19 Dec 2017 12:01:35
Brover and smeghead, I'm sure lovren is a lovely lad and is not playing badly on purpose, but stop it with this "sympathy for a human being" and "family problems" etc. This is purely about ability on a football pitch, it's his job. If he worked in a factory and kept making error after error, do you think his boss would say "its OK dejan you keep messing up you were a refugee", and I'm sure the man himself wouldn't want you making excuses for him like the ones you've said here, support him all you want but give footballing reasons why you support him not excuses.

1.) 21 Dec 2017
21 Dec 2017 14:12:22
If he worked in a factory they'd sign him off work. I know they would because they did for me when i was struggling with mental health.

No offence Waro, but you seem to be under educated on mental health and how severe it is. The brain is the most important organ in the body and yet it is the only one which we refuse to acknowledge can have problems. It isn't your fault if you don't understand it, it just wasn't understood or even well documented until very recently. When i had depression and i had a violent outburst at my dad, he just kicked me out the house. That same week i came within 50 yards of a deliberate head on collision with an artic lorry. I needed support, not deriding. I climbed out of my hole, but many people don't.

Football and society has a major problem in this area. Aaron Lennon is one of the only players i can think of to go public and he got the help and time away he needed to come back when he was ready. The fact you would even dare to call it an "excuse" is bordering on abhorrent. That will offend a lot more people than just myself. Every feeling and emotion is a chemical reaction in the brain, and depression is caused by chemical imbalances.

You wouldn't be saying this if Lovren had cancer, yet mental health is just as damaging to a persons well being if not diagnosed, managed and treated. Two people i know have committed suicide in the last two years of my life. One a middle aged man, and another a young girl. It strikes anyone at any time. I don't know if Lovren is in that place (and i really hope not), but we as supporters should feel morally obliged to support him through his troubles.

"But he earns £100k a week" is irrelevant. Robin Williams was a millionaire Hollywood actor and his cash didn't help him either. When you are ill, you are ill. You don't get to just force yourself to feel better when you have a visible illness, and the invisible illnesses in the brain are no different.

I get your point that we are not a charity and we shouldn't just accept his form. However right now, we are so lacking in options that we can't afford to sign him off for 6 months to recover. He is doing us a favour playing through his problems and we should respect that if nothing else. He has nothing to gain from it. We'd have to pay him regardless because he is under contract. Sympathy is very different to acceptance. I accept his performances aren't good enough, but i also have enough respect for a fellow human being not to actively try and compound the mental difficulties he is having.

I hope i haven't offended you because this is a subject i am vehemently passionate about, and i am only seeking to educate others on the difficulties that surround the brain, it's health, and the impact it can have on us and others. Lovren has been through a lot as a child, and being burgled at gun point will have had a huge impact on the regression of his mental state. You have every right as a paying supporter to want him taken out of the team whilst he recovers, but until we sign another centre back, we should all just respect that Lovren is putting in 100% on the pitch whilst battling demons none of us will ever fully understand. Maybe he wouldn't get support in every industry. However, football is one industry which has the financial resources to fully support this major health problem, and it is also in a relative position of power due to it's position as a major role model in society. It could make a difference.

Again, i really hope nobody is offended by this. I know it isn't strictly Liverpool related Eds, but i think this is a really important subject that is being brushed under the carpet by people not taking it seriously, particularly in sport. I hope it's acceptable for these pages, but I'll understand if not.

2.) 21 Dec 2017
21 Dec 2017 15:57:05
Touching waro.
If he worked in a factory and had personal issues that effected his performance he would be given a long period of absence to sort it out, as he’s a footballer he’s forced to work in front to 50k people each week who are judging every moment then slag him off and send him death threats on social media immediately after. Little wonder he’s struggling really.

3.) 21 Dec 2017
21 Dec 2017 17:12:26
Waro you are the one who brought money into the conversation, please tell me how money is a factor on the pitch? You want footballing reasons? How about in the last 2 1/ 2 seasons Lovren has had 3 errors that have led to goals, by comparison John Stones has had 6 over the same period. Lovren always gives 100% in a Liverpool shirt, he may mistakes but he’s not as bad as people make out and he certainly isn’t uncoachable.

4.) 21 Dec 2017
21 Dec 2017 18:22:01
Can’t believe the number of thumbs down to that post. Maybe because Waro was a bit blunt about it perhaps but he is bang on. He may be having a rough time of it in his personal life, but it has very little to do with some of the howlers he has committed.

He has been carrying an injury however, which could be partially to blame, but most of his errors are down to bad decision making, simple as.

5.) 21 Dec 2017
21 Dec 2017 18:29:16
Everyone is different though Waro some can switch off and focus on football as a release but if some of the stories are true about fearing the kidnapp of his kids and multi million pound ransoms by a known gangster then you can’t really blame him for his head being in the right place at times.
Agree that his performances haven’t been consistently good enough and you can’t ignore it completely just because of personal issues but if we had done what we should have in the summer and got another CB in then we could have taken him out the firing line at times.

6.) 21 Dec 2017
21 Dec 2017 19:14:52
the thing is waro, when we love a football team we love the players too. if Lallana were in a car crash and in hospital I would be worried for him and his family, I wouldn't just be upset that he couldn't play. dejan has been playing better recently and klavan looks a different player. I really feel we are going to buy vvd in January. I don't think we can win this league with the cbs we have.