Klavan says there are differences between the game in the Premier League and in Germany.
Liverpool defender Ragnar Klavan has admitted to the club’s official website there have been some changes he has had to get used to since his move from Augsburg in the summer.
Klavan plied his trade in the Bundesliga for four years after a three-year spell with AZ in the Eredivisie but suggests the Premier League is a step up and could be the best league in terms of standard.
He told the club’s official website: “It’s kind of more aggressive, a little bit more is allowed by the referees.
“It’s a little bit different from the Bundesliga. Those are just parts where you need to get used to it a little bit, so it took me some time and also in training, but slowly I am getting there.
“With every league, there is something special about that league. England is, in my opinion, one of the best – maybe the best – leagues in the world.”
Klavan has featured in three of Liverpool’s seven Premier League games so far this season with pretty mixed results. The Estonia international was part of the opening day win over Arsenal but that saw Liverpool concede three goals, while he was part of the side that suffered a shock defeat to Burnley on the second weekend of the campaign.
He was called upon for the Reds’ win over Hull City, where he and Joel Matip provided an excellent display in the air in order to maintain Liverpool’s dominance over their opponents that day, but there was still no clean sheet for the Reds. On a personal level, Klavan managed to find the net in the 3-0 win over Derby County in the EFL Cup.
Klavan seems to have learned a couple of lessons in terms of the physicality of the league but there is a promise of more to come, although it seems likely he will be acting as cover for most of the campaign if both Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren maintain their fitness as they seem to be Jurgen Klopp’s preferred partnership.
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