Liverpool summer signing Ragnar Klavan has made slight noises about being discontent with his role on the bench.
When he arrived from Augsburg, most fans assumed he’d be backup, but with Mamadou Sakho frozen out, the Estonian’s natural spot appeared third-choice centre-back behind Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip.
In fairness, bar the Burnley debacle, he’s done very well, but Lucas started ahead of him last time out v Watford, which would likely have caused slight frustration for the 31-year-old.
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“If you don’t play, it is unpleasant, but it’s the coach’s decision,” Klavan said (via the Metro). “At the moment it seems to be a legitimate choice, the club won 6-1 [against Watford prior to the international break] and are now league leaders.”
“For me, [not starting games] doesn’t mean anything, and I’m not going to analyse it. I have the advantage that I’m old enough to understand the situation. Certainly it’s different and takes getting used to. Every once in a while, on game day, you expect to play, and if you don’t, there’s a reason for this.”
Klavan will likely earn his next start after the international break against Leeds in the EFL Cup. For us, he’s an automatic starter in this competition and we hope this is enough, for now, to keep him happy.
The ageing centre-back is a good passer, physically strong and in truth – we’re surprised he hasn’t been used more considering the number of goals we’ve let in so far.