Rickie Lambert To Dejan Lovren: 'You're Going To Be A Liverpool Great'

Former Red and forever fan, Rickie Lambert, has spoken about Dejan Lovren’s difficult start at Liverpool and the advice he gave Lovren to help him finally settle in at the club.

“Dejan, he was in and out of the team, got a little bit of stick,” Lambert said about Lovren’s performance in the 2014/2015 season. “But I told him before I left: ‘Listen mate, you’re going to be a great defender at this club, you’re going to play for this club for years’.”

Lambert added, “because I knew he suited Liverpool, he’s brilliant on the ball, he’s a good commander of people—I knew he was exactly what we’d need. I’m most delighted for Dejan, because he found it hard that first year.”

After his shaky start under Brendan Rodgers, Lovren lived up to Lambert’s expectations and established himself as Klopp’s first-choice defender. Lovren himself has credited Klopp for his improvement as a player.

“When Jurgen came, it changed everything,” the defender said. “I had my confidence. I’m still growing better and better with him. I can be a better player.”

While Lovren is not currently with the team at La Manga due to his recent knee injury, Klopp hopes he will be able to rejoin the first team training sessions when they return.

"Hopefully, especially Dejan, can come back to training after when we come back on Sunday, that would be great,” Klopp announced to Liverpool’s official website when asked why neither Lovren nor Marko Grujic were travelling to Spain.

I assume Lovren, like the rest of us, can’t wait for the team to return and for football to come back.