The Athletic’s Liverpool correspondent James Pearce says that he was “surprised” Jurgen Klopp selected Dejan Lovren in his defence against Watford at the weekend, per The Red Agenda (March 3rd, 15:40).
What’s he said?
The Reds’ lengthy unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt at Vicarage Road as the Hornets won 3-0 thanks to a brace from Ismaila Sarr and a strike from Troy Deeney.
Lovren partnered Virgil van Dijk in defence in his first start for the club since December and was hammered by Reds fans afterwards, with one even insisting that he is the “worst player in our history”.
Pearce was surprised by the selection, insisting that he is the club’s fourth-choice central defender.
He said: “If you’re drawing up a pecking order of Liverpool centre-halves, then Lovren is the fourth choice.
“I was surprised [that Lovren started]. Lovren himself hadn’t started since Bournemouth in early December when he went off injured.”
Call yourself a Liverpool expert? How much did each of these big-money January signings cost?
Not another option
Pearce is being rather harsh here.
Jurgen Klopp was simply out of options in defence; while van Dijk was fit, Joe Gomez was ruled out due to a fitness issue while Joel Matip is out of match practice.
Indeed, the latter last played 90 minutes in October, against Manchester United, and missed 12 games with a knee injury prior to returning to the bench for four games.
He was not included in the squad against Norwich City and played a single minute versus West Ham United; one has to wonder if his match fitness is simply not where it needs to be.
Lovren is a senior professional who has made 184 appearances for the Reds and also won 57 caps for Croatia.
In the moment, he was Klopp’s single best option to partner van Dijk; he didn’t really have an alternative.
Meanwhile, an ex-Liverpool man is disappointed they didn’t sign this PL ace!