You know things aren't going well for you when your manager decides that you've had enough punishment from the opposition, and yourself, after just 31 minutes. Slaven Bilic has thrown Dejan Lovren a bone by explaining his poor form.
Liverpool's defence isn't exactly world renowned for its brilliance right now and it was a worry before they came up against Spurs' marauding forwards two weeks ago but the Reds shocking start against their opponents was still a bit of a surprise.
Twice Jurgen Klopp's side pretty much handed Mauricio Pochettino's side a route to goal in the opening 12 minutes as the home side took an early 2-0 lead that they never looked back from. It led Klopp to remove Dejan Lovren after 31 minutes.
Lovren was so bad even Alex Oxlade Chamberlain got to come on for him. Image: PA
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The Croat hasn't had the best time at Anfield since being one of the many names to have moved from Southampton in recent years and the Spurs game was probably the lowest of his ebbs.
Against West Ham today he starts on the bench as he returns from an injury that saw him sit out the last two games. Former Croatia manager Slaven Bilic, now in charge of the Hammers, explained that Lovren is being hard done by, telling the Liverpool Echo:
"I'm very, very disappointed with the treatment he has received. He's a very good player. He's more than a centre-back. He never hides on the pitch. He's always there.
"A lot of mistakes, sometimes he's making up for somebody else's mistakes. It's not easy to play centre-back at Liverpool because of where they stand."
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Lovren comes up against Harry Kane during the thrashing by Spurs. Image: PA
Whilst even Klopp has admitted that all of his side's defensive issues wouldn't be solved by signing one defender, essentially admitting it's not necessarily the personal that's the issue, suggesting that the rest of the team is to blame for Lovren missing a header is certainly far fetched.
Bilic did compare the situation to Sergio Ramos, who also had a bad night against Spurs, adding, "Take Real Madrid against Spurs, and they have probably the best centre-back in the world in Sergio Ramos.
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"But when he's exposed on such a big space against Dele Alli and Harry Kane, he doesn't look good. It's very hard to play centre-back."
Things surely can't get much worse for Lovren right now, unless he comes on against his former manager and costs Liverpool a result...
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Liverpool, Croatia, Premier League, West Ham