Liverpool vs Sevilla: Steve McManaman criticises 'awful' Alberto Moreno and blames 'lethargic' second-half for defeat
McManaman believes Liverpool ran out of gas in the second half, in which they conceded an equaliser just 17 seconds after kick-off
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Your support makes all the difference.Former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman blamed the lethargic second-half display for the side’s 3-1 Europa League final defeat and labelled left-back Alberto Moreno “awful” for his performance, with the defender at fault for Sevilla’s equaliser which came 17 seconds after play had resumed following half-time.
Liverpool took the advantage through a sublime finish from England striker Daniel Sturridge and dominated the first half, but three unanswered goals from Kevin Gameiro and a Coke double ensured Sevilla lifted the Europa League trophy for a third consecutive year.
BT Sport’s McManaman attempted to pick out the pieces from Liverpool’s terrible second-half performance, and he put the loss – which robs the Reds of any European football next season – down to tiredness as Jurgen Klopp’s side ran out of gas.
“17 seconds in and just a real lack of judgement, incredibly sloppy play by Alberto Moreno – who had an awful second half – and the game literally just switched,” McManaman said after the match.
“Liverpool looked lethargic in the second half unfortunately, they ran out of legs, they looked tired, and people like Vitolo [Machin Perez], [Ever] Benega [and] Gameiro really shone in the second half.
“But congratulations, they’ve won it three times and that is incredibly difficult to do as we well know and as history will tell you, so congratulations to them.”
The loss means Liverpool will not play in Europe next season, having finished the Premier League in eighth and seeing the Champions League berth reserved for the Europa League winners got to Sevilla, who have become the first ever club to win either the Uefa Cup or Europa League three times consecutively.
Klopp believes that his side “lost faith” in their performance, and took the blame for the heart-breaking loss himself.
"Obviously the first goal had a big influence on our game," said the Liverpool manager.
I tried to change it but you could see that maybe the team was shocked
"At this moment we lost faith in our style of play, we changed from passing quick and simple to complicated and lost our formation. It was not compact any more.
"I tried to change it but you could see that maybe the team was shocked, maybe the crowd was shocked.
"It is not good to concede a goal straight after half-time but you have 44 minutes to strike back but the reaction was the problem, we have to learn to react better in situations like this.
"We are disappointed and frustrated 100 per cent but tomorrow (Thursday) or later in the week we will see it a little bit more clearly and we will use this experience, that is what we have to do."
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