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Liverpool suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final.
Arne Slot will have to wait a little longer to win his first trophy as Liverpool boss.
The Reds suffered a 2-1 loss to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley. The defending champions were lacklustre throughout and the Magpies deserved to end their 70-year wait for a piece of silverware.
Many will agree that Liverpool’s performance was their worst of the season. While they are on track to claim the Premier League title, their loss to Newcastle was a blow. The Reds were outplayed and Slot was outwitted by counterpart Eddie Howe.
After the final whistle, here are three things we think Slot got wrong.
Failing to man-mark Burn
It seems the obvious starting point. While the days of solely man-marking from set-pieces have gone in football, it still has a place. And it was bizarre why Dan Burn was given so much space inside the penalty area from corners. Allowing him to stand isolated when setting up to defend the dead-ball scenarios was unfathomable. Granted, Burn was standing near the edge of the area but at 6ft 7in, the closest Liverpool player to him was Alexis Mac Allister - almost a foot smaller.
Burn must have been somewhat befuddled when he was gifted such an easy header inside the area. The defender has all the time in the world to crank his neck, time his connection and pick out the far corner. Why someone like Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate was not ordered to stick to Burn under orders was required.#
Not bringing on Elliott earlier
If there is a player who should feel more aggrieved that the rest on the way back to Merseyside then it’s Harvey Elliott. The midfield battle was always going to be imperative to the encounter. It;s where Newcastle are at their strongest with Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton - and faced a Liverpool engine room who have scarcely been rotated this season. Ryan Gravenberch’s jettisoning form continued, Alexis Mac Allister was lethargic and Dominik Szoboszlai huffed and puffed.
It was no coincidence Liverpool had their best spell when Elliott was introduced. The diminutive attacking midfielder was able to get himself into pockets of space and pick out some incisive passes. He slipped in Curtis Jones, who was also lively from the bench, and then displayed the vision to thread through Federico Chiesa to bag a consolation. Had the England under-21 international had longer on the pitch then an equaliser may well have been found.
Going long too often
Credit has to go to Newcastle’s press. It was superb and caused Liverpool issues. But it resulted in the Reds going long too often. At the start of the game, Mo Salah - subdued throughout - was the out-ball but Burn cleverly pushed on from central defence to mark Liverpool’s top scorer. The Reds then started going direct to Luis Diaz on the opposite flank but he couldn’t hold on to possession.
The answer was to either bring Darwin Nunez or Cody Gakpo on for more of a physical presence. Or Liverpool perhaps should have played through the thirds with bravery to beat the Newcastle pressure. Instead, the long balls where meat and drink for Burn and Fabian Schar.
Related topics:Arne SlotDan BurnNewcastle United
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