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Steve Nicol has blasted Virgil van Dijk after Liverpool's 0-3 loss to Atalanta. The ESPN pundit claimed that Dutchman was too casual and was a disaster in defence.
Liverpool suffered a humiliating 0-3 loss at home to Atalanta on Thursday night. West Ham United flop Gianluca Scamacca scored a brace and former Chelsea midfielder Mario Pasalic added a third in the 83rd minute.
Nicol was furious with Van Dijk after the match and said on ESPN:
"Theres'a few elements to it. No question, L'pool weren't at it tonight. There was a little passage in the first half that stood out. Van Dijk was running back and I think it was Scamacca who was behind him. And he was so casual. It was kind of the way L'pool went about this, they were just too casual. There wasn't that bit of desire and drive. Almost like they thought they just had to turn up and they would win this game. From a defensive point of view, it was an absolute disaster."
He added:
"After the game, Van Dijk was talking about how they gave the ball away, they let Atalanta come at them, well guess what, as brilliant as Virgil's been all season, part of his job is to put fires out before it starts. Part of your job as a defender is to be in a position where if you do lose the ball, then you do your job by defending and the whole back line tonight were guilty of not doing that."
Liverpool will travel to face Italy next week for the second leg and will hope to turn things around. Jurgen Klopp will be hoping that they can repeat the historic 4-0 win his side managed over Barcelona in 2019.
Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool's loss to Atalanta was a low point
Jurgen Klopp was unhappy with his players after the 0-3 defeat at home to Atalanta. The German manager stated that the performance of players was one of the worst in his time at Anfield and wants them to do better.
However, Klopp stated that the focus is now on Crystal Palace as they cannot ignore the league. The Reds are second in the Premier League table, level on points with leaders Arsenal and a point ahead of third-placed Manchester City.
"We played a bad game, we deserved to lose and we must feel that now," Klopp told reporters.
"The boys have exactly this night to feel bad about it and then we have to build up again for the Crystal Palace game, that's how it is," he added.
Jurgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season and was keen on winning as many trophies as possible before the exit.
