Steven Caulker: Is the QPR Defender a Good Stop-Gap Player for Liverpool?

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Liverpool today announced the season-long loan signing of Steven Caulker from QPR. Nobody really saw it coming, but given Liverpool’s current injury list something had to happen on the defensive front.

Sakho has been in and out of games a lot, Lovren the same, Skrtel could still be four weeks away and veteran Kolo Toure is available but he can’t be playing twice a week.

 

Once tipped for great things

He’s got one England cap to his name and was tipped for great things at Tottenham, but never really broke into the side and moved to Cardiff for a hefty fee in excess of 8 million British Pounds.

He was unable to help keep Cardiff in the Premiership, but was regarded as one of their better players that year scoring five goals for the club.

Nevertheless, he attracted plenty of attention in the summer and QPR came calling signing him for an undisclosed fee. But, similar to last season, he was unable to guide his team to safety and his side were relegated again.

It seems he can’t help, but play Premiership football and got an immediate season-long loan move to Southampton but only made three starts: one of them, ironically, a 6-1 defeat to Liverpool.

 

Experienced cover

While Liverpool fans probably won’t be too excited with the signing, what it does offer is Premier League experienced cover. With a heavy schedule looking more burdensome for the Reds with a replay against Exeter City at Anfield, he could prove very important.

He’s got pace, is very good in the air standing at 6 foot 3 and is more of an old-school, low risk than a ball playing defender, which could be a good thing given Liverpool’s current error-prone centre-backs.

There’s no reason to panic when it comes to this one, when Liverpool’s current centre-backs are fit, I feel he won’t start. And given that none of Liverpool’s defenders have really impressed, there’s little risk here.

 

A good stop-gap acquisition

He’s a good stop-gap acquisition and should have the attitude to want to improve given that this could be his last chance at a top club.

Klopp, however, should be content with his latest signing as he shouldn’t be judged in his first season with the club and I’m sure this will be one of the first problems the Liverpool manager will likely address this summer.

 

Written by Nicholas Lawrence

Follow Nicholas on Twitter @Nick_Lawrence92

Check out his excellent football blog, Lawrence Sport

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