Dejan Lovren (Liverpool > Zenit St Petersburg)

the future captain continues on his path to redemption. Our best defender today and come the seasons end I think he'll have completed his rehabilitation.

Game of two halves I thought mate, I spent a good chunk of the first half bemoaning that Sakho wasn't fit but he grew in to the game and had an excellent 2nd half.

I disagree though, I thought Skrtel was comfortably our best defender on the day

the future captain continues on his path to redemption. Our best defender today and come the seasons end I think he'll have completed his rehabilitation.

There is no way in a sane world that Lovren was better than Skrtel and Can today.

the future captain continues on his path to redemption. Our best defender today and come the seasons end I think he'll have completed his rehabilitation.

Best defender? Not even close Mick...........

He grew into the game, but as ever Skrtel is head and shoulders (despite not using any) above the rest.

Think he worked his way back from a poor start to put in an ok performance.

Distribution is woeful and with his experience and price tag, to think sliding in on Aguero in the box late on is a good idea is beyond me.

Not his fault for the Augero chance, never, if it wasn't for Augero's trickery he would have blocked the shot and you would have said it was a great interception or a good block.

He was beaten by a world class player in that instance, nothing any defender can do.

He had a decent game, looked he was trying too hard in the first half, but more composed in the 2nd

the future captain continues on his path to redemption. Our best defender today and come the seasons end I think he'll have completed his rehabilitation.

Future Captain...not a chance.

Best defender...you are kidding me mate. I sh*t myself every time he went near the ball. He looked a nervous wreck and I can't wait to get Sakho back so Dejan can go back to the bench, till he gets his confidence back.

I really thought he was a liabilty waiting to happen last night.

Future Captain...not a chance.

Best defender...you are kidding me mate. I sh*t myself every time he went near the ball. He looked a nervous wreck and I can't wait to get Sakho back so Dejan can go back to the bench, till he gets his confidence back.

I really thought he was a liabilty waiting to happen last night.

In fairness mate he had a pretty good second half so it is encouraging that he looks to be improving. Sakho definitely goes straight back into the starting 11 when fit but it will be great if Lovren can start to provide some competition.

In fairness mate he had a pretty good second half so it is encouraging that he looks to be improving. Sakho definitely goes straight back into the starting 11 when fit but it will be great if Lovren can start to provide some competition.

That's the thing Baz, I don't think he had "a pretty good 2nd half". There was a couple of passes he made that were nice but I didn't have any confidence in him at all, it made me nervy everytime the ball was played back to him and at times I think he didn't even want the ball.

His confidence is shot, it'll come good again no doubts but I'd have Sakho over Dejan every day of the week.

Confidence player, and right now he's just past the point where he hit rock bottom.
Hopefully he recovers. Never going to get near to 20 million for him. Utter madness.

Not his fault for the Augero chance, never, if it wasn't for Augero's trickery he would have blocked the shot and you would have said it was a great interception or a good block.

He was beaten by a world class player in that instance, nothing any defender can do.

He had a decent game, looked he was trying too hard in the first half, but more composed in the 2nd

He went to ground when he never should have. Stay on your feet and keep him wide.

Future Captain...not a chance.

Future captain is just one of Mick's running jokes. Its how he always refers to Lovren

That's the thing Baz, I don't think he had "a pretty good 2nd half". There was a couple of passes he made that were nice but I didn't have any confidence in him at all, it made me nervy everytime the ball was played back to him and at times I think he didn't even want the ball.

His confidence is shot, it'll come good again no doubts but I'd have Sakho over Dejan every day of the week.

I think everyone would have Sakho, but we play with 3 CBs and so even if a player isn't first choice, its good to see improvements. Injuries happen and I don't think Can will be defender next season.

Future captain is just one of Mick's running jokes. Its how he always refers to Lovren

I know,  I was just making sure he knows. 

He went to ground when he never should have. Stay on your feet and keep him wide.

Really? first instinct as a defender you try to block the incoming shot, whether you go to ground to block it or you don't. Instead Augero, a brilliant player, decides to dummy, which happens and you can't fault any defender for that.  An inferior striker would have shot it and Lovren would have committed the block.

There is no way in a sane world that Lovren was better than Skrtel and Can today.

No f**king way.   

I think Mick's fishing. 

He grew into the match. A so so first half but in the second half he became a lot more clinical. There were a couple of lovely distribution passes from him in the second half.

To settle the debate though, Sakho is without doubt still our best defender!!

Solid performance from Dejan took balls to bounce back from Thursday.

Did a great job in marking one of the best strikers in the game currently barring one tackle when he unneccesarily divied in the box.

Starting to dominate in the air a bit more, hopefully the rest will soon follow. I think you can tell he's the type of defender that should be perfect for us, very comfortable with the ball at his feet etc. However he is still wasteful with his passing sometimes and his attempts to defend on the front foot can lead to him diving in a bit too much.

Just needs to learn how to relax I think. Too desperate to make an impression.

If this guy is our best F***ing defender than we are in some serious sh*t with defence.

Whilst his passing was a little off, I thought he dealt with most things that came at him today and he had more to deal with, as most City attacks seemed to come his way.  Be surprised if anyone made more tackles than him in that game.  Really don't think Mick's comment, that he was our best defender today, is as outlandish as some have portrayed it. 

Agree with many of the comments above - watching the game back I thought he was probably our poorest outfield player.  Positional play poor - doesn't have the range of passing or energy of most of his other team-mates and is prone to some foolish challenges. 

Looks better than he did at the start of the season but that's hardly a ringing endorsement.

Whilst his passing was a little off, I thought he dealt with most things that came at him today and he had more to deal with, as most City attacks seemed to come his way.  Be surprised if anyone made more tackles than him in that game.  Really don't think Mick's comment, that he was our best defender today, is as outlandish as some have portrayed it.

He did indeed make more tackles and interceptions than anyone else on the pitch, as well as clearances. He did the basics of defending well.

He did indeed make more tackles and interceptions than anyone else on the pitch, as well as clearances. He did the basics of defending well.

Which is something Skrtel has been getting high praise for, as of late.  Surely the same should apply in Lovren's case.