Former Premier League goalkeeper Shaka Hislop heaped praise on Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren for his current form.
The ESPN pundit claimed that the centre-back had been far better and far more consistent for the Reds this season than he had ever been for them during his Liverpool career.
Hislop acknowledged that playing alongside Virgil Van Dijk probably helped but stated that no defender in his age category was currently playing better than him in the Premier League.
“The name that jumps off the page more than any, is Dejan Lovren,” said Hislop on ESPN FC, as seen on the broadcaster’s YouTube channel (1 minute mark).
“This pick is for the Dejan Lovren of this season.
“Dejan Lovren has been far better, far more consistent than we have seen him in his entire Liverpool career.
“Maybe that has a lot do with playing alongside Van Dijk, I accept that, but I don’t think there is any question that Dejan Lovren, this season, in terms of defenders over 30 has been as good as we’ve seen if not better than anyone else in the Premier League.”
OPINION
Wow, Hislop seemed blown away by the transformation of Lovren this season and didn’t hesitate to name him in his best Premier League Over 30’s XI. While the pundit did cover himself by saying playing alongside a fantastic player like Van Dijk was likely helping it, it didn’t stop him throwing bold claims out there left, right and centre. The 30-year-old centre-back has been at Anfield since July 2014 after joining from Southampton and has played 176 times for the club, so to suggest he has become far better this season, is some claim, as surely his peak years have already passed. However, some players do peak later and do hit their best form late in their career. Lovren has played four times in the Premier League this season, impressively averaging 1.3 tackles, 1.3 interceptions and a ridiculously good 5.5 clearances per match, as per WhoScored, and does seem to be less error-prone than he was in the previous season. Yet given the Croatian defender’s past mistakes, he doesn’t inspire confidence when you see him on the teamsheet as you can’t help but remember the times when he let his side down.
