used to. Yes that's right, we bought him, the manager extolled this as one of the reasons they bought him yet the player himself says he's not that type of player.

The fact him and Skrtel are still in our squad says it all about Brendans "ability" when it comes to the defence.

[Slinky Skills]

Yeah he's ****ing dog****. I'll despair if this monkey starts the season at centre back I really will. Rodgers clearly doesn't give a flying **** about the fanbase, surely he must know he's a goner if we start with Lovren in defence.

[EwarWoo]

Rodgers clearly doesn't give a flying **** about the fanbase,

Now, I'm not saying you're a drama queen, but was your mascara running when you posted this?

[Exiled_red]

Yeah he's ****ing dog****. I'll despair if this monkey starts the season at centre back I really will. Rodgers clearly doesn't give a flying **** about the fanbase, surely he must know he's a goner if we start with Lovren in defence.

I may be in the minority here but I don't think that Rodgers should take notice of who the fans want to play and who they don't. He as manager sees alot more of the players than we do, and he should pick the team on ability, form and how the players fit the system.

Even so on that basis Sakho should be ahead of Lovren.

[dww]

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?

I think the complaints with Sakho are largely cosmetic. He looks ridiculous at times but what happens is usually pretty good. Lovren, however, ......

[Saveloy]

You know you're in trouble as a player when even dww is hating on you.

[Venton]

I think the complaints with Sakho are largely cosmetic. He looks ridiculous at times but what happens is usually pretty good. Lovren, however, ......

I'm certainly prepared to give Sakho a chance. But he'll need a proper run in the side and I'm not sure he'll get it. It's a bit weird that the the defence doesn't feel like it has improved at all since Rodgers has been here...

[G]

Just hope Sakho doesn't throw another strop when this clown gets picked ahead of him.

[Exiled_red]

I'm certainly prepared to give Sakho a chance. But he'll need a proper run in the side and I'm not sure he'll get it. It's a bit weird that the the defence doesn't feel like it has improved at all since Rodgers has been here...

I think that the problem is it hasn't. When he came in we had Carragher, Agger and Skrtel, at that time Agger and Carragher were great and Skrtel was third choice. At present Skrtel is our best defender despite having spent £20m on Lovren, £15m on Sakho, and a couple of youngsters (Ilori and Gomez for ~£10m combined) and Toure on a free. And IMO we don't have a CB pairing that was as good as Carragher and Agger.

[kev776]

I think that the problem is it hasn't. When he came in we had Carragher, Agger and Skrtel, at that time Agger and Carragher were great and Skrtel was third choice. At present Skrtel is our best defender despite having spent £20m on Lovren, £15m on Sakho, and a couple of youngsters (Ilori and Gomez for ~£10m combined) and Toure on a free. And IMO we don't have a CB pairing that was as good as Carragher and Agger.

Can't argue with this, defenders, midfield and Striker selection seem to be Brendogs weakness, he should be head of the academy and concentrate on coaching the Yoof.

[Venton]

[emoji1]

[DannyMan2006]

Not one of our CBs is good enough to be the bedrock of a title winning side.

Lovren has been at his very best average. Shocking at other times.
Sakho, whilst capable of a clanger is a top defender, but he's always injured and a such you can't build a defence around him.
Skrtel on the other hand, is probably only still first choice because we haven't yet managed to sign a player to replace Agger / Carra.
Toure, well, he's past it in all honesty.

[Exiled_red]

Not one of our CBs is good enough to be the bedrock of a title winning side.

Lovren has been at his very best average. Shocking at other times.
Sakho, whilst capable of a clanger is a top defender, but he's always injured and a such you can't build a defence around him.
Skrtel on the other hand, is probably only still first choice because we haven't yet managed to sign a player to replace Agger / Carra.
Toure, well, he's past it in all honesty.

Hopefully the likes of Gomez, Wisdom and Ilori are looking at the situation and thinking if I get an opportunity in a cup games I could put myself in serious contention if these are the people in front of me.