The centre back was the only player to emerge with any credit and has urged his team mates to kick on
In our player ratings Dejan Lovren was one of few players to emerge with any credit. Not responsible for any of the goals, nor at fault at any point throughout the game, Lovren was one of few attempting to kick on, even getting forward himself on a few occasions.
So to hear the Croat issue another rallying cry following the defeat to West Ham on Saturday is not quite as galling as if it were, say, Christian Benteke.
Speaking following the game, the centre back told Liverpoolfc.com: “We are disappointed. It wasn’t the best performance from us and we need to be angry with ourselves.
“We could and we need to do more because when you look to the two [previous] games, today it was something different.
“I don’t know the reasons why but we need to step up quickly from this because we don’t have time to think about it now, because we have the game with Stoke on Tuesday.
“We definitely need to change our mentality and we need to keep a better run of games and to fight more. It was two easy goals [conceded], I would say.
“We left them space to cross early and then it’s difficult [to defend] for Clyney and Alberto because Carroll is 6ft5, so it’s easier for him. We need to step up and forget this as soon as possible.”
Since Klopp arrived the previously shaky Liverpool defense has started to look more solid, despite still experiencing blips. But for all the work that gets carried out on the training ground, no amount of preparation can account for individual errors.
The concern though is that, as we saw against Watford a few weeks ago, and West Ham again on Saturday the Reds were guilty of serious lapses in concentration and simply lacked the fight required to claw themselves back into the game.
And while fans may be prepared to forget games like this on one or two occasions, it’s becoming more the rule than the exception at the moment for Liverpool and it won’t be accepted for very much longer.
Still, the team has to move on and look to the Capital One Cup semi final on Tuesday, something which Lovren is keen to do. He continued: “We have a game in the cup against Stoke and it’s a big chance for us to get to the final.
“So we need to stay calm and say tomorrow is a new day and we’ll start to prepare for the Stoke game and try to be in the final.”
