Europa League Penalty Miss Offers Dejan Lovren a 2nd Chance with Liverpool

Dejan Lovren's penalty miss dominated the headlines as Liverpool were knocked out of a European competition for the second time in three months in Istanbul on Thursday night.

Lovren missed the fifth and crucial spot-kick in the penalty shootout after Besiktas had equalled Liverpool's 1-0 win in the first leg to send the match into extra time.

After a torrid opening campaign at Anfield for the £20 million signing from Southampton, Lovren deserves credit for even stepping up to take responsibility for such a pressure penalty.

"

An ashen faced Dejan Lovren has just made his way through the mixed zone. Utterly dejected. #LFC

— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) February 26, 2015"

"Dejan was happy to take a penalty—you see the five penalties takers were all confident," explained Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers post-match, as per the Press Association (via This Is Anfield).

Alas, Lovren's confidence was perhaps misguided, and instead he looked uncomfortable even as he put the ball down and went on to blaze it off-target.

Other Options

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Some have questioned why Rodgers entrusted Lovren with the fifth and final spot-kick, while others have wondered why Raheem Sterling didn't step up to take one.

Sterling missed one in the epic penalty shootout win over Middlesbrough back in September, but surely an attacking player who, according to The Telegraph's Chris Bascombe, is being offered a six-figure weekly salary at age 20 should be capable and willing to take a penalty in a shootout.

While Sterling seemingly opted against offering his services to take a kick, Rodgers could and perhaps should have looked elsewhere, possibly to another centre-back who has already scored twice—and with quite impressive style—in two different shootouts this season.

Kolo Toure thundered his spot-kick past Jamal Blackman in the aforementioned Middlesbrough match, and then did likewise for Ivory Coast just over a fortnight ago in the African Cup of Nations final. Surely he would have been a far better choice than Lovren.

There is also the question of why Rodgers took Mario Balotelli out during normal time—rather than the far more ineffective Daniel Sturridge—thus removing one of his guaranteed penalty takers. Admittedly, Sturridge was later replaced by Lambert, who comfortably scored on his penalty kick.

Lovren

While the typically emotional knee-jerk reactions saw some supporters lambast Lovren for the miss—something that fails to take into account the fact that the whole side failed to win the tie over the previous 210 minutes—plenty have actually given praise to the Croatian in the wake of what is probably the lowest point of his career.

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Some #Liverpool fans show class and #ynwa spirit with messages of support for @DejanLovrenLFC6 http://t.co/7DZKbcltZM pic.twitter.com/j0QMU4LV8q

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) February 27, 2015"

Perhaps, in a perverse way, the miss could actually be a turning point for the 25-year-old and prove to be the catalyst for a turnaround in fortunes at Anfield.

After all, a penalty miss doesn't translate to the end of a career. Just ask Roberto Baggio, who famously missed the decisive penalty kick in the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final. Or ask Lionel Messi, who missed yet another penalty shot on Tuesday (Messi's penalty kick was on target though).

Penalty Technique

Uncredited/Associated Press

The majority of the 10 penalty shots taken in the tie actually saw players shoot high rather than low, a dangerous tactic that Lovren also attempted. Shooting low in a penalty means you can only miss by putting it wide (not by the goalkeeper saving it, but by missing the target). Shooting high with a penalty means you can put it over or wide. You are creating more risk by going high, so players attempting to do so should be resolute in their ability to make an accurate kick.

Aiming high requires good technique and confidence, something Lovren doesn't appear to possess—at least on Thursday.

That's because, according to Sam Tighe of uMAXitFootball, "Lovren is a confidence player—perhaps the ultimate example of it." Being dropped from the side, after forcing through a move in the summer with bullish confidence in his own ability, has crushed Lovren's confidence these past few months.

Outwardly, he expressed desire to take the penalty, but ultimately he didn't have the composure nor the technique to actually follow through with what he believed he could do. His attempts to help his side were misplaced and Rodgers should not have handed responsibility to such a player.

Future

Liverpool and Lovren must regroup and move on to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League, which is now their primary objective.

Lovren will need to be mentally strong to overcome this and may be requiring help from Dr. Steve Peters to do so.

He will be hoping he is able to use the miss as motivation to slowly restart his career in Merseyside, rather than end up like the last Liverpool player who missed a spot-kick in such an important game, Charlie Adam.