Moreno: I will never understand the blame I received for Europa League final loss

Alberto Moreno has reflected on the ups and downs of his Liverpool career as he gets ready for yet another Europa League final.

The Spanish full-back left Liverpool in July of 2019 after five turbulent seasons joining Villarreal on a free transfer.

Moreno would have been hoping to kick start a career that had considerably stalled at the Reds for various reasons.

However that plan was put on the back-burner due to a series of muscle injuries which culminated in a tear of his anterior cruciate ligament last September which saw him miss six months of the 2020/1 season.

The 28 year-old returned to competitive action in early April and has made eight appearances including both Europa League semi-final ties against Arsenal.

After some understandable inner turmoil wondering when his luck will change, Moreno seems to be in a happy place, reunited with Unai Emery who he played for in his Sevilla days and looking forward to play against a arch rival from his Liverpool days, that being Man United in his third Europa League final on Wednesday evening.

While he prepares for that clash, the Spanish international cast his mind back to the last time he played in this showcase event in 2016 when Liverpool played Sevilla.

To put it bluntly, It was a nightmare performance by Moreno making a key error for Sevilla’s opening goal after Liverpool were in control of the contest.

It was a true momentum shift as the Spaniards went from strength to strength while the Reds were never the same.

While Football is a team game, it was Moreno’s individual performance which was firmly under the microscope.

Players naturally take great pride in their performances and are often brutally honest in their reflection.

But in speaking to the Guardian, Moreno feels that to this day, he feels that analysis was completely over the top.

“To this day I don’t understand why I got so, so much criticism, when the whole team didn’t play well. The finger was pointed at one player and …“I don’t think that’s OK. 

“People blame you. Only you. It was like I lost the final. It’s hard. You can’t get it out of your head. You look at the paper, at social media – I don’t usually pay much attention to social media because it’s all so false – and read things. ‘Alberto, Alberto, Alberto, Alberto.’ I’ll go to my grave not understanding why I got all the blame."

After making close to 100 appearances in his first two seasons at Liverpool, that fateful performance was the point that Jurgen Klopp lost a deal in trust in his left-back.

The German opted for a makeshift option in James Milner for the 2016/7 season, and while Moreno regained his starting place for the start of the 2017/8 season, new signing Andy Robertson was waiting in the wings. 

And when Moreno suffered a untimely ankle injury, the Scottish captain sensed his opportunity and the rest as they say is history.

To his credit, Moreno is not bitter one bit with his old manager.

 “My relationship with Klopp was perfect and, with Unai, he’s the best coach I’ve ever had. He knows how to squeeze the best out of you, what to say at any moment, how to get the group to go out and ‘eat’ the opposition. But protecting me would have meant keeping faith, giving me chances which didn’t happen. I don’t know if that was Klopp or the club.

“After the final against Sevilla, James Milner played left-back. If the coach puts a right-footed central midfielder there, then he doesn’t want me. But the following year pre-season started and he played me. I got back in the Spain squad after three years and just then, I injured my ankle. That was when Andy Robertson had his chance.”

“He played at such a high level and that was it; I didn’t get any more chances.”

The last memory for Moreno as a Liverpool player was as an unused substitute in the 2019 Champions League final.

It was the ultimate definition of a bittersweet life moment with his close friend Jose Antonio Reyes dying in a car accident that same morning.

“You go down to breakfast and all you’re thinking about is the final, the final, the final. And then you see the news. “José Antonio was such a good friend. All I did that day was cry. I didn’t eat. I put the television on and it was all about Reyes. I was crying like a little boy.

“Klopp came to offer his condolences. He asked how I was, if I could cope, what I wanted to do. I told him I was sad, that we had been through a lot together, but I was ready. Although I didn’t play, all I wanted was to win to dedicate it to him. When we did, pfff, he was all I could think about. 

“It was an emotional night, because of Reyes and because it was my last game – and what better way to say goodbye? I left feeling there were things I wish I could have done, that I still had more to give, but I wouldn’t change those five years at Liverpool for anything.”

Moreno is not sure if he will start against United,  but in truth he is just happy being in a match-day squad once again.

“My knee’s still not 100%. I can do everything I want, but with certain movements you can feel it’s not completely right. With a long-term injury it’s more in the head.”

“I’ve had a rough time the last six months but I’m getting minutes again, which is a huge reward … Having a Europa League final to look forward to still is…” Moreno blows out his cheeks. “Winning that would be incredible.

“Playing again, training with my teammates, even sitting on the bench after such a serious injury, able to experience another final, is amazing. For a year that started so badly to end like this makes it a great year.”

Liverpool fans certainly had a complex relationship with Moreno, but for all the defensive naivety he produced, deep down he seems like a genuine lad that is due some good fortune in his career.

And of course let’s hope he lifts the Europa League trophy for a second time in his career tomorrow evening.