Dejan Lovren has taken it upon himself to declare himself to be one of the finest defenders in world football.
Citing his recent success at both international and club level, the centre-half gave it the big’n after playing his part in Croatia’s World Cup semi-final win over England in Moscow on Wednesday night.
Speaking to BeIN Sports directly after the final whistle, Lovren beamed:
I took Liverpool to the final of the Champions League and now with my national team we are in the (World Cup) final.
I think people should recognise that I am also one of the best defenders in the world and not just talk nonsense.
And there was more of the same from the Liverpool man when he faced further questioning in the mixed zone at the Luzhniki Stadium:
Sometimes, the criticism (of me) is unfair and people should respect me also. Without being arrogant, I think I have [proven myself to be one of the best defenders in the world].
Definitely.
Steady on. That’s a brave statement from a man who is four days from facing Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann in a World Cup final, but we suppose everybody’s entitled to their opinion.
This is also the same chap who, just a matter of months ago, was receiving death threats from fans (as moronic as that may be) for how calamitously woeful his defending was.
While Lovren has definitely improved leaps and bounds since then, he’s not even the best defender at Liverpool.
Pies would take Big Virge over his panic-inducing crony all day long.