Former Liverpool defender Phil Thompson believes that Dejan Lovren’s position alongside Martin Skrtel in the Reds’ defence is now his to lose.
The Croatian played the full 90 minutes against Stoke City on the opening weekend, and enjoyed one of his better outings in Liverpool colours as they kept a clean sheet and took all three points back to Merseyside.
Lovren, 26, was preferred to Mamadou Sakho who has since attracted interest from Roma as per the Telegraph.
The former Southampton man is set to keep his place in the side for the visit of Bournemouth on Monday night according to the Liverpool Echo, to whom Thompson told he would have picked Sakho instead.
“Dejan must have impressed the manager over the course of pre-season,” said the 61-year-old.
“In my honest opinion, I probably would have gone with Sakho alongside Skrtel. The Liverpool fans I speak to are split around 50-50 over whether Lovren or Sakho should be starting.
“Both have plenty to prove. For me, Sakho’s positional play was a bit better than Dejan’s last season, particularly when we played three at the back.
“But in fairness to Dejan he has clearly done something right over the summer and he did very well against Stoke. Now that place in the side is Dejan’s to lose.”
Lovren struggled throughout his first campaign on Merseyside after his £20m switch from the Saints, and Thompson believes the pressure of playing for a huge club like Liverpool took its toll on him.
“No disrespect to Southampton, but being a Liverpool player is completely different,” added the former assistant manager at Anfield.
“The attention and scrutiny on your performances at Liverpool is so much greater. There is more media and every mistake you make is magnified.
“Some people are blase about that leap and think ‘it’s not a problem’, but then it hits them in the face and I think Dejan was one of them. I think that pressure surprised him and how every error is highlighted and not much is made of your good performances because they’re expected. You have to learn to live with that.
“Playing for a big club, you have to deliver week in, week out. Whether it’s a League Cup tie against a lower league team or a Premier League match against Manchester United, the pressure is always there. You never get a rest day.
“Some accept that and adjust to it straightaway, others need some time. Dejan, like a number of last summer’s signings, needs to push on this season. Adam Lallana has to step up and the same goes for Lazar Markovic and Alberto Moreno.”
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