Dejan Lovren - Underrated

by Chris

Much talk recently on sports sites and blogs have been about the defensive frailties of Arsène Wenger and when he's going to leave and all that jazz.

Now on the Sporting Lowdown we like to take a look at the unsung heroes, and maybe those unfairly criticised. Now as I slumped on my sofa on the 22nd October, a lukewarm autumn day, to watch Tottenham play Liverpool, I was certainly expecting a good performance, considering the Reds had just utterly dominated Huddersfield the week beforehand, with Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Gini Wijnaldum giving the Reds a comfortable win at Anfield. 

Only four minutes in, a lofted, wishful ball seemed to be dropping on the head of Croatian international and £26m signing Dejan Lovren. Inexplicably, and to the shock of the entirety of the Premier League, he managed to duck and avoid what would've been one of the most basic clearances a defender could make during a game.

Out came Simon Mignolet, flying like a wild Patrice Evra, but was easily ran past and beaten by a consummate Harry Kane. 

Then as Hugo Lloris launched a long throw forward towards the England striker, Lovren once again inexplicably failed to deal with a somewhat tame attack, leading to Kane squaring for a delightful Heung-Min Son to net his first of the season and to level with Park-Ji Sung as the highest scoring Premier League South-Korean.

So, like a sheep to the Gods, he was sacrificed to the bench at the expense of Oxlade-Chamberlain, and was slaughtered by pundits and fans alike for the next few weeks until reinstated into the side.

Since arriving in 2014, Lovren has never been the fans favourite. After an excellent season with Southampton, he was the stalwart Brendan Rodgers' needed since the departure of Daniel Agger, and the current centre backs being Martin Skrtel and Kolo Toure.

After a poor start to his Anfield career, being littered with mistakes and misplaced passes, he went into the 15/16 season in a state of disarray. He continued his shocking state into the reign of Jürgen Klopp, but his towering winner against Borussia Dortmund had all frailties forgiven. 

16/17 wasn't great for Lovren either. He was solid when called upon, but still poor in terms of aerial duels and 50/50's compared to previous seasons and the current season.

So, we're in the present, so lets talk about it. Lovren was awful against Tottenham, by far his worst performance since his arrival. But as a rule, he's fought against his critics and has arguably been one of the most solid centre backs not only for Liverpool, but in the Premier League, since that lukewarm day in October.

Of course, he's the easiest to select to be replaced by elegant Dutchman Virgil van Dijk. He has been a revelation, of course, and no doubt better than Lovren, but the Croatian has most definitely improved on and off the ball, defensively and in the air. Before Christmas, I would have said Joel Matip was the natural partner for Van Dijk, but now the performances of the former Lyon man have reassured what has been a solid defence in recent weeks.

So you mention the words, Dejan Lovren, what comes to mind? Awful, rubbish, useless. Next time be more considerate. Liverpool have only lost once all season with Lovren in the side, he was on the field for half an hour. He averages 60 passes per match, and has 68 accurate through balls this season, more than Virgil Van Dijk, Joel Matip and Ragnar Klavan. He also has 115 clearances, the most on average in the Liverpool side per match. 

So there you go, its pretty ironic that in a piece describing a player as underrated I've ranted about his poor parts, but this portrays his improvement. An undulated career which looks on an upward curve in the present time, and lets hope, or not if you support another side, that this upward curve is extremely prolonged or perhaps permanent. 

Thank you for reading, and finally I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the family and friends of the late Davide Astori, a solid centre back and leader who was a contender for this summer's world cup squad, who died in the early hours of this morning in his sleep. I wish his wife and new-born daughter the best in whatever they do, and have the utmost respect to the Serie A and Fiorentina for their respect. :)