Liverpool: Duo React To Criticism

Reds pair Daniel Agger and Jonjo Shelvey have offered contrasting reactions to online criticism of their performances against West Brom...

As with every Liverpool match, win, lose or draw, a period of heated analysis and debate amongst fans quickly followed Monday night's 2-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion.

Unsurprisingly the reaction on this occasion was largely negative and chief amongst the culprits for the result (in the eyes of certain Twitter using supporters anyway) was Reds centre-back Daniel Agger.

The Dane allowed Gareth McAuley too much space to head the Baggies' first goal and then in the dying seconds was left flat-footed by Romelu Lukaku as the on-loan Chelsea striker skipped clear to secure the win.

In response to the criticism aimed at him, Agger tweeted: "I agree with most of you. My performance in the last 10 minutes was NOT good enough. It's as simple as that!!!!! But thank you for letting me know."

The 28-year-old's reaction was in stark contrast to that of teammate Jonjo Shelvey who responded to criticism of his own individual performance by having a pop back at the critics.

Shelvey tweeted: "Love people giving me stick when half of the people on here haven't got a clue what they are on about #welldone #keyboardwarriors."

The match had represented the midfielder's first start since the Boxing Day defeat to Stoke City but after a largely ineffective performance he was replaced on the hour mark.

His stern response has subsequently come in for plenty of criticism but Shelvey is not the first Liverpool player to be caught up in a Twitter storm.

Previously Spanish starlet Suso was allegedly tricked into having a personal conversation with someone he believed to be a young women but who was in fact a man.

The 19-year-old, who subsequently deleted his account, was also been in hot water, and fined £10,000 by the Football Association, for posting a picture of teammate Jose Enrique with his teeth whitened under the caption "This guy is gay".

Back on the subject of football, Kop boss Brendan Rodgers is confident his side will bounce back from Monday's result when they play Zenit St Petersburg in the Europa League on Thursday night.

"These players were very disappointed because we went into the West Brom game with the best home defensive record in the Premier League," commented the 40-year-old to Liverpoolfc.com.

"But they will react in the right manner. They're good guys here, they want to work well and are very good at moving on.

"That's something we'll have to do if we want to progress.

"The Europa League game is a good opportunity for us to progress in a cup competition.

"We've got to get the disappointment of Monday night out of our mind and refocus on this now."

The defeat against West Brom followed impressive away performances against Manchester City and Arsenal and was all the more surprising given the three previous home matches had ended in 5-0, 3-0 and 4-0 victories.

Vital Verdict
It's an interesting and often controversial facet of the modern game, and popular culture in general, that interaction between fan and star can happen so easily and instantly via the likes of Twitter. Individuals in the public eye are expected to conduct themselves in a certain manner but at times it can be hard not to react to personal criticism. Personally I have no issue with Shelvey's comments and if faceless 'supporters' want to attack a player then they should be prepared to accept a less than positive response. Obviously taking the Agger approach would have been better PR for the youngster!

Follow me on Twitter @superbag

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