{"id":22253,"date":"2025-02-20T16:51:46","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T16:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=22253"},"modified":"2025-02-20T16:51:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T16:51:46","slug":"lookman-hits-back-at-gasperini-after-penalty-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/?p=22253","title":{"rendered":"Lookman hits back at Gasperini after penalty criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

African Footballer of The Year Ademola Lookman has broken his silence on Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini\u2019s harsh criticism, revealing that the designated taker instructed him to take the penalty in Tuesday\u2019s Champions League exit to Club Brugge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0In an emotional statement released on Wednesday, Lookman expressed his hurt at being singled out by Gasperini, who had labelled him \u201cone of the worst penalty-takers I\u2019ve ever seen\u201d after his spot-kick was saved in the 3-1 defeat.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIt saddens me on a day like this to have to write this statement \u2013 most of all because of what we have achieved together as a team and as a city,\u201d Lookman wrote in his statement on X.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cBeing singled out in the manner I have been not only hurt but feels deeply disrespectful, not least because of the immense hard work and commitment I have always put in each and every day to help bring success to this club and to the incredible fans of Bergamo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The Nigerian forward, who had missed Atalanta\u2019s previous six matches due to knee problems, made an immediate impact after being introduced at halftime with his side already trailing 3-0, scoring within 42 seconds to give the Italian side hope of a comeback.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0However, when presented with a chance to further reduce the deficit from the penalty spot in the 61st minute, his effort was saved by former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, leading to unprecedented public criticism from his manager.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cAdemola Lookman is one of the worst penalty takers I\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Gasperini said after the match. \u201cHe wanted to take the penalty after scoring a goal. He took the ball despite Retegui and De Keteleare being available to take it\u2026 I didn\u2019t like what Lookman did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Lookman\u2019s statement directly contradicts this version of events; \u201cDuring the match, the designated penalty taker instructed me to take the penalty; and to support the team I took responsibility in the moment to do so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The 27-year-old also revealed he had faced other challenges during his time at the club writing, \u201cIn truth, I have dealt with many difficult moments during my time here \u2013 the majority of which I have never spoken about because in my opinion the team must always be protected and must come first. This makes what happened last night even more hurtful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The 66-year-old manager\u2019s comments have sparked widespread outrage among supporters, who pointed out his apparent double standards in not similarly criticising designated penalty taker Mateo Retegui\u2019s crucial misses this season or captain Rafael Toloi\u2019s temperamental red card in the same match.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Paris-based Nigerian journalist, Ojora Babatunde, questioned the manager\u2019s approach on X; \u201cWhen your coach that\u2019s supposed to shield and protect you from external criticism starts criticising you openly, then something is wrong.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Nigerian sports journalist, Pooja, also defended the forward on X writing, \u201cA win in seven games, struggling without him and he returned from injury, scored a goal after 42 seconds and missed a penalty that has happened to the biggest players in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cLook at the nonsense Atalanta coach is saying about Ademola Lookman to the media. Someone who won him his first European trophy after years as a coach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The criticism appears especially unwarranted considering Lookman\u2019s exceptional penalty record last season, where he converted all three of his spot-kicks \u2013 the best conversion rate at the club ahead of Teun Koopmeiners (two from four) and Luis Muriel (one from one).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Retegui, the designated penalty taker Gasperini referenced, has converted just two of his four spot-kicks this season. His misses proved costly \u2013 one in the 0-0 game against Arsenal in the Champions League group stage that could have secured qualification for the knockout rounds, and another against Torino that cost the team vital points in their Serie A title chase as they drew 1-1.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Yet, Retegui escaped public criticism from his manager for these crucial misses, as noted by X user Mr_AyLee who wrote, \u201cRetegui missed a penalty against Arsenal and a last-minute sitter against Madrid, yet I didn\u2019t see Gasperini publicly criticising him. I really hope Lookman leaves Atalanta at the end of the season.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The manager\u2019s criticism of Lookman becomes even more questionable when considering captain Toloi\u2019s actions in the same match. The 34-year-old defender received a straight red card for shoving Maxim De Cuyper to the ground in frustration, yet escaped similar public condemnation from Gasperini.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0After De Cuyper interfered with Toloi taking a throw-in, the Brazilian-born Italian international attempted to throw the ball at the Belgian but slipped, causing him to charge at De Cuyper in a fit of rage. Toloi delivered a running forearm to the back of De Cuyper\u2019s head, earning an immediate red card from referee Felix Zwayer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0X user Tayo highlighted this disparity in treatment saying, \u201cHow can a coach degrade their player like this who has won you a European Trophy after 61 years? The captain gets a red card for manhandling and the coach behaves like this. The downfall has started for Atalanta.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The situation bears striking similarities to Victor Osimhen\u2019s deteriorating relationship with Napoli two seasons ago, where the Nigerian striker was subjected to public ridicule by his club\u2019s social media accounts shortly after leading them to their first Serie A title in 33 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cEven Messi, CR7, Mbappe, Vini, and others missed crucial penalties but you will never see their coach talking ill about them like this. I\u2019m not even surprised, Napoli did the worst things to Osimhen despite all the efforts,\u201d Timmy Denny wrote on X.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A Barcelona fan account, @Brave_FCB, emphasised the disrespect shown to Lookman; \u201cThis is so disrespectful. How would you say that to a player who won the Europa League for you and your club? Lookman better find his way out of that club to a better club.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The criticism appears even more unwarranted considering Lookman\u2019s overall contribution to the team this season. Despite being only 12th on the list of most appearances, he has the second-most goal contributions with 21 goals from 26 games in Serie A and the Champions League, behind only Retegui who has 26 goal contributions from 33 games.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0His most significant contribution came in May last year when his hat-trick secured Atalanta\u2019s first-ever European trophy, defeating the then-unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Interestingly, this is not the first time Lookman has found himself in a penalty controversy. During his time at Fulham, he attempted an ill-fated Panenka against West Ham United in November 2020 \u2013 a moment he referenced when accepting his CAF African Footballer of The Year award in December, showing his ability to learn and grow from such experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The incident has led to speculation about Lookman\u2019s future at the club, with many fans urging the forward to seek new opportunities elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThis is insanely disrespectful to Lookman. He should just leave this club at the end of the season. I can see Osimhen\u2019s situation all over again,\u201d @Swaggzeez1 posted on X.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The parallel with Osimhen\u2019s situation at Napoli is particularly pertinent. The striker\u2019s relationship with the club soured following social media mockery after he ended their 33-year wait for a Serie A title, eventually leading to his departure to Galatasaray on loan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0However, Lookman himself remained defiant in his statement\u2019s conclusion writing; \u201cLife\u2019s about challenges and turning pain into power which I\u2019ll continue to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Culled from Punch Sports<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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African Footballer of The Year Ademola Lookman has broken his silence on Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini\u2019s harsh criticism, revealing that the designated taker instructed him to take the penalty in Tuesday\u2019s Champions League exit to Club Brugge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22254,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8485,10144,9330,6610],"class_list":["post-22253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-criticism","tag-gasperini","tag-lookman","tag-penalty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22253"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22255,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22253\/revisions\/22255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theblogonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}