Paul Robinson has hailed Liverpool’s Joel Matip for his “outstanding” work with the Reds so far this season, but has questioned Jurgen Klopp’s decision to let Dejan Lovren deputise for him.
The 28-year-old is currently sidelined through injury, and in his absence, the Croatian defender has stepped into the breach.
And Robinson, speaking to Football Insider, has admitted that he is baffled by the move.
When asked if he was surprised by Lovren’s game time, he said: “Yes, very much so. I think Joe Gomez will be disappointed by the amount of game time he’s got this year.
“I think that’s down to the form of Joel Matip, I think he’s been outstanding this year alongside van Dijk so there’s a reason he hasn’t played.
“Lovren I wouldn’t see as a regular starter for Liverpool, I’d put him as fourth out of the four options they’ve got. At the moment you’d play van Dijk and Matip, just because of form. Joe Gomez would be the next one and then Lovren would be the other option.”
OPINION
There are really two parts to this. First of all, Robinson is bang on the money to praise Matip for his performances so far this season. The Cameroonian has been inspired and consistent, and he has done a fine job of establishing himself as one of the best centre-backs in the top flight after a fairly rocky start to life in England. In fact, he has been so good that his average Whoscored rating of 7.52 makes him the 10th highest player in the Premier League so far this season. Obviously, he will always be a miss when he’s in that kind of form, but the second part of this is that Lovren actually did a wonderful job of deputising for Matip in his last top flight outing. In the 2-1 win one over Leicester City prior to the international break, Lovren managed more tackles, interceptions, clearances, and a higher Whoscored rating than Matip’s averages for the season. Now, obviously, one game doesn’t define a campaign, and Lovren has sometimes struggled with consistency, but it just goes to show that on his day, the Croatian is properly world class.
