There is no hiding the problems that Liverpool have experienced in defence this season, with first-choice centre-back pairing Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez both sustaining long-term injuries early on in the campaign.
Academy graduates such as Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips have been called upon this season to fill the gaps, as well as Jurgen Klopp having to play Fabinho and Jordan Henderson at centre-back at times, with Joel Matip our only remaining senior central defender but also struggling with fitness at times this season.
All have led to calls from Liverpool fans for the club to sign another centre-back this January to ease the crisis but it appears as though this is far from being completed – and The Atheltic’s James Pearce quickly brought to our attention the mistake that the Reds made in the summer after selling Dejan Lovren to Zenit St Petersburg after the Croatian wanted regular football, as cited by Anfield Watch on Twitter…
https://twitter.com/AnfieldWatch/status/1353606273569345536
As Pearce says, if Lovren had stayed with the Reds he would have heavily featured for much of this season and his wishes would have been fulfilled – leading to Liverpool shooting themselves in the foot a bit after letting him leave in August for £10.80 million.
Overall, was Lovren a good player for Liverpool?
Yes
No
Obviously, there was no telling that Liverpool would be in the situation they currently are with Van Dijk and Gomez out with the types of injuries they have been and I have no grudges against Lovren wanting to leave for the reasons he did – it is just a shame that we couldn’t foresee the current situation with Lovren getting the regular football he wanted and no doubt helping out Jurgen Klopp and his side massively during this tough period.
What do you think Liverpool fans, should we have kept Dejan Lovren? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below…