‘You will never understand football’: Dejan Lovren tells Liverpool fans to shut up on Twitter as he steps in to defend former team-mates Joe Gomez and Roberto Firmino from supporters’ criticism after 7-2 Aston Villa thrashing
- Dejan Lovren has defended his former Liverpool team-mates after their 7-2 loss
- The Premier League champions were hammered by Aston Villa in a huge upset
- The former Reds defender took to social media to protect his ex team-mates
- Lovren told critical fans they ‘will never understand football’ in a string of tweets
Dejan Lovren has launched a staunch defence of his former team-mates on social media as the former Liverpool defender told critical fans they ‘will never understand football’.
The Premier League champions fell to a shock 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday night in an astonishing performance that raises questions over the Reds’ chances of defending their crown.
The Villains exposed Liverpool’s back four on numerous occasions, beating the high line to great effect as Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins ran riot at Villa Park.
Dejan Lovren has launched a staunch defence of his former Liverpool team-mates on Twitter
Jurgen Klopp’s champions fell to a shock 7-2 defeat to Aston Villa in an astonishing result
And Lovren, who spent six years at Anfield before leaving for Zenit St Petersburg in the summer, took to Twitter to defend his team-mates from critical supporters after the embarrassing result.
Joe Gomez, Roberto Firmino and stand-in goalkeeper Adrian came in for the most criticism on social media after the defeat, but Lovren insisted that all 11 players had to shoulder responsibility for the result.
‘Never blame one or two players for a defeat,’ the Croatia international wrote. ‘There is 11 players on the pitch who work as a TEAM, sometimes there are good and bad days, tomorrow is a new day. Move on!’
Reds supporters were particularly critical of Joe Gomez, Roberto Firmino and Adrian’s displays
After one fan told the 31-year-old to ‘shut up’, Lovren responded: ‘Who the hell are you?’
Another supporter, @jyasare, singled out Gomez, Firmino and Adrian for criticism.
‘Firmino hasn’t scored a goal in 18matches he was rested mid week and yet cant convert his chances and you say its team sport? Individual performances translate to team performance. Gomez and Adrian and Firmino cost the team.’
Lovren replied: ‘Put first a tie on and than I can explain why u [sic] will never understand football’.
But Lovren said all 11 players were responsible and that fans ‘will never understand football’
The 31-year-old responded to a number of critical fans in a staunch defence of the players
The 31-year-old also told one supporter to ‘go support someone else then’ and singled out another fan as a ‘proper example of how not to be a supporter of a big club’.
Sunday’s defeat came as a big shock due to Liverpool’s typically unflappable back four, which has been the bedrock for Klopp’s winning machine.
Virgil van Dijk, who deputised as captain in Jordan Henderson’s absence, said the Reds ‘were not 100 per cent’ in the Villa Park mauling.
‘If we are looking at ourselves, it felt like it was one of those performances where we just weren’t 100 per cent at it from the start until the finish,’ the Dutchman told Sky Sports.
‘Obviously the goals we conceded we should have done better but also the chances we had – because we had many – we should have done better as well.
‘Overall we’re all very disappointed. We shouldn’t lose with the numbers we did and now it’s key to stick together and don’t let this happen again hopefully.’