Dejan Lovren (Liverpool > Zenit St Petersburg)

As I said at the time mate I never watched him for Southampton, but they've conceded what 22 this season, they're not exactly hurting by his absence.

True but that doesn't mean he didn't play well for them when he was there.

I like him mate and kind of see where Mick is coming from although I'd have a few ahead of him for any discussion about the armband but I could see a situation where he forces his way back into the side on a regular basis.

I do say this without having seen how he got on tonight mind.

True but that doesn't mean he didn't play well for them when he was there.

I like him mate and kind of see where Mick is coming from although I'd have a few ahead of him for any discussion about the armband but I could see a situation where he forces his way back into the side on a regular basis.

I do say this without having seen how he got on tonight mind.

All we needed from him was to be the Defender we all hoped he would be when we signed hime. We wanted him to be the Rock that held our backline together for years to come.

Unfortunately for us and him, he hasn't been that Rock yet. I'm not going to write him off completley but what I've seen of him this season, doesn't give me much confidence for the future.

I personally am going to consider him the way I though of Lucas and Hendo. I thought they were sh*t and completely out of their depth here but they both proved me and many others wrong. Hopefully Dejan can do the same because the last thing we want to do is fork out another 20 million on another defender or take a hit on the price, if we sell him.

Come on Dejan, prove me wrong.

Wow, I have no words.

It's actually a well thought out response and based on some rational analysis.

He didn't have a squeaky clean performance by a country mile but nothing to me indicated he deserves the level of criticism he is getting on here.

He played the full 90 we got a clean sheet and only come back in to the side.

Played a couple of beutiful long balls one nearly accumulated in an assist. People are waiting for him to F**k so they can grind their axes.

I'm absolutely staggered that some still rate him at all, let alone highly. He was disastrous tonight and a massive massive majority of teams would've punished him. This may sound harsh but I genuinely believe he's one of the worst defenders I've ever seen play for the club. He's made more individual errors leading to goals than any other PL player, that's not a 'settling in period', that's just him being utter garbage. A complete joke of a footballer who needs to be sold at the nearest opportunity.

It's actually a well thought out response and based on some rational analysis.

He didn't have a squeaky clean performance by a country mile but nothing to me indicated he deserves the level of criticism he is getting on here.

He played the full 90 we got a clean sheet and only come back in to the side.

Played a couple of beutiful long balls one nearly accumulated in an assist. People are waiting for him to f**k so they can grind their axes.

I agree. The criticism he's getting for tonights game is way over the top.

I've seen the game now and there were a couple of errors. There were though a couple of errors by lots of players, I'm not sure the future captains were massively worse than anyone else's. I think we're just going to have to wait and see with Dejan. I'm absolutely convinced he'll be a top centre half, others are equally convinced that he won't. The thing which baffles me a little is how some seem to actually hope he'll fail, but I guess that's because he is unquestionably a "Brendan" in the "who signed who" columns.

The people who seem to hope he fails, who absolutely relish putting the boot in should he put a foot out of place tend to be the same ones who praise the boss through gritted teeth when we go on runs. Perhaps that's it, like Joe Allen before him the future captain has come to epitomise the Brendan era in some peoples eyes.

Just to clarify for any mouth foamers, I'M NOT SAYING THAT EVERYONE WHO DOESN'T RATE LOVREN FEELS THIS WAY OR DOESN'T RATE HIM FOR THIS REASON. I do feel though that there is a difference between not rating him and actually seizing on errors with glee. It's an odd one, but like I say we'll see on this one. For my part I stick by my statement 110%, I think he'll make a top centre half.

I've seen the game now and there were a couple of errors. There were though a couple of errors by lots of players, I'm not sure the future captains were massively worse than anyone else's. I think we're just going to have to wait and see with Dejan. I'm absolutely convinced he'll be a top centre half, others are equally convinced that he won't. The thing which baffles me a little is how some seem to actually hope he'll fail, but I guess that's because he is unquestionably a "Brendan" in the "who signed who" columns.

The people who seem to hope he fails, who absolutely relish putting the boot in should he put a foot out of place tend to be the same ones who praise the boss through gritted teeth when we go on runs. Perhaps that's it, like Joe Allen before him the future captain has come to epitomise the Brendan era in some peoples eyes.

Just to clarify for any mouth foamers, I'M NOT SAYING THAT EVERYONE WHO DOESN'T RATE LOVREN FEELS THIS WAY OR DOESN'T RATE HIM FOR THIS REASON. I do feel though that there is a difference between not rating him and actually seizing on errors with glee. It's an odd one, but like I say we'll see on this one. For my part I stick by my statement 110%, I think he'll make a top centre half.

If he's going to come good I hope he does it soon Mick...we don't have time to wait very long on him.

I think a lot of people have made their bed calling him crap and so like you say, they almost hope he fails so they don't have to change course.

Happens with a lot of players (and managers) around this place.

We need everyone that's pulling on a red shirt and everyone representing the club to be at their best because at the end of the day isn't that our common goal, regardless of our differences, don't we all just want the club to succeed?

If Lovren does have to end up being captain and does have to become a world class center half for us to succeed then I surely hope he does.

I echo anyone who said that he had a decent game last night, I thought he actually did well (par the wild tackle that he got away with). He won everything in the air, another good game.

I'm absolutely staggered that some still rate him at all, let alone highly. He was disastrous tonight and a massive massive majority of teams would've punished him. This may sound harsh but I genuinely believe he's one of the worst defenders I've ever seen play for the club. He's made more individual errors leading to goals than any other PL player, that's not a 'settling in period', that's just him being utter garbage. A complete joke of a footballer who needs to be sold at the nearest opportunity.

Disastrous? yet we kept a clean sheet with him last night? That doesn't make any sense

Luckily for him, he's our only real option and now has his chance to sort his head out stop making rash tackles in the box unless your 100% going to win the ball. I really hope he starts to get back to the level he was at when he was at Southampton and then we can stick with him skrtel sakho as a back 3 from nxt season. We cant afford to waste anymore money on CB's we have 6 i think if you count Ilori and Coates but i hope Coates goes in the summer and Kolo signs a 1yr deal just to have around as back up and leadership for young defenders to learn off.

He's just a bit crap isn't he?

Not as bad as some people let him on to be, but also not showing good signs either. I'm on the fence with him, don't think he's good but don't think he's the worst defender I've seen... Which leaves me with the conclusion that he must fall somewhere in between.

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V.Good                 Good               Lovren            Bad                  V.Bad

Disastrous? yet we kept a clean sheet with him last night? That doesn't make any sense

I think any team in the PL would keep a clean sheet against that rubbish Newcastle side.

Fact is they had a stone wall penno not given for Lovren's wild kick. Most games that would be given so it was only from luck and a blind ref we kept a clean sheet not Lovren.

This is the kind of thing which makes me chuckle. Lovrens "wild kick" was a mis-timed attempt to clear the ball, a ball which ought to have been cleared earlier. Yes it was a penalty, yes it was a poor challenge. You'd think though reading the forums that we'd never given a penalty away before, never made a rash challenge. Total overreaction and not for the first time.

This is the kind of thing which makes me chuckle. Lovrens "wild kick" was a mis-timed attempt to clear the ball, a ball which ought to have been cleared earlier. Yes it was a penalty, yes it was a poor challenge. You'd think though reading the forums that we'd never given a penalty away before, never made a rash challenge. Total overreaction and not for the first time.

I think it was the karate kick style swing rather than the mistimed tackle which peeps are annoyed about - he is a  supposed to be a professional footballer.

Might as well jump on the bandwagon...

I too thought Lovren was poor, I think he made 2-3 major errors in the game? but It wasn't just the errors, his distribution was poor, many times where he panicked and hoofed the ball into no man's land instead of looking for the simple pass.

He really needs to pick his game up next match as I'm sure he'll be starting because he's currently our only fit LCB. Maybe having Skrtel next to him will settling him down? Still prefer 2 CB's rather than 3, but we'll have to drop Can unless the manager plays 3 CBs, or perhaps Can as a LCB in a 2?

Can't believe people are actually getting so protective over Lovren. Fact is he made a few errors that could have completely changed the outcome of the game at a key time when Newcastle were building up momentum so a goal for them would have been crucial and could well have put us on the back foot. We've seen it this season, teams getting a goal against us at Anfield and it pushing them on.

But if some people are happy to accept mediocrity then that's up to them but I would rather have a composed defender who is capable of making a tackle and capable of being able to make a simple header, or even control the ball when they have so much time. That header by the way isn't the first time Lovren has gotten in a mess over this season either, I remember it happening almost on a weekly basis at the start of the season.

Not good enough and I want the best players possible for this club, not mediocrity who people worry about being judged on not being like rather than by their sh*t performances. It wasn't his worst game for us and had his odd good moment but his bad moments were far greater and could easily have given them a goal and leveled the score.

Future captain, based on what, he needs to focus 100% on his game not worry about being Captain. There are plenty of players who deserve to be considered future captains, but at this moment Lovren is way down the list, being one of the first names on the team sheet is a prerequisite, I would have thought.

Ok so, here goes.......

As one of his biggest critics at times this season - I saw a different side to Lovren last night standing behind the goal at the Anny Rd end.

I saw him constantly urging Can up - ensuring he wasn't playing everybody on........I also saw him constantly encouraging Moreno and generally trying to install a "conventional" back 4 wisdom into an "unconventional" back 4 line-up.

Thought he had a decent game and it didn't look a pen. where I was stood.

Edit  : None of the above suggests he's good enough......just that he may have more to offer.

Just saying like.......

Penalty incident and a misplace pass aside, I thought he was ok last night. Showed some good leadership qualities which is actually admirable considering he must be suffering from a lack of confidence from the mistakes he has made this season.

I also saw him constantly encouraging Moreno

Lovren.... telling Moreno what to do....

there's a joke to be made here somehow....

Lovren.... telling Moreno what to do....

there's a joke to be made here somehow....

Now that's not quite what I said Fed.....

Can't believe people are actually getting so protective over Lovren. Fact is he made a few errors that could have completely changed the outcome of the game at a key time when Newcastle were building up momentum so a goal for them would have been crucial and could well have put us on the back foot. We've seen it this season, teams getting a goal against us at Anfield and it pushing them on.

But if some people are happy to accept mediocrity then that's up to them but I would rather have a composed defender who is capable of making a tackle and capable of being able to make a simple header, or even control the ball when they have so much time. That header by the way isn't the first time Lovren has gotten in a mess over this season either, I remember it happening almost on a weekly basis at the start of the season.

Not good enough and I want the best players possible for this club, not mediocrity who people worry about being judged on not being like rather than by their sh*t performances. It wasn't his worst game for us and had his odd good moment but his bad moments were far greater and could easily have given them a goal and leveled the score.

No one is accepting mediocrity, but if you count 1 or 2 errors and then state ''he had a bad game'' because of 2 errors then to me that's harsh. I can also tell you that Henderson misplaced so many passes, forgot to cover certain areas, but it doesn't mean he was woeful. Lovren was good, he defended well, he positioned himself well and his distribution was ok. You could see his improvement by winning first headers and breaking up some attacks.

No one is accepting mediocrity, but if you count 1 or 2 errors and then state ''he had a bad game'' because of 2 errors then to me that's harsh. I can also tell you that Henderson misplaced so many passes, forgot to cover certain areas, but it doesn't mean he was woeful. Lovren was good, he defended well, he positioned himself well and his distribution was ok. You could see his improvement by winning first headers and breaking up some attacks.

It's not that he made 1 or 2 errors it's the manner of errors he makes and how costly they are/could be in a game. Those 1 or 2 errors he made against Newcastle could and in another game would have given the opposition two goals. And remember it was only Newcastle we were playing, at home, if he was playing against a good attacking side away from home those 1 or 2 BIG errors would multiply and we would most certainly be punished for them. A top centre half doesn't make 1 or 2 big errors against weak opposition. That's the difference. The thing with Lovren though seems to be more psychological in that he seems to lose his composure and panic at critical moments. He lack composure. In other areas he is quite strong, he is good in the air, passes quite well and has a bit of pace. He needs to work on his mentality and add composure to his game if he wants to keep his place in the squad long term.