Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Milan Jovanovic: It's Hard To Break Into The First XI

New Liverpool signing Milan Jovanovic admits it will be difficult to break into Roy Hodgson’s starting XI in his first few months at the Merseyside club.

Jovanovic, 29, who was brought to the club by former manager Rafael Benitez on a free transfer from Standard Liege, is expecting a tough battle with the likes of Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and David Ngog all competing for a starting role at Anfield.

The Serbia international featured in the Europa League qualifier in Macedonia earlier this week and after impressing in pre-season will be hoping for a starting place for the Premier League opener against Arsenal at Anfield.

"It will be a hard competition for me to get into the starting XI (when Torres and Kuyt are back) but I'll try my best and we'll see what will happen,” Jovanovic told Goal.com after Liverpool's 1-0 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach.

"I’m learning right now the tactical system of the team. Roy Hodgson is a great manager. He always thinks positive. He emphasizes a lot on discipline, tactics and fighting spirit."

Jovanovic, who reportedly turned down Real Madrid’s advances before his switch to Liverpool, can play as either a left winger or front man and comes to the club with an impressive goalscoring record for Liege, where he bagged 52 goals in just 114 matches.

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