Dejan Lovren, ” The Next Carragher” Can Be The Savior Of Liverpool’s Defence

Earlier this week, Liverpool announced the signing of Dejan Lovren from Southampton for £20million. After spending just one season with Southampton, the Croatian international has left the club for European giants Liverpool. After prolonged negotiations Brendan Rodgers has finally got his man, but we have to wait to find out is he the solution to Liverpool’s defensive blunders.

Jamie Carragher retired at the end of the 2012/13 season and Liverpool have failed to replace him at the back, there is no doubt the Reds need a leader at the back. Rodgers believes the Croatian international can emulate Carragher. Liverpool conceded 50 goals last season, more than any other side in the top 4. Mamadou Sakho has been injury prone and Kolo Toure has failed to impress. Long serving centre-back Daniel Agger future is still unclear and Rodgers feels Lovren might be the man to solve his defensive problems.

“I think he’s a really commanding centre-half,” said Rodgers, on the official club website.

“I’ve said since we lost Jamie Carragher that we needed that leadership. He’s a player that gives us that.

“He’s very strong, very commanding, but he can play. I’ve been really impressed with him.

“I watched him at Lyon, he came into the Premier League with Southampton and I know their players thought he was a big driving force for them and kept them defensively solid.

“He had a really good World Cup. I think he’s a player that can still improve, still develop as he’s in his mid-20s. He’s someone I’m really looking forward to working with.”

Dejan Lovren is a “modern centre-back” as he is confident on the ball, makes forward runs and can pass the ball well. Defensively, Lovren is quite consistent at the back. Martin Skrtel was a bit inconsistent last season as he made few defensive blunders and scored four own-goals last season. Lovren hardly makes such defensive blunders and his defensive stats are very impressive. He made more number of tackles than any centre-back from the top 4 sides and the number of interceptions are also impressive. That obviously will be less for a title challenging team defender, but its fair to say Liverpool need someone like him who can be solid at the back and contribute during attacks.

Stats Compared With Other Liverpool Defenders

Another interesting bit is, communication is a key aspect between defenders and the fact that Simon Mignolet, Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho can all speak French might tempt Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers to pair Lovren with Sakho. Rodgers recently admitted he is ready to play Lovren with Sakho or Skrtel.

Liverpool conceded a lot of goals last season from set-pieces and crosses, Lovren doesn’t help much in this situations. He is not strong aerially and his positioning is not too impressive either. His aerial prowess is not an upgrade on Daniel Agger and that’s something Rodgers needs to address. Lastly, Lovren comes with a “£20million” price tag which is not an ideal thing for a defender. Rodgers expects him to be the leader of the defense, but the pressure of expectations after a big money move is never a good thing. But if everything goes well for the ex-Saints man at anfield, then he can be savior of Liverpool’s defense which struggled throughout the last season