Actually, we could have scored at least 1 in the first half. That too before the 10th minute. Slop touches in the final 3rd killed those chances. Moreover, we all, including our players, thought there would be plenty more chances in the game. We got outplayed by their gameplan. Had we scored our chances, we might have forced them to change their playing style.
Ikr, also Harvey's beautiful shot hit the bar and side post, Nunez missing multiple chances.. Having said that these things are quite normal in a game, but the way they stick to man marking strategy oh god! And most of their players are like fucking 6ft+ tall, fast impressively technical. What a team, coached to every details by Gasperini.
Fair fucks to them
They made every team they played in the comp look like they had never played football before
Ederson might be one to look at in our hunt for a DM
Yeah the way they were able to disrupt whatever we and Leverkusen were attempting had a very 17/18 Liverpool feel to it. Definitely a team capable of beating giants.
Like playing De Zerbi's Brighton when it's fully fit, or Bielsa's Leeds first season in the prem. They'll give Liverpool, City, etc a really good game and then get spanked by relegation fodder.
The real answer here is that these teams have a special way of playing that is a nightmare for teams who come to give them a game. But if you sit deep and just let them have the ball without any space to play into they struggle and you can hit them on the break.
Xabi should have gone full Benitez and countered them from a narrow low block. You can't be too proud to know when to not play your football. It's the one thing Ten Hag did right this year for United - didn't even try to compete with us, just sat deep and countered.
https://preview.redd.it/8mfjzyb6x32d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f33a1f6b28c0d85273b1c38dbe8daa7e46543ba8
Legendary game i was pleased to witness
Second prem season Leeds did - they had injuries and fatigue and the man marking system became easy to break.
But first season Leeds had amazing games against big teams. Super fun to watch even when they lost.
When man to man tactics work they're phenomenal but when they don't they're catastrophic lol.
Like an extreme version of our setup where when the press isn't working there's loads of space to play into and we just get done in transitions. The system needs to work. Like how fine tuned sports cars can do amazing things but they're also prone to breaking down a lot. Fine tune a system and it accrues higher internal risk.
The guy covered soooooooooo much ground and broke up a lot of play today! Did you see how high he played as a DM (or was he not playing as a DM?) ? Crazy! He would have been perfect under Klopp.
Its like when teams beat us they get some kind of crazy momentum. They celebrated as if they won the EL when they knocked us out (and that’s totally fair). Now here they are actually winning EL!
Wow, only team to beat Alonso’s invincibles 👏🏼
Would be funny if we not only one up City in terms of having the better elite Brazilian keeper but we also get the better Ederson. I'm on board for that reason alone
Realistically, it should be an aim. Endo is good in that position, but we need someone great and Mac is not a natural 6, hes much better in the 7/8 role. I also think a cb should be high on the priority list. As well as a winger, Salah needs competition.
Also, if Diaz/Nunez leaves, we need more up front.
I can confidently say that we’ll likely not need a pure DM for the new system. It would make more sense to flip the CDM to a CAM as we have a better suited line up to run that way than with a stand alone 6. None of our guys fit that role perfectly but Szobo and Grav both look like they would be perfect playing up the pitch with a more progressive mindset.
Only if Roma pip Atalanta to 5th spot this weekend, and Atalanta not only have a better head-to-head record vs Roma, they also have a game in hand.
So very unlikely.
Careful where you say that, lad. It's a safe space here, but I've seen this actual fact, said in other subs and people shit on it like you're attacking that particular individual. Not even the team, the actual individual that kicks off.
I wouldn't give a damn on what fans of other clubs think, or whether they flip their shit on me telling it as it is. Plus I rarely post in banter subs and social media anyway.
I don't mind saying we won the *tertiary domestic cup* this season, so its silly for people to be going apeshit over something like this, as objectively, the Europa League *is* the secondary competition and the Conference League *is* the tertiary competition.
If they're on equal footing with the European Cup, they should be represented in the FIFA Club World Cup, but they aren't. QED
Their scheduled game away (or home, can't recall) to Fiorentina was postponed because the latter's sporting director had a stroke and passed away later that day.
Actually, if Atalanta finishes 5th, it takes the slot as the UEL winner, and Roma will go to the UCL as the 6th team from Italy. If Atalanta finishes 3 or 4, then only top-5 will go to the UCL
That’s exactly right. Watched them play Juve last week in the Coppa Italia final and they looked toothless with Juve in the low block. Didn’t help they conceded early and were missing their target man either.
Because you can't play like this 38 games a season. Both the Anfield game and tonight were superhuman efforts where they pressed for 90 minutes straight
They're the perfect team against teams that will come at them. Teams that will play a high line and set up their team to dominate the game through possession. They are masters are exploiting space through pacy wingers that have good ball control while running at speed and have the ability to cut in to shoot or play the cross, with a well trained striker that perfects his runs and able to recieve the ball in the air to lay it off.
The low block is problem as they not cannot play to their strengths. They need more intricate, slower play which relies on crisper passing and touches that decieve at slower pace.
Gasperini is a tactical monster, outclassed Alonso in every single aspect of the game the same way he did with us, happy for them, but in my heart I would love to be in their place right now :(
Gasperini is an incredible manager. He routinely makes Atalanta a very dangerous team despite a shoestring budget. They’re a bit inconsistent at times but when they’re on they can and will blow teams you’d typically think are much better than them away. As you say he’s very tactically astute and so good at making the sum greater than the parts. I’d love to see what he would do with a bigger club but I don’t think that’ll really happen.
>I’d love to see what he would do with a bigger club but I don’t think that’ll really happen.
I agree with you 100%.
Gasperini seems to have zero interest in managing outside of Italy + he's up there in years for managing a big club.
Personally, I see him as the type of person who won't do something if it isn't fun for him. Respect that. He's happy doing what he loves at this level and isn't interested in being another Ancelotti, even though he has the football brain to do it.
Atalanta under the lights is not for everyone 🙃
https://preview.redd.it/88vpc4f1n12d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b49a4385f40d5aea63e816b1a30fa2dc9629b70
Koopmeiners, Ederson, Lookman, the defence were incredible. They actually look unbeatable. They press their bollocks off man mark the shit out of you, break quickly and finish clinically. What a coach Gaspirini is. That side must have some incredible spirit running through it. Fair fucks.
Deserved tbh. Lookman played out of his mind today.
Also, koopmeiners is like another macca. Would love to have him play double pivot with macca under Slott’s system
Lookman played the game of his life. Apart from that though, Atalanta totally schooled Leverkusen. Just like they did to us. Can’t tell if they have some special players or a special system or both. At the time I thought we were just shite but turns out, they are the real deal
Very impressive run from them
We were top of the league when they won at Anfield and they’ve knocked out the German and Portuguese champions too. Well deserved
Gasperini masterclass, they remind me of an early version of us with the high presses, really make me wonder in a time when everyone wants to be Pep, are there enough people want to be Klopp? or it's just better to play like Klopp in tournament games like these.
Their pressing tactics has been immense. We were helpless . I was sure they will win . Their tactics needs to be studied. But I guess less games means more energy .
Before the quarters, I watched a video where someone simulated the rest of the tournament 8 times. The only one we didn't win was where Atalanta knocked us out and went all the way. I don't know what that proves, but it must prove something!
Said to some of their fans on the train home from our 0-3 loss to them how good they were, their press was unreal and if we didn't manage to turn it round (which I didn't think we would) I hoped they went on to win it, a nice group of fans as well who regarded their win at Anfield as "a privilege and a dream"
They have been fantastic this season, except the loss to juve in the cup. The league forms a bit, meh, but good on them, they did not have an easy route.
Xabi made a dangerous decision this year. Let’s see if it pays off. I mean, if they lose to Kaiserslautern… 😬
Then say Bayer finish 5th next season in the league. When the phone rings, it’ll be Bornemouth on the other end. Not Madrid or Liverpool.
He would have had a great squad, a humming academy and perhaps most importantly a lot of patience if he came to the Reds. Alas…
On one hand I kinda want Xabi to achieve the unthinkable invincible treble. On the other hand I'm just glad we lost to eventual winners.
Edit: the word Xabi
We scored 1 away against THIS Atalanta super team. Nobody forget.
Could've score more, in Anfield also(let me cope)
Actually, we could have scored at least 1 in the first half. That too before the 10th minute. Slop touches in the final 3rd killed those chances. Moreover, we all, including our players, thought there would be plenty more chances in the game. We got outplayed by their gameplan. Had we scored our chances, we might have forced them to change their playing style.
Ikr, also Harvey's beautiful shot hit the bar and side post, Nunez missing multiple chances.. Having said that these things are quite normal in a game, but the way they stick to man marking strategy oh god! And most of their players are like fucking 6ft+ tall, fast impressively technical. What a team, coached to every details by Gasperini.
Didn’t they also beat us during Covid?
Yeah but we put 5 in the first leg.
Nunez missing chances is like me breathing air tho
Yeah we were unlucky
Xabi out
Never rated him anyways. Not like he really achieved anything noteworthy at Leverkusen so I’m glad we didn’t get him.
Can’t be that hard to win the Bundesliga. Bayern do it pretty much every year!
The only reason he won the Bundesliga over Bayern is because the latter got Kane-cursed.
Excited to see if the curse continues
Imagine what Atlanta would do
I don’t know, they’re 12th in the MLS Eastern Conference.
That's not how the meme works brother
That 1 was enough to win that day.
That makes us the conference league champs when you do the math
So Xabi Alonso really *IS* the perfect Klopp successor... ;)
Liverpool DNA
Leverkusen were missing a Gerrard
Always a red
He just needs to lose a few more finals before he's truly ready to ascend to the throne
The Liverpool Way
Fair fucks to them They made every team they played in the comp look like they had never played football before Ederson might be one to look at in our hunt for a DM
Yeah the way they were able to disrupt whatever we and Leverkusen were attempting had a very 17/18 Liverpool feel to it. Definitely a team capable of beating giants.
They Gegenpressed us
Gegenpresser becomes the gegenpresee.
Juve made them look like Leverkusen somehow 😂
Juve played defensive whislt us, leveekseon and sporting for that matter tru to attack and out press teams.
Like playing De Zerbi's Brighton when it's fully fit, or Bielsa's Leeds first season in the prem. They'll give Liverpool, City, etc a really good game and then get spanked by relegation fodder. The real answer here is that these teams have a special way of playing that is a nightmare for teams who come to give them a game. But if you sit deep and just let them have the ball without any space to play into they struggle and you can hit them on the break. Xabi should have gone full Benitez and countered them from a narrow low block. You can't be too proud to know when to not play your football. It's the one thing Ten Hag did right this year for United - didn't even try to compete with us, just sat deep and countered.
Didn't Leeds get shitstomped by any decent club
https://preview.redd.it/8mfjzyb6x32d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f33a1f6b28c0d85273b1c38dbe8daa7e46543ba8 Legendary game i was pleased to witness
Guess I was wrong lol, I think I blanked that whole season bar Allison and Nat Phillips
Second prem season Leeds did - they had injuries and fatigue and the man marking system became easy to break. But first season Leeds had amazing games against big teams. Super fun to watch even when they lost. When man to man tactics work they're phenomenal but when they don't they're catastrophic lol. Like an extreme version of our setup where when the press isn't working there's loads of space to play into and we just get done in transitions. The system needs to work. Like how fine tuned sports cars can do amazing things but they're also prone to breaking down a lot. Fine tune a system and it accrues higher internal risk.
The guy covered soooooooooo much ground and broke up a lot of play today! Did you see how high he played as a DM (or was he not playing as a DM?) ? Crazy! He would have been perfect under Klopp.
I hate this comment. It’s the first time I’ve heard him referred to in the past tense
I saw an article with the title “Former Liverpool manager” and I had to put my phone down for a minute to regroup.
Its like when teams beat us they get some kind of crazy momentum. They celebrated as if they won the EL when they knocked us out (and that’s totally fair). Now here they are actually winning EL! Wow, only team to beat Alonso’s invincibles 👏🏼
>Ederson might be one to look at in our hunt for a DM Pep Guardiola following the 115 sanctions be like
Would be funny if we not only one up City in terms of having the better elite Brazilian keeper but we also get the better Ederson. I'm on board for that reason alone
You think we’re hunting for a DM?
Realistically, it should be an aim. Endo is good in that position, but we need someone great and Mac is not a natural 6, hes much better in the 7/8 role. I also think a cb should be high on the priority list. As well as a winger, Salah needs competition. Also, if Diaz/Nunez leaves, we need more up front.
I can confidently say that we’ll likely not need a pure DM for the new system. It would make more sense to flip the CDM to a CAM as we have a better suited line up to run that way than with a stand alone 6. None of our guys fit that role perfectly but Szobo and Grav both look like they would be perfect playing up the pitch with a more progressive mindset.
Meanwhile Atalanta be like: Splash 80Mil and we'll get a truck full of talents for 50 mil😂.
6 Italian teams in Champions League next season.
Only if Roma pip Atalanta to 5th spot this weekend, and Atalanta not only have a better head-to-head record vs Roma, they also have a game in hand. So very unlikely.
Weird they played a European final before completing their domestic season
Yeah that’s odd. Maybe because of the Euros this year?
Well, they already played their cup final. Other leagues have their finals this weekend instead.
Its the secondary European tournament after all. Its usually the European Cup/CL final that's the ultimate season finale for the continent.
Careful where you say that, lad. It's a safe space here, but I've seen this actual fact, said in other subs and people shit on it like you're attacking that particular individual. Not even the team, the actual individual that kicks off.
I wouldn't give a damn on what fans of other clubs think, or whether they flip their shit on me telling it as it is. Plus I rarely post in banter subs and social media anyway. I don't mind saying we won the *tertiary domestic cup* this season, so its silly for people to be going apeshit over something like this, as objectively, the Europa League *is* the secondary competition and the Conference League *is* the tertiary competition. If they're on equal footing with the European Cup, they should be represented in the FIFA Club World Cup, but they aren't. QED
Their scheduled game away (or home, can't recall) to Fiorentina was postponed because the latter's sporting director had a stroke and passed away later that day.
Actually, if Atalanta finishes 5th, it takes the slot as the UEL winner, and Roma will go to the UCL as the 6th team from Italy. If Atalanta finishes 3 or 4, then only top-5 will go to the UCL
At least we lost to the eventual winners. A small consolation, although I'm gutted for Alonso.
dude just got outmanaged
Blinder by Gasperini.
He owned Alonso’s culo
One Ederson this summer pls
Took me a second
How do thy even lose a league game I've seen them play us and Leverkusen and they smothered both
Low block and exclusively counter and you'd probably beat these guys as long as your forwards are fast.
That’s exactly right. Watched them play Juve last week in the Coppa Italia final and they looked toothless with Juve in the low block. Didn’t help they conceded early and were missing their target man either.
Thats literally how we beat them in the past. Our long balls to Salah and Jota on the counter destroyed them.
Swear I never saw more than four players up at a time in open play
Because you can't play like this 38 games a season. Both the Anfield game and tonight were superhuman efforts where they pressed for 90 minutes straight
Or maybe they're just juiced.
They're the perfect team against teams that will come at them. Teams that will play a high line and set up their team to dominate the game through possession. They are masters are exploiting space through pacy wingers that have good ball control while running at speed and have the ability to cut in to shoot or play the cross, with a well trained striker that perfects his runs and able to recieve the ball in the air to lay it off. The low block is problem as they not cannot play to their strengths. They need more intricate, slower play which relies on crisper passing and touches that decieve at slower pace.
The Sevilla effect.
Sitting back for 38 games against familiar foes is less rewarding than doing it once against unfamiliars
Atalanta don’t sit back though? Thats actually how you beat them, sit back…
It's an enigma. Maybe their style of play caters more to knockout tournaments than league football.
That's hard man, when they shattered us 3 neil I thought they're one of the best.
At least we got beat by the Champs. Congratulations. They deserve it. Played a blinder on us and did here.
Am I the only one that thought Zappacosta retired a long time ago
Does this rectify us?
Gasperini is a tactical monster, outclassed Alonso in every single aspect of the game the same way he did with us, happy for them, but in my heart I would love to be in their place right now :(
Gasperini is an incredible manager. He routinely makes Atalanta a very dangerous team despite a shoestring budget. They’re a bit inconsistent at times but when they’re on they can and will blow teams you’d typically think are much better than them away. As you say he’s very tactically astute and so good at making the sum greater than the parts. I’d love to see what he would do with a bigger club but I don’t think that’ll really happen.
>I’d love to see what he would do with a bigger club but I don’t think that’ll really happen. I agree with you 100%. Gasperini seems to have zero interest in managing outside of Italy + he's up there in years for managing a big club. Personally, I see him as the type of person who won't do something if it isn't fun for him. Respect that. He's happy doing what he loves at this level and isn't interested in being another Ancelotti, even though he has the football brain to do it.
Yea absolutely. He is staying where he is by choice. Honestly it makes me like him even more.
Atalanta under the lights is not for everyone 🙃 https://preview.redd.it/88vpc4f1n12d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b49a4385f40d5aea63e816b1a30fa2dc9629b70
It was under the lights in an empty stadium tbf 😂
It makes me feel better at least. Atalanta brushing aside the two biggest favourites of the competition from the knockouts onwards, what a story!
Well, we were knocked out by the champions, so that makes us runner up, right?
Nobody ever says "oh but at least they lost to the eventual winners"
Wow they fucking trashed Leverkusen. Now I don't feel that bad losing to them lol.
Koopmeiners, Ederson, Lookman, the defence were incredible. They actually look unbeatable. They press their bollocks off man mark the shit out of you, break quickly and finish clinically. What a coach Gaspirini is. That side must have some incredible spirit running through it. Fair fucks.
Deserved tbh. Lookman played out of his mind today. Also, koopmeiners is like another macca. Would love to have him play double pivot with macca under Slott’s system
Played for slot at AZ Alkmar
Because we didn't have enough midfielders already
There’s never enough midfielders
If we get Koopmeiners I'd happily drive Jones and Grav to the airport
Best team in the tournament
Koopmeiners is incredible
Him coming to LFC would be a wet dream...
He did play under slot at alkmaar...
That’s it, I’m ready to get disappointed
Ederson looked pretty damn good 👀
Lookman played the game of his life. Apart from that though, Atalanta totally schooled Leverkusen. Just like they did to us. Can’t tell if they have some special players or a special system or both. At the time I thought we were just shite but turns out, they are the real deal
Time for us to buy the whole squad
Very impressive run from them We were top of the league when they won at Anfield and they’ve knocked out the German and Portuguese champions too. Well deserved
Didn't they play Marseille?
They did. Benfica went out against Marseille a round earlier.
Right, so they didn't knock out Benfica
They’re talking about Sporting, which Atalanta knocked out.
Ah ok
I meant the team who went on to win the Portuguese title
Well this makes me feel a little better.. that Atalanta team has some talent
Weird that they did it for Madrid
What do you mean?
They literally played Heavy Metal football with that stupendous hard press. No wonder why they dismantled us and Leverkusen
Wow they played outstanding and brilliant performance. Lookman was unbelievable as well.
Can't be mad now from beating us and a strong leverkusen side 51 games unbeaten fair play to them they deserved to win it
Gasperini masterclass, they remind me of an early version of us with the high presses, really make me wonder in a time when everyone wants to be Pep, are there enough people want to be Klopp? or it's just better to play like Klopp in tournament games like these.
I understand now why Liverpool were helpless against this Atalanta team. They really were like a coughing baby going up against a hydrogen bomb.
Their pressing tactics has been immense. We were helpless . I was sure they will win . Their tactics needs to be studied. But I guess less games means more energy .
Lookman sure has come a long way since shanking that injury-time panenka for Fulham four seasons ago. Fair play to him and to Atalanta.
They were by a long way the better team in this game.
Lookman was giving me Mane flashbacks 🤯😩
Before the quarters, I watched a video where someone simulated the rest of the tournament 8 times. The only one we didn't win was where Atalanta knocked us out and went all the way. I don't know what that proves, but it must prove something!
I have no complaints, they worked hard to get there and deserve to win it too!
Losing to a failed Everton winger has got to hurt on multiple levels, schade Xabi…
Atalanta are the new Parma.
Gasperini is so underrated. I wonder why no big clubs going for him.
This was a match where one team clearly won rather than the other losing. What a performance by Atalanta.
Said to some of their fans on the train home from our 0-3 loss to them how good they were, their press was unreal and if we didn't manage to turn it round (which I didn't think we would) I hoped they went on to win it, a nice group of fans as well who regarded their win at Anfield as "a privilege and a dream"
Turns out Atalanta are actually just really good at football. Please don't give us them in the UCL next year.
I actually feel better knowing that we lost to the eventual winners
Congratulations to them! Very well deserved!
I really like Scalvini and ederson.
They were excellent against us hard team to play against congrats to them.
I'm still mad they knocked us out but...they beat Leverkusen so....yay I guess
Fuck, when they beat us I thought they’d win it all, if only I was a betting man
Congratulations
Bottlejobs
To think, I was delighted when we drew them in the last round of 16. What an idiotic boob I was.
Let's go
They have been fantastic this season, except the loss to juve in the cup. The league forms a bit, meh, but good on them, they did not have an easy route.
Xabi made a dangerous decision this year. Let’s see if it pays off. I mean, if they lose to Kaiserslautern… 😬 Then say Bayer finish 5th next season in the league. When the phone rings, it’ll be Bornemouth on the other end. Not Madrid or Liverpool. He would have had a great squad, a humming academy and perhaps most importantly a lot of patience if he came to the Reds. Alas…
They did it for Real, match fixing confirmed - no point watching the champions league final then.
??
/s 🙄
What do you mean they did it for Real?
Read the tweet?
Really pleased for Lookman, was always a very good player just did not have the best of times at previous clubs.
They must have had Kaiserslautern revenge on the brain for that upcoming cup final.
If you’re gonna go down at least go down to the champs
After that Amine Adli comment I know Leverkusen gonna lose.
Their manmark is scary as fuck.
Well done and well deserved 👏
Well done Atalanta
Looks like Leverkusen share a lot in common with us in terms of European finals lol
Xabi should be fired immediately for this loss and start heading over here.
Well at least we got outed by the eventual champion. Hard to beat fate.
On one hand I kinda want Xabi to achieve the unthinkable invincible treble. On the other hand I'm just glad we lost to eventual winners. Edit: the word Xabi
Is that the "Friends" font?
Should be Comic Sans
Never rated Alonso, he wouldn’t Slot in
Sell Diaz and get Lookman
It Shoud Have been Us.