The weekends result came as a shock to most Liverpool fans but not as much as that performance.
Going into the game on the back of a 7-0 smashing of Maribor, confidence must have been high among fans and players alike.
Now, 99% of our fan base of level headed people and realise that Maribor and Spurs are two completely different teams. Nobody honestly thought we were going to spank Spurs 7-0 too did they?
Of course not, they are a team also in form and had drawn away at Madrid earlier in the week. They could have been considered unlucky not to take all three points.
Having said that, nobody was prepared for that shit show on Sunday. I said on The Final Word show this week that it was like watching a car crash. There is no other way to describe it.
In my opinion most of that team were unacceptable on Sunday. Salah and Moreno the only two that came any credit at all.
Now the main culprit as we all know was Dejan Lovren. Days later and I still don’t have a clue what he was playing at. I don’t often quote Lionel Richie but he didn’t get caught out once, twice but three times. Probably more. In the space of half an hour.
Every Liverpool fan and even non Liverpool fans knew we needed at least one centre back this summer and its three months into the season and we’ve already made a string of defensive errors which have led to us dropping points. Watford, Burnley, Spurs, Spartak, and Sevilla are just some of the games that spring to mind.
The situation has been exacerbated by the fact this wasn’t Lovren’s first mistake this season, he made multiple errors in this game alone, he made a catastrophic error against Sevilla, he’s done it in previous seasons against West Ham and Palace as well as many others.
Now it appears Spurs has been the final straw for Klopp. As for the fans, well the final straw was about 10 months ago. The Liverpool manager put his faith in Lovren by not only making him one of his first choice centre backs but also by rewarding him with a £100,000 a week contract.
Lovren has truly shat on his face.
Part of me admires Klopp for backing him, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and it hasn’t worked out. The situation is comparable to that of a long term relationship when your mates tell you your partner is no good for you but because you are involved you are immediately in denial. And that’s exactly what Klopp has been for me, in denial.
Call it stubbornness, denial, whatever, this whole centre back situation has already come back to bite us on the arse.
Who’s to blame? Honestly for me, it’s Klopp, FSG and everyone in between. How we could go into the season with only three centre backs is beyond me. And if Matip gets injured we are fucked.
OK we didn’t get Virgil Van Djik this summer but there were other options. At least get someone in so we can all feel assured. Look at Spurs, they already had Vertonghen and Aalderweireld and still went out and bought Davidson Sanchez.
The chances of getting someone in January are slim unless we are prepared to cough up. Until then there’s not a lot anyone can do about the situation.
For me, Lovren doesn’t start this weekend. His head obviously isn’t in the right place and confidence must clearly be shot. But what about after that?
We can’t really rely on Matip, Gomez and Klavan until January can we? And if one of them gets injured Lovren will have to play.
Conor Matterson is also making a name for himself in the Under 23’s, I’m not saying he’s Premiership ready but if push comes to shove he might get a cameo in the first team.
Lovren’s had his chance with me and most of the Liverpool fan base. It’s October and I’m sick of talking about defensive errors yet again. It’s been a problem for Liverpool for years still nothing seems to change.
But you can bet Klopp will restore his faith in the Croatian defender. Because he has too, he has little option. I am aware this article has turned into a bit of a rant and I don’t particularly like slagging Liverpool players off, but Lovren isn’t good enough for me and he never will be.
It also pains me to say it but once the car crash from Sunday isn’t so raw, we as fans have little option but to support him, if selected. Until he’s out that door he is a Liverpool player.
Berating one of our own from the side-lines doesn’t help anyone. Regardless of how shit we think he is and how much we want to tell him.
As I said before, Sunday is one to forget. Our midfield was non-existent, Emre Can had another shocker and the decision to play him at right back was baffling. Mignolet has also come under criticism for his performance. Again.
Wounds can be healed this Saturday at home to Huddersfield and it will be interesting to see the line-up and how we set up. I am expecting to see some sort of reaction from Klopp and every player in a red shirt.
Ross Chandley
