Dejan Lovren says with straight face that he is one of the world’s best

Dejan Lovren has had enough of standing in the shade.

This man is sick and tired of being a scapegoat in England. He's stayed silent under the tanks of abuse being unloaded over his head and he's not physically able to hold his tongue for any longer. For God's sake, this is a man who firmly believes that he's one of world's best defenders despite his credentials for that label being unsung by anybody apart from himself, but there comes a time when every hero has to sing their song. Now was the perfect time for Dejan Lovren. After stifling Harry Kane and keeping England out of the World Cup final, the 29-year-old Croat felt it was nigh time to stick up for himself against the masses. He's had it with getting pulled up on all the silly mistakes he's made in a Liverpool shirt over the last two years. This man was taking a stand. He bit the bullet after the game. He said what needed to be said, what he can't believe hasn't been said before.

"From my point of view, people said I had a difficult season but I don't agree with that," he told BeIN Sports after the game. "I took Liverpool to the final of the Champions League and now with my national team we are in the final. People should recognise that I am also one of the best defenders in the world and not just talk nonsense."

It's not what he said, it's more the confidence with which he says it. https://twitter.com/MattCritchley1/status/1017186161662443520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1017186161662443520&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.independent.ie%2Fsport%2Fsoccer%2Fworld-cup-2018%2Fwatch-dejan-lovren-makes-massive-claim-about-his-ability-after-croatia-reach-world-cup-final-37109202.html There's a man confident in himself, there's a man gunning for the World Cup final. If you actually forget about all the times Lovren has played full games with Liverpool without waking up, fully dazed for ninety minutes, making mistakes left, right and centre, this is actually believable.