Dejan Lovren was left devastated by his penalty miss, but must take inspiration from his teammates…
It’s been a difficult season thus far for Dejan Lovren. After completing a £20m move from Southampton, he has struggled for form and fitness. Having finally worked his way back into the starting XI, he missed the decisive penalty in the Europa League defeat to Besiktas.
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However, the Croatian can at least take comfort in the fact that a number of his teammates endured difficult starts to the season, before turning things around and rapidly improving. In the list below, we rate our top five:
5) Kolo Toure
The Ivorian found himself at the bottom of the centre-back pecking order at the end of last season, watching the closing stages of the season from the stands – Brendan Rodgers having lost faith the former Arsenal man.
He had to bide his time last year, featuring in just one Premier League game before the end of November. His performances in the Champions League – particularly against Real Madrid – endeared him to the Liverpool fans however, who voted the defender their player of the month for the penultimate month of 2014.
4) Lucas Leiva
The Brazilian’s career looked all but over at the start of the season. He had fallen out of favour with Brendan Rodgers, and was being linked with a move to Italy -Inter Milan and Napoli both reportedly interested.
However, he continued to impress when given the chance, and he slowly worked his way back into his manager’s good books. By the time he limped out of our Merseyside derby draw with Everton earlier this month, he’d become a key player; protecting the defence in Rodgers’ new-look 3-4-3 formation, and sitting in the holding role in front of the back three.
3) Mamadou Sakho
Sakho was spectacularly ditched from Liverpool’s first-team plans after walking out on his teammates back in September. The Frenchman was so disgruntled about being left out of Merseyside derby draw with Everton, that he didn’t even stick around to watch the game.
A lengthy injury lay-off meant it wasn’t until December that he made his return, playing on the left of Brendan Rodgers’ back three. Playing alongside Martin Skrtel and Emre Can, he looked like a different player – far more assured and composed. He has continued to improve ever since, and has drastically improved our defensive record.
2) Emre Can
The youngster has become a firm fan favourite in recent months, but it’s worth remembering that the German was little more than a bit-part player during the first-half of the season. Sure, there were flashes of potential and signs of things to come – such as the goal against Chelsea – but few could have expected how much he’d improve.
Called upon to fill-in at the back, playing alongside Skrtel and Sakho as part of our back three, Can revolutionised his role within the squad. For the most part, his performances have been nothing short of sensational, and it’s created a real dilemma for Rodgers as to where the player’s best position actually is – defence or midfield.
1) Simon Mignolet
In terms of a player coming back from the dead, there’s no beating the Belgian goalkeeper – dropped in early December after a series of uninspiring performances. However, an injury to Brad Jones during the Boxing Day victory over Burnley ensured that Mignolet was handed a second chance.
He’s certainly been making the most of that chance ever since – keeping eight clean sheets in the last two months. After looking something of a nervous-wreck at times during the first-half of the season, post-Christmas he’s instead cut a powerful and commanding figure between the posts. Whatever the reason, Reds fans sure are grateful!
