Lovren’s ‘ashamed’ but insists Reds can benefit from ‘proper wake-up call’
One anaemic performance at Vicarage Road does not dismantle an empire. The title is still returning to Anfield after 30 years on tour.
But, holy moly, it raises serious questions about the Treble.
Lovren, who was bullied into submission by that shrinking violet Troy Deeney, insists Liverpool can still complete a “perfect” campaign if they learn from the shock result of the season.
But the dream of matching Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ class of 2004 has gone. This was one almighty blot on a ‘perfect’ landscape.
We can deal with Watford in short measure: What on earth were they doing in the relegation zone when they can dismantle the champions-in-waiting so comprehensively in front of their biggest crowd for 32 years?
Two-goal record signing Ismaila Sarr is so quick he can catch pigeons, while skipper Deeney, who completed the rout, should be on England’s radar this summer as an alternative target man if he can rough up the country’s meanest defence.
Liverpool, who took their medicine with class, deserve only our admiration for an unbeaten run spanning 422 days, but for once they ticked all the wrong boxes.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were strolling, complacent, pedestrian, lethargic.And hopeless.
Lovren, making his first Premier League appearance in almost three months, admitted: “We felt a little bit ashamed. We should have done better. There is no excuse for that.
“The manager looked at us when we came into the dressing room afterwards. He knew that we knew it wasn’t our best performance.
“I think this was a proper wake-up call to everyone.
“One performance won’t ruin everything but this is always a
learning process. From tomorrow, we look forward and until the end, we can still make this a perfect season.
“The last couple of games hadn’t been the best performances but we won. This one was like someone hit us in our faces – and we deserved it.
“It hurts, really hurts.A defeat is a defeat but, you know, this was strange.
“Right from the beginning until the end, it was missing the usual things that we have. We deserved to lose.”
WATFORD (4-2-3-1): Foster 7; Femenia 7, Kabasele 8, Cathcart 8, Masina 8; Capoue 8, Hughes 8; Sarr 9 (Pussetto 82), Doucoure 8 (Chalobah 89), Deulofeu 7 (Pereyra 37, 7); Deeney 8. Goals: Sarr 54, 60, Deeney 72. LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Alisson 5; Alexander-Arnold 5, Lovren 4, Van Dijk 5, Robertson 5; Oxlade-Chamberlain 4 (Origi 65, 5), Fabinho 4, Wijnaldum 4 (Lallana 61, 6); Salah 4, Firmino 5 (Minamino 79), Mane 5.
TROY DEENEY enjoyed a new phenomenon – popularity among Arsenal fans – after that famous victory over Liverpool. Watford’s trashing of the Merseysiders’ unbeaten run preserved the Gunners’ record as the Premier League’s only Invincibles.
And the Hornets talisman, who upset Arsenal with his ‘cojones’ barb in 2017, said: “Popular with Arsenal fans? That is a first.” He refused to rub Liverpool’s noses in it, adding: “They’re still an unbelievable side. Invincibles or not, it doesn’t mean they’re not an unbelievable side.
“You tip your hat to them – it was our day today and Arsenal fans like me. It’s a good day to be alive.”
Watford climbed out of the bottom three courtesy of a more relaxed training regime featuring a day of yoga and aquatherapy. Deeney said: “Do you want to know the God’s honest truth? This week was the least we’ve done. We had a yoga day on Thursday. We came away from the training ground and went for a yoga and swimming day because the gaffer wanted to clear our minds.
“Everyone was putting too much pressure on this game, so we had our least demanding week.”
The only sour Watford note was Gerard Deulofeu’s season-ending knee injury, as Deeney said: “It doesn’t look great. Unfortunately this is the game we play.”