Liverpool center-back Dejan Lovren has admitted that he “started from zero again” after a long period on the sidelines at the Merseyside club last season.
Lovren struggled with a number of injuries during the 2018/19 campaign, managing just 18 games across all competitions for the Reds. The Croatian center-back has started slowly this season as well, failing to make the first six Premier League matchday squads and mostly restricted to spots on the bench elsewhere due to Joel Matip’s partnership alongside Virgil Van Dijk in the heart of Liverpool’s defense.
However, the 29-year-old has now started in four of the last five Premier League games for Jurgen Klopp, and Lovren admits that he had to start from scratch to force him back into the starting lineup for the current Premier League table-toppers.
While speaking to Sky Sports News, Lovren explained that it was a difficult transition for him to regain the confidence and kickstart his career this term and admitted that he was impatient about it but it’s all part and parcel about football, “I started from zero again to prove that I deserve to be in the first XI but that’s football, When you’ve been out for months in the last season and didn’t have so many minutes on the pitch, it’s about restarting. In pre-season, I did hard work behind the scenes and again, maybe it didn’t start as well as I thought it would, but I’ve been speaking with the manager, be patient and sometimes it’s easy to say that but not to do. I did it in the end and everything came back… It’s good to feel that you’re important here again and this is what matters for every player.”
Lovren was linked with a move away from Anfield in the summer transfer window as Italian side AC Milan were interested in signing the World Cup finalist. Although a move failed to materialize, Lovren has been quite decent for Liverpool in the backline with Van Dijk opening up an eight-point lead at the summit of the Premier League table.
