Liverpool legend Steve Nicol believes Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini should take the responsibility of his team’s failure and not put it on Super Eagles winger Ademola Lookman after their elimination from the Champions League.
Recall that the Nigeria international missed a crucial penalty on Tuesday as La Dea crashed out of the Champions League with a 3-1 defeat to Club Brugge. In the aftermath, Gasperini publicly criticized Lookman, stating that he was “one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen.”
Disappointed by Gasperini’s remarks, Ademola Lookman responded with a public statement, calling the comments “disrespectful” and expressing frustration at being singled out.
Speaking with ESPN FC, Nicol faulted Gasperini’s unfair criticisms of Lookman and the manager’s inability to accept full responsibility for the mistakes.
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“At the same time, the man who was supposed to take the penalty, if I’m the coach he’s my first port of call, ‘Why are you not taking the penalty? I’ve told you you’re the penalty taker.’”
“The second port of call is the captain; you’re the captain for a reason, so on the field, when I can’t get anybody’s ear, then you follow my instructions,” he explained.
“Quite honestly, the only person who is innocent to me is Lookman himself because if the guy who’s meant to take it doesn’t take it, somebody else has to take it, so Lookman said I’ll take it,” he said, reinforcing the idea that Lookman was merely reacting to a chaotic moment on the pitch.
“Lookman’s actually an innocent bystander here. It’s the guy who was supposed to take it (De Ketelaere) and the captain on the field (Tolói).”
“I never saw the game, but with the amount of time Gasperini should have done something because you’re 100 percent looking to make sure as a coach that the right guy is taking it.”