Liverpool Loan Watch: March 2020

Welcome to the seventh part of my series of monthly articles; tracking the progress of Liverpool’s loanees for the 2019/20 season. This is an ongoing series which will hopefully help keep fans up to date on how our players are getting on at their temporary homes. The club has fifteen players on loan, and this series will follow their campaigns closely, and assess which of the loaned players are likely to have a future at Anfield. This series was something I enjoyed writing last season, and hopefully we will see players have similar successes to those that were out on loan last season. This month’s edition is a very different one, as unfortunately the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus meant that a lot of March’s football didn’t end up taking place, though there is still a fair amount to read about from the earlier part of the month.

If you didn’t catch my February piece, you can find it here: http://fanscorners.com/liverpool-loan-watch-february-2020/

Let’s see how they got on in March…

Marko Grujic – Hertha Berlin

The run of Grujic not being picked for the starting lineup continued into March as he was an unused substitute in a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen.

Rhian Brewster – Swansea City

Brewster’s Swansea started March with a respectable 0-0 draw with West Brom, who were top of the table at the time. The Englishman sent one shot wide in the first half but had little other involvement, though showed up well in the physical battle with Baggies centre-backs Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi. This ended up being Swansea’s only fixture in the month, leaving them three points off the playoffs..

Nathaniel Phillips – Vfb Stuttgart

Phillips played the full 90 as part of a back three that drew 1-1 with Arminia Bielefeld in his only action in March.

Ovie Ejaria – Reading

Reading were eliminated from the FA Cup despite a brave effort against Premier League Sheffield United, with Ejaria’s team taking the Blades to extra-time before eventually succumbing. Ejaria lasted 98 minutes of Chris Wilder’s side man-marking Ejaria down to a tee. Reading came from 1-0 down to beat Birmingham 3-1 away from home in an impressive result, responding to Scott Hogan’s opener with goals from Matt Miazga, Yakou Meite and Pele, who came on to replace Ejaria after 72 minutes. The ex-Arsenal man had endured a difficult time of it at St. Andrews, losing possession cheaply on a number of occasions.

Sheyi Ojo – Rangers

The winger wasn’t in the squad for Rangers’ first game of the month, an awful 1-0 loss at home to Hamilton, arguably the worst result of Steven Gerrard’s time at the club so far. He again didn’t make the squad for a Premiership clash at Ross County, in which Rangers finally got back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory despite a laboured performance. The ex-Fulham man was at least on the bench as Rangers were well beaten in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 clash with Leverkusen..

Herbie Kane – Hull City

March was spent continuing to recover from his serious injury for Herbie Kane, meaning he was unable to get on the field for Hull. In his absence, as well as that of star defender Jordy De Wijs, Hull continued to collapse as life without Kane, De Wijs and further injuries to Tom Eaves, Josh Bowler and Eric Lichaj saw them plummet down the table. They were then thumped 5-1 by Stoke, ex-Hull man Sam Clucas scoring twice to leave them only two points above the drop zone.

Isaac Christie-Davies – Cercle Brugge

A knee injury sustained in January kept Christie-Davies out of as he continues to await his first competitive appearance in Belgium. His injury meant that he was unable to feature in the Brugge derby, which his team lost 2-1 to Simon Mignolet’s Club Brugge.

Ben Woodburn – Oxford United

The month of March saw Woodburn return to Oxford after spending time at Melwood to recover from his serious injury sustained in the first half of the season. His side brilliantly came from 2-0 down away at Shrewsbury to win 3-2, which propelled them to 3^rd in the League One table.

Harry Wilson – Bournemouth

The terms of Harry Wilson’s loan deal of course meant that he was unable to feature in Bournemouth’s first game of March, a 2-1 defeat at Anfield to Liverpool, Bournemouth’s only fixture in March.

Kamil Grabara – Huddersfield Town

After his terrible head injury picked up in a win at Hull in late January, Grabara was back to fitness by the start of March and played in an U23 game for Huddersfield. Despite this, he wasn’t named in the squad for the Terrier’s 2-0 away defeat at Marcelo Bielsa’s brilliant Leeds team, a game that featured a remarkable strike from right-back Luke Ayling.

Loris Karius – Besiktas

Karius started the month well, starting in a 2-1 win over Ankaragucu. He kept a clean sheet in a respectable 0-0 draw with a Galatasaray team featuring Jean Michel Seri, Mario Lemina, Sofiane Feghouli, Henry Onyekeru, Radamel Falcao and Florian Andone in what felt like the most random collection of Premier League footballers possible.

Anderson Arroyo – Mlada Boleslav

There was a momentous occasion in March as Arroyo was named in a matchday squad for the first time in his loan spell at Mlada Boleslav, for a 3-2 win away at Banik. Granted, he didn’t come off the bench, but it’s progress at least.

Daniel Atherton – Marine FC

Atherton had arguably his best game in a Marine shirt at the start of March, keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Tadcaster, making two outstanding close-range saves towards the end. Despite making some decent saves, he was unable to prevent a 1-0 defeat to Ramsbottom.

Taiwo Awoniyi – Mainz 05

It’s now more than three months since Awoniyi made a matchday squad for Mainz, and even longer since he made an appearance.

Rhys Williams – Kidderminster Harriers

Williams’ month began well, starting in a 2-1 away win at Merseyside-based Southport.

Thanks for reading my loan watch, I hope you enjoyed it. See you again for April’s report – if there’s anything to write about!

Daniel (@daykind19)

• About
• Latest Posts

Daniel Daykin

A non-biased voice of reason among fellow Liverpool fans. I'll always tell you the truth, no matter how hard you find it to accept. I miss Suarez. A lot.

Latest posts by Daniel Daykin (see all)

• Liverpool Loan Watch: March 2021 - April 6, 2021
• Liverpool Loan Watch: February 2021 - March 8, 2021
• Liverpool Loan Watch: January 2021 - February 6, 2021