Dejan Lovren is perhaps Liverpool’s most long-suffering player but he is better than a number of fans make him out to be.
On the chalkboard
Following the 3-0 defeat to Watford in the Premier League, supporters took to Twitter to absolutely lay into the Croatia international.
Indeed, one claimed that he was one of the worst players to ever appear for the club.
But do the statistics back such hatred up, and does Lovren deserve to be a scapegoat?
This season, he has made nine appearances in the Premier League.
Per WhoScored, he averages 1.4 tackles per game, 1 interception, just 0.4 fouls, 4.4 clearances, and is dribbled past just 0.4 times. He also has a passing accuracy of 83.4%.
Compared with the other central defenders at the club – Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and, of course, Virgil van Dijk – Lovren’s numbers stack up really well.
Only Matip makes more tackles, with 1.5, Lovren makes the same number of interceptions per game as van Dijk, with one, he concedes the second-fewest fouls after van Dijk, and is dribbled past just 0.4 times. Only the Dutchman has a lower number there.
It is telling to compare him with Gomez, who has made 14 league starts this season alongside van Dijk, and is perhaps his most trusted centre-back partner.
Lovren betters him in terms of tackles, fouls conceded, and clearances, while they are dribbled past the same amount of times per game. The England international only beats Lovren in terms of interceptions, though his passing accuracy is higher, at 88.4%.
No clues: Can you name the season these iconic Liverpool images belong to?
Doesn’t deserve such scorn
Liverpool fans do not pile on Gomez in the same way they do Lovren.
But statistically, they are remarkably alike, and it feels almost like they are cherry-picking the players they feel deserve their scorn.
Lovren is eight years older than his team-mate, of course, and perhaps it comes down to believing that Gomez still has plenty left in his tank and can only improve.
That might well be true.
But at this point, Lovren isn’t just his statistical equal; he’s better in many respects.
He does not deserve to be lampooned by fans.
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