Rodgers States Lovren May Start as LCB against Stoke

Just in case anyone is wondering my position on our CB situation, let me just say unashamedly that Sakho is first choice every day of the week and twice on game day.


 

Now there has been a lot of talk recently about the fact that Lovren has been handed on a platter more game time besides Skrtel during the preseason friendlies. When this first became an issue, I was wholeheartedly on the Sakho is being rested to prevent injury bandwagon and that had a lot to do with the fact that James Pearce one of the only real ITK’s out there stated “As it stands Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho will be the first choice centre-back pairing.” No real ambiguity there, a matter of fact statement by an actual journalist that literally is tied to Liverpool FC hierarchy like a noose around the neck of a condemned man.

So to wake up this morning to the news that Rodgers has stated “It’s not something I’ve totally decided upon yet, I’ll sit down with the staff and we’ll look at it next week. The key is getting consistency in that area of the field. Your two centre-halves are critical. They are the tactical decision makers in the game. That balance is important for us this season. We had too many defensive changes last year and that’s not something that I like. Hopefully this season we’ll be more consistent as a back four.” kind of left me thinking that maybe I had deluded myself, maybe I had let the preseason optimism get to my head and that I am nothing but the condemned man hanging by a noose still thinking the Governor will step in to prevent my execution.

But the reality is this, we have not started our campaign yet, Rodgers may very well still come to the sane conclusion that Sakho is clearly the best CB at our club and I know that given the way our defence (doesn’t) works that is not the biggest compliment you can give any CB, but it is still a given that our defence is better when Sakho plays.

I can use statistics to prove that Lovren was one of the best CB’s in Europe last campaign, but anyone with eyes can tell you that those statistics do not tell even the opening sentence of a long story. Lovren is clearly a liability, he is clearly not a stable or commanding leader at the back, he is an anchor that drags the entire side down to the depths of the bottomless ocean whenever he is deployed, which is kind of ironic because being an anchor at the back is often seen as a positive trait for a CB to have.

Sakho looks awkward in possession, but he provides incisive passes straight into our attackers or midfielders and his passing completion rate is a beacon of hope for all Liverpool fans, he is commanding, he is a hard to beat in the air or on the ground, he is quick enough to recover when needed, but most importantly, he rarely makes the kind of mistakes that require him to try and recover, unlike Lovren, whose impression of a headless chicken really does give headless chickens a bad name.

There really is no decision to be made here, it is clear who starts, it is clear who deserves to be backed by the manager and given the fact that most Liverpool fans have only just come around to the fact that Rodgers will be sticking around for another season, after what was a stellar transfer window, it seems just plain dumb to bank your own future on Lovren.

Sometimes, it is better to concede you just blew £20 million on a useless squad player than to actually continue to try to justify your purchase. There is no redemption story here, there is only a dead man hanging from a noose, twitching his way to a pointless death, the only question is, who is actually hanging there, will it be Lovren or Rodgers. As Liverpool fans, there is one certainty that we can all bank on, If that man is Rodgers, it won’t be long before Lovren is hanging right there beside him, because there is no manager out there that will actually continue to back Lovren while he plays at Liverpool if Rodgers is left hanging.

I don’t know how I got here in truth, because I have been optimistic about our preseason, our transfer window, our prospects for the upcoming season and this was not meant to be a sadistic piece, but sadism and continuing to play Lovren just seem to go together.










Neboneid H

I write mostly long winded metaphors and hard to comprehend similes but once you get to know me, you'll probably invite me to your wedding. Plus I do Dad Jokes, lots and lots of dad jokes.

18 thoughts on “Rodgers States Lovren May Start as LCB against Stoke

  • August 2, 2015 at 4:25 am
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    Yep, if he starts Lovren with a healthy Sakho on the bench and we lose because of a Lovren mistake…the blood will be in the water. My sense from reading multiple blogs and fan commentary is that the majority of Liverpool fans are hanging on a thread with Rodgers. Lose to Stoke off the bat, chose Lovren to start, make more imbecilic post match comments and there will be a primal scream for Rodger’s head from the collective.

  • August 2, 2015 at 5:03 am
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    But you’re a BR hater to start with so nothing he does or says will ever impress you. or your ilk.

  • August 2, 2015 at 5:08 am
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    Nowadays, all defenders are no longer the older players as per norm. We need them to be fast & flexible enough to counter the fast wingers and skillful forwards of the opposing teams. But alas, Mr. Rodgers still believe in the old methodology. Good luck against Stoke.

  • August 2, 2015 at 5:26 am
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    Rodgers head is on the chopping block. Screw up against Stoke and the pressure mounts. Sticking with
    players who fail to perform consistently only shows mediocre management skills.
    Just admit that you screwed up on this buy and move on.
    Don’t want to start on the “Welsh Xavi” signing. leave it for another day

  • August 2, 2015 at 5:32 am
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    Yeah, I’m Rodgers biggest fan. Absolutely love the guy, but last season had me questioning his position.

    It does definitely feel as though there are a lot of people looking actively for there to be any sign of blood in the water.

    I’m not one of those blokes, but Lovren ahead of Sakho just feels like a continuation of the errors that got us to where we ended up last season.

    I’m still hoping Sakho gets the nod and Rodgers has just used preseason to try to get something out of Lovren.

  • August 2, 2015 at 5:34 am
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    Lovren is definitely the one buy that should be relegated to the footnotes of Liverpool’s history. Especially given the fact that we have a genuine world class CB sitting there waiting in Sakho.

  • August 2, 2015 at 5:47 am
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    We conceded six against Stoke and who was LCB of the day. So Rogers is right bear in mind that’s what brings food on his table.

  • August 2, 2015 at 6:13 am
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    I’m not sure what any of that means. Liverpool was atrocious front to back against Stoke. I was shocked that it didn’t lead to an instant dismissal. So the point is, based on the available evidence of how Lovren has performed in a Liverpool shirt, how many of those 6 goals would he have been able to prevent?

  • August 2, 2015 at 6:22 am
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    To be clear, I share your opinion that Sahko is essentially better than Lovren and I would prefer to see Sahko in the team. Nonetheless, the article goes over the top. It exaggerates the brilliance of Sahko but even more so the negativity about Lovren. He had a disappointing first season. The same can be said of many players who went on to be good players for the club. No one seriously doubted Lovren when we signed him. Also, centre backs work as a pair and it could be that Skrtel feels a better understanding and partnership with Lovren. Who knows ? Let’s back them all and wait and see.

  • August 2, 2015 at 8:05 am
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    I like your take on it Phil.

    To be honest, up until this morning I wasn’t even worried about it. I just don’t understand how Lovren gets ahead of Sakho on merit alone.

    As for the brilliance of Sakho, we may never agree on that point, because I genuinely love watching him play and the difference between him and Lovren for me anyway is night and day.

    But I generally agree with the principle and it normally takes a lot for me to turn on one of our own, but from what I’ve seen of Lovren, it doesn’t seem like he’ll ever make it as a CB at Liverpool. Although, I am not one to begrudge one of our players success just so I can be proven right, so the hope is that I am proven wrong on Lovren.

  • August 2, 2015 at 8:16 am
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    Lovren was immense when playing for Southampton, but had Fonte or/and Wanyama in front of him as his competent DM’s giving him good protection, this rarely happened when he played last season and IMO he felt exposed. However I am in the Sakho camp today and every day!

  • August 2, 2015 at 10:24 am
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    I don’t understand how the argument has become, ‘who should partner Skrtel in defence’ as if he’s ever proven himself to be some sort of rock that deserves to have a defence built around him!?

    He still regularly makes the sort of decisions and mistakes for which we’d call Ilori or Gomez naive and inexperienced. The difference being that he has already passed 30 years old and shows little capacity for learning from his mistakes.

  • August 2, 2015 at 10:26 am
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    Skrtel isn’t good enough that we should be concerned about he feels comfortable with and making decisions based on that.

    Pretty much every negative on Lovren could also be ascribed to him likewise.

  • August 2, 2015 at 11:43 am
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    Jay if it was up to me it be Gomez or Illori partnering Sakho. But I’ve only got enough energy for one battle at a time.

  • August 2, 2015 at 4:51 pm
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    For my opnion, I agree Skrtel isn’t good enough, and Lovren too. If I m BR, I would not give Agger to leave, and My ideal CB partner will be Agger and Sakho. Again, for me Martin Kelly and Jose Enrique is better than Moreno and Cotes is better than Lorven. Unfortunately BR got others thinking. Joe Allen level is not yet on the big club standard, since he play for Liverpool I don’t see he is good even for previous club.

  • August 4, 2015 at 6:09 am
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    To be frank I would rather see us go with a back line of Moreno-Sakho-Ilori-Clyne.

  • August 4, 2015 at 6:10 am
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    Yeah Coates is better then Lovren, ok Coates had injury issues but at the end of the season he was showing world class numbers.

  • August 4, 2015 at 6:12 am
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    He must have learned by playing Lovren he gave United 4th, if it was not for him playing Lovren people would still be calling him a football genius.

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