Last night UEFA Champions league match between Atalanta and Club Brugge spark a controversy between Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman and head coach Gian Piero Gasperini after he missed a crucial penalty. Lookman was not the designated penalty taker, but went on to take the penalty and missed which ended in a 3-1 defeat for the Italian Club, which saw them exited the UCL on a 5-2 aggregate score.
It was clearly a bad decision by Lookman to do so and not hand the ball to a teammate: retegui or De Ketelaere were on the pitch and are ostensibly more accustomed to dealing with such high-stakes moments. It can be interpreted as lapse of judgement, which can hurt the team’s strategy and morale at a significant stage. Role is role, and as we know, playing outside of your immediate responsibilities can quickly become a mess in footballing terms, just take Lookman’s missed penalty as evidence of why all went a bit wrong.
But the response from Atalanta’s coach, Gian Piero Gasperini, was just as troubling. Publicly condemning Lookman, as he did, and describing him as “one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen” was not only needlessly cruel; it was an act that threatened both team unity and player confidence. It spoke volumes about Lookman’s psyche, and not only his still-developing bond with the coach but with his teammates, too.
In fact, we could have handled the fallout internally by having a constructive discussion as opposed to public criticism. Coaches are supposed to protect their players from inordinate pressure, and keep a team together, side-by-side, after a loss, especially. A public dressing down of Gasperini may have allowed the executives to air their frustration, but it may have done little to create an environment conducive to growth and recovery.
Essentially, if Lookman made a mistake, the coach committed an equal and opposite error in his response. This genetically modifies the episode of better communication for the team, and solving the conflict within the team so that in case of such a mistake in the future, the team spirit does not get harmed for any player.
