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Lovren Closes Instagram Account After Latest Wave of Online Abuse

Guess what? Players notice when thousands of people tell them that they hate their guts. It's probably not a nice feeling.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

It's easy to accuse fans of rival clubs of not showing enough class or not supporting their sides in the ways that they should. What's more difficult is acknowledging that such problems exist amongst the Liverpool faithful as well. The persistent abuse of Dejan Lovren is an example of this -- ever since his expensive transfer to Anfield last summer he has faced non-stop hate on social media from his own fanbase.

He closed his Instagram account overnight after his poor performance against West Ham led some supporters to spew more abuse at him, with the latest wave of hate including death threats. While a millionaire athlete shutting down an online account understandably won't garner much pity, it's awful for supporters to use personal insults and death threats against one of their own. Especially when the phrase "You'll Never Walk Alone" is supposed to embody the club's ideals.

Lovren hasn't been good for Liverpool, and worse, his presence has pushed Mamadou Sakho out of the starting eleven. It's fine to hold a negative view of him as a player. But it's sad and low to attack him as a person, and straight up delusional to threaten his death over a poor performance. We're better than this.

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