Estonia's Finest: The Making of Ragnar Klavan

by Chris

Only one Estonian had ever previously played in the Premier League. Mart Poom, who played for Derby, Sunderland and Arsenal, made 138 appearances between the sticks in England's top division. 

Although he did score once for Sunderland in a lower division, Poom never hit the back of the net in the Premier League, understandably because he was a goalkeeper. That means that on the first day of a blooming 2018 at a foggy and murky Turf Moor, on the end of an Oxlade-Chamberlain free kick and a Dejan Lovren flick-on, the bundling 89th minute winner from Ragnar Klavan, affectionately known as 'Raggy', became the Premier League's first Estonian goalscorer.

Born in 1985, the Estonia skipper began playing in central midfield in his junior levels. Football was in his blood, as his father Dzintar represented Estonia internationally also, having a career within Estonia with Flora Tallinn and several other clubs within the Baltic nation. He said later on in his career that Zinedine Zidane was his footballing idol growing up, echoing his midfield origin.

At 16, Klavan made his debut in the Esiliga, the Estonian second division, for Tulevik's reserve side, scoring the winner in a 2-1 win over Sillamäe Kalev. He then moved to the first team in 2002, playing in a goalless draw with Levadia.

Ironically, 'Raggy' was offered a trial with Peter Reid's Sunderland, but was deemed not good enough and was not offered a contract. 

59 appearances and 13 goals for both Tulevik and their reserve side 'Elva', he moved to arguably Estonia's finest club, in the capital of Tallinn, following in his father's footsteps with Flora. He again scored on his debut, heading in the 85th minute to draw 4-4 with city rivals TMVK. He played 28 times for Flora, scoring twice in those 28 appearances before being loaned to Tippeligaen club Valerenga in 2004, making just two appearances off the bench for 'Oslo's stolthet'.

After a troubled time in Norway, Eredevisie side Heracles Almelo made Klavan theirs for a fee of €200,000 in August 2005. He made his debut for 'Heraclieden' against giants PSV Eindhoven in a 1-1 draw, and scored his first goal on 31st December 2006, a header in a 2-2 draw with the now Chelsea feeder club Vitesse Arnhem. 

After making 95 league appearances and scoring 4 times for the Almelo club, Klavan was snapped up at 24 on the 27 January 2009 by AZ Alkmaar, then under former Sunderland and now Netherlands boss Dick Advocaat. He won the Eredevisie title that year, only a second in the comically named 'Cheeseheads' history, the only other coming in 1980-1981 under George Kessler.

Klavan continued until 2012 at Alkmaar, also becoming the first Estonian to play in the Champions League group stage when he replaced the former West Brom man Sebastien Pocognoli in a 1-1 draw with Standard Liege. He did see limited game time under Advocaat and then Ronald Koeman, but established himself as a regular under Gertjan Verbeek until his departure to Augsburg.

Signing for an undisclosed fee, Klavan came on as a sub for Matthias Ostrzolek in a 0-0 draw with Wolfsburg. He quickly established himself as a regular under Markus Weinzierl, usually alongside Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker. He regularly came up against the upcoming Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, and actually came up against him against Liverpool in the Europa League, being defeated 1-0 on aggregate thanks to a James Milner penalty as Liverpool went on to the final of the competition.

He made 125 league appearances for 'die Fuggerstädter', scoring 4 times as he guided them, in 14/15, to finish in a club-high 5th placed in the Bundesliga, playing every minute of the campaign. This clearly impressed Dave Fallows and the scouting team at Anfield, paying an Estonian record £4.3m for the experienced centre back.

He made his Liverpool debut in a 4-3 win over Arsenal on the opening day of last season, not exactly showing his defensive ability, but the newly crowned 'Estonian Pele' really highlighted his calmness and defensive nous in being named man of the match as Sadio Mane nicked a late winner at Goodison Park.

Although seemingly vulnerable on his right foot, Klavan has established a rotator role at Anfield and has expressed his willingness in a public interview, as he has stepped in to partner Jӧel Matip and Dejan Lovren when either are unable to feature. He did score for Liverpool previously in a 3-0 win over Derby in the EFL Cup 4th round in 2016, but his winner against the Clarets on New Years' Day really established himself as a cult-hero, sparking the founding of several fan pages on social media and the renaming of football's great award to the 'Klavan d'or'. 

For me, as a Liverpool fan, I think 'Raggy' has been one of the bargains of the 2010's, just imagine, you could have 1 John Stones for approximately 11 Ragnar Klavan's, or 1 Virgil Van Dijk for nearly 17.5 'Raggy's'. He has and will continue to be a competent backup for Jürgen Klopp's men, as he doesn't rely on pace. He has another couple of years at least in Liverpool's setup.

I hope you enjoyed the latest rendition of the Sporting Lowdown. Please if you haven't already give the last few a read, and I'll see you next week!