
Tactical Breakdown: Liverpool 0-2 Atalanta
Gian Piero Gasperini's Atalanta is a fascinating side. In their 0-5 loss to Liverpool at the Bergamo Stadium they displayed a number of interesting tactical concepts that in themselves were reasonable, astute and innovative, but were ruthlessly dismembered by a Klopp side at its cutting edge best. Central to that performance was the ability of the forwards and midfielders to synchronise their movements to drag the Italian side's players out of key areas, and use direct passing, dribbling and excellent …

Neco Williams And The Toxic Culture of Scapegoating
Liverpool, as a collective, were poor in their 2-0 defeat at Anfield to Atalanta in the Champions League this past week.
Jurgen Klopp -- wary of the physical toll that a stupidly compacted season will take on his players -- made a raft of changes and his team, predictably played with a lack of synergy and rhythm.
The Italians, with their aggressive man-marking system, were given a lot of latitude to impose themselves physically by the Spanish referee in a …

Lethargic Liverpool Look Lame As Atalanta Win
Liverpool fell to a 2-0 defeat to Atalanta at Anfield in the Champions League.
Goals from Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens sealed a deserved win for the Italians in a drab affair, marshalled by a referee, Carlos del Cerro from Spain, who was lax when it came to punishing overly physical play.
The Reds, meanwhile, who made a host for changes to their team from the comfortable victory over Leicester City were abject throughout. All the personnel alterations lead to …