Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for the Europa League were severely damaged when they suffered a terrible 3-0 loss at home against a formidable Atalanta on Thursday night.
On Thursday night, it was the stuff of nightmares for Liverpool at Anfield, but Jurgen Klopp had no complaints.
The formidable Serie A squad Atalanta thoroughly defeated his Reds team 3-0, exposing the weaknesses in a Liverpool team that made six changes from their weekend’s stalemate with Manchester United and lacked the rhythm and poise that we are used to seeing from them.
In his post-match remarks, Klopp was brutally candid, stating: “I wasn’t happy with our tactical placement when we had possession. By passing the ball there, we created a scenario for them in which everyone chased after a different man. We had a poor game, but we did score one offside. With three goals in a strong performance, Atalanta was deserving of the victory.
“A few of tonight’s performances were quite astounding—I had no idea they could play like that. Many of the gamers appeared to be really lonely at various points. It was extremely awful.”
Yes, yeah, oops. However, to whom might Klopp have been alluding when he made that critique? Well, it was easy to find.
The Reds manager made three substitutions at halftime in an attempt to get back into the game. Although Harvey Elliott, who had been sidelined, was unfortunate to have his effort bounce back off the bar and post, and Curtis Jones was still recovering from an injury, Kostas Tsimikas’ performance was unavoidable.
In what was an unusual outing for the Greek, he looked horribly out of shape and fitness and a world apart from the player who had impressively stood in for Andy Robertson for more than two months after the Scot’s dislocated shoulder in October.
Not only did Tsimikas’s display fall short of expectations, but so did Caoimhin Kelleher’s. Naturally, the Irishman has excelled during Alisson’s extended absence, but it’s possible that he overreached in a couple of games.
Fortunately for Klopp, Robertson is catching up with his training and Alisson is going back to full capacity. For the rest of the season, those two must simply return to the starting lineup as the Reds look to reclaim the stability that has entirely failed them thus far.
Klopp was penalized for rotating, but going forward, he will have to start at first choice, maybe with the exception of a second leg against Bergamo that he might now afford to forfeit.
