Finally! The tedious international break is almost over, and it's back to Premier League action for Liverpool. The Reds face Spurs in Jurgen Klopp's first game in charge, and the good news is that the club's injury crisis appears to be easing.
Klopp took his first training session on Monday, and according to the Liverpool Echo:
"Jurgen Klopp...was handed an immediate boost with Philippe Coutinho among the players taking part [in training]. Dejan Lovren was [also] back in training too".
The return of £41m-rated Coutinho is a boost, but I doubt too many fans will be doing cartwheels about the return of Lovren, who cost Liverpool £20m.
That said, like everyone else, Lovren will start with a clean slate under Klopp, and it'll be interesting to see who makes the central defensive cut in the games to come.
Can Klopp get the best out of Lovren? If so, then great, as Liverpool splurged £20m on the Croatian, and the club needs to start getting value for money.
Prior to signing for Liverpool, Lovren had a superb season for Southampton, so he's clearly capable of delivering the goods in the Premier League.
It's possible that Rodgers' style of management was the problem; for whatever reason, perhaps Lovren just didn't respond to Liverpool's former boss?
Lovren wouldn't be the first; the list of players who've underperformed under Rodgers is long, and expensive: Lallana, Ibe, Balotelli, Lambert, Moses Aspas, Alberto, Origi, Firmino, Sahin, Assasidi, Borini, Carroll, Downing, Moreno, Coates and Markovic).
As such, given Rodgers' hand of death, Lovren deserves (IMO) to be given a second chance under Klopp.
Whether that will come this weekend remains to be seen, but Sakho is not infallible, and he's been responsible for several opposition goals over the last few games.
As for Coutinho - if it was down to me, he'd start on the bench this weekend, with Joao Carlos Teixeira given a start in his place.
Teixeira is fresh, and uninjured, whereas Coutinho is still recovering from a groin strain, so it arguably makes sense.
Author: Jaimie K
Klopp took his first training session on Monday, and according to the Liverpool Echo:
"Jurgen Klopp...was handed an immediate boost with Philippe Coutinho among the players taking part [in training]. Dejan Lovren was [also] back in training too".
The return of £41m-rated Coutinho is a boost, but I doubt too many fans will be doing cartwheels about the return of Lovren, who cost Liverpool £20m.
That said, like everyone else, Lovren will start with a clean slate under Klopp, and it'll be interesting to see who makes the central defensive cut in the games to come.
Can Klopp get the best out of Lovren? If so, then great, as Liverpool splurged £20m on the Croatian, and the club needs to start getting value for money.
Prior to signing for Liverpool, Lovren had a superb season for Southampton, so he's clearly capable of delivering the goods in the Premier League.
It's possible that Rodgers' style of management was the problem; for whatever reason, perhaps Lovren just didn't respond to Liverpool's former boss?
Lovren wouldn't be the first; the list of players who've underperformed under Rodgers is long, and expensive: Lallana, Ibe, Balotelli, Lambert, Moses Aspas, Alberto, Origi, Firmino, Sahin, Assasidi, Borini, Carroll, Downing, Moreno, Coates and Markovic).
As such, given Rodgers' hand of death, Lovren deserves (IMO) to be given a second chance under Klopp.
Whether that will come this weekend remains to be seen, but Sakho is not infallible, and he's been responsible for several opposition goals over the last few games.
As for Coutinho - if it was down to me, he'd start on the bench this weekend, with Joao Carlos Teixeira given a start in his place.
Teixeira is fresh, and uninjured, whereas Coutinho is still recovering from a groin strain, so it arguably makes sense.
Author: Jaimie K
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