Serbian praised for excellent Bournemouth runout…
Brendan Rodgers has lavished praise on Serbian winger Lazar Markovic, following the 20-year-olds’s impressive League Cup performance, the Daily Star reports.
Markovic arrived from Benfica for a hefty £20m fee during the summer, and all of us were extremely excited to see the immensely talented attacker pull on a red shirt.
Unfortunately though, he really struggled to find his feet early on, and was pulled out of the firing line by Rodgers as a result.
Markovic came under criticism, but showed enough during a 15 minute cameo against FC Basel earlier in December (before he was unfairly sent off) that he can add serious pace and skill to the side…
Due to the Basel performance, Rodgers gave him a start as an unorthodox left wing-back against Bournemouth in the League Cup on Wednesday, and Markovic rewarded him with an excellent performance which was capped with a goal.
“He was brilliant. It has taken him a bit of time to get going and we have talked to him about being more aggressive in his game,” Rodgers began.
“In the 15 minutes before he got sent off against Basel, it was disappointing that he was sent off, because he started really well. That’s the Markovic that we know.
“Playing in that role [against Bournemouth] he was outstanding; he was defensively good and pressed the ball at almost all of the right times, so tactically he was very good.
“And with the ball his speed and movement was excellent. He has got good quality and is a good footballer.
“It is pleasing. At 20 years of age, he looks like he is improving all the time.”