"Everyone else is on the periphery" - Steve McManaman says only one Liverpool star was 'trying' in their 3-0 loss to Atalanta
Liverpool legend Steven McManaman reckons only Diogo Jota was trying to make things happen in their defeat against Atalanta on Thursday, April 11.
The Reds lost 3-0 against the Italian side in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarter-final clash. Gianluca Scamacca scored in the 38th minute as Caoimhin Kelleher failed to keep out the Italian's shot straight at him. Scamacca then scored again in the 60th minute after a brilliant counter-attack from Atalanta.
Mario Pasalic made it 3-0 in the 83rd minute as the Italian side jumped on a mistake from Dominik Szoboszlai. The hosts created multiple chances themselves but failed to score as Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott, and Mohamed Salah performed poorly.
Manager Jurgen Klopp replaced Wataru Endo with Diogo Jota in the 75th minute. McManaman believes the Portuguese forward was the only attacker looking to score for Liverpool, as he said on TNT Sports (via ECHO):
"At least he’s in the box, trying to score. Everyone else is on the periphery, hanging back. Diogo Jota, look, he’s the only one in there trying to cause trouble in the six-yard box."
Jota took one shot, missed one big chance, completed 2/2 dribble attempts, completed 5/6 passes, and won 6/6 duels. It was his first appearance since suffering from a knee injury in February.
Overall, Jota has scored 14 goals and provided four assists in 29 games across competitions for Liverpool this season.
Jurgen Klopp expresses disappointment after Liverpool's defeat against Atalanta
The Reds had 70% possession against Atalanta but completed 539 passes of 643 at an accuracy of 84%. They were sloppy in possession in the wrong areas and were punished for it. The Italian side had 11 attempts, with seven being on target as compared to Liverpool's 5/11 attempts on target.
After the game, manager Jurgen Klopp shared his disappointment, saying (via Sky Sports):
"It was a really bad game, oh my God. They broke, they scored and we just lost the plot a little bit. We were here and there in midfield, I didn't recognise it.
"It was really strange but in football terms it was tactical discipline. They scored and we kept playing into their hands. We played a bad game and we deserved to lose.
"We must feel that now but we have exactly this night to feel bad about it and then we have to build up for (Crystal) Palace."
Liverpool will next host Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday, April 14. Then, they will face Atalanta at the Gewiss Stadium for the second leg of the quarter-final on Thursday, April 18.