BRENDAN RODGERS HAS called for his Liverpool players to improve their concentration after a 3-2 defeat to Udinese in the Europa League.
The Reds manager was disappointed at giving away three ‘poor’ goals at the beginning of the second half, after they went into the break with a 1-0 advantage.
And Rodgers said that he has grown frustrated by his team’s inability to see out a game when on top of their opponents so far this season.
“I thought we were very, very good in the first half, and the problems that we have in the first 15-20 minutes in the second half has been with us from the beginning of the season,” he told ITV.
“We lose concentration and become lazy, and all of a sudden in that period we find ourselves 3-1 down. We inject energy and the quality into the game in the last 20 minutes or so and that’s the level that the players have been at recently.
“So we’re just disappointed it was after such a good first half and control and domination – to then give away such poor goals at the beginning of the second half, and then obviously we’re chasing the game at 3-1.”
Liverpool sit third in Group A, one point behind joint leaders Udinese and Anzhi Makhachkala, but Rodgers has not given up hope of qualification to the next round.
He added: “We looked like we were going to win it, then maybe get a point and we ended up with nothing. There are quality teams in this group. It’s qualification that we aim for.”
