Lovren: Not just me at Anfield that was bad

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Liverpool paid £20million to sign Lovren from Southampton last summer, but the Croatian failed to reproduce the sort of form that had earned him the move to Anfield.

Brendan Rodgers’ side finished sixth, having finished second the year before, but while Lovren accepts he was not at his best, he believes he received an unfair proportion of blame for the Reds’ struggles.

“It has been tough,” Lovren told the Liverpool Echo. “I think it was a tough year for everyone at the club and the fans. I wasn’t quiet last season, I just wanted to concentrate on myself

“I knew what was happening with how I was playing was not right and I didn’t want to speak about it. At Southampton it was different. There was a good atmosphere and I was happy.

“If I am not playing well, I cannot be happy. I didn’t pretend. But it is not Dejan Lovren-Liverpool, you know? I cannot defend all alone. It is 11 players. When we are good, everyone is good.

“When we are bad, everyone is bad, not just me. I think we need to look like this, not just put the pressure on me or point the finger. I don’t agree with this.

“I know what the papers were writing about me. I don’t want to have to listen to this again. We want to move on as a team. When we are better, it is because we will be doing all together good.”

Liverpool have strengthened heavily over the summer, with Kolo Toure claiming Christian Benteke will complete a side that could be unbeatable, and Lovren is also confident of a better season.

“We knew that at the end of the season we should have done better,” he said. “Now we need to forget it and look forward. We cannot look back. I know this season will definitely be better.

“I hope this year we will have a better start. The signs are promising at the minute and we have made great signings.

“James has been brilliant, Divock has been amazing and Danny is quite quick. I hope that I will have a good season as well.

“It is better that you have competition than not. We are all fighting for our places – nobody can be 100% certain for his place. I think it is a good thing for the club that we have quality defenders.”