Liverpool’s trophy ambitions suffered a devastating blow at Wembley, as they were beaten 2-1 by Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final.
Arne Slot entered the final looking to get his hands on his first silverware as Reds boss, the Magpies, though would have other ideas.
Goals from Dan Burn and Liverpool-linked Alexander Isak would help sink the Reds to a disappointing defeat.
Liverpool were a ‘mess’ at Wembley, with Newcastle’s opening goal highlighting their difficulties on the day.
The decision for Alexis Mac Allister to mark Dan Burn left many baffled, including Jamie Carragher who criticised Mac Allister’s awareness for the goal.
Carragher, though, hasn’t been the only one to highlight Liverpool’s set-piece difficulties.
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Frank Leboeuf says Arne Slot got it wrong with Liverpool set-piece setup
With Burn standing nearly a whole foot taller than Mac Allister, many were left confused at Liverpool’s corner routine.
Newcastle star Kieran Trippier even admitted he was ‘surprised’ at Liverpool’s decision – something which has been echoed by pundit Frank Leboeuf.
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Speaking on ESPN FC, the former Chelsea defender claimed Slot made a ‘big mistake’ regarding his team’s set-piece setup on the day.
“I was very surprised with his comments. You know when you’re playing a final against Newcastle that they have very tall players and Burn is the monster of all of them. You mark those players, you don’t play zones against those players.
“He said after that he had never seen someone header the ball from so far and scoring. This has already happened and I played against players capable of doing that. I am sorry, that is a big mistake.
“I don’t know nowadays why you don’t want your players responsible for marking the others, but it is what it is, they play zone, therefore no one knows what they have to do, except take care of their area but anyone can come into your area and you cannot deal with that.
“In our days, you had to mark someone, and I tell you if the guy you were marking scored a goal, the coach would have questioned what you were doing because it should be impossible, if you mark him he cannot score.
“I am very concerned with this philosophy of football because when you play against Burn you have to mark him and have no other choice. This has been proven.”
Liverpool need to improve set pieces next season
Liverpool’s set-pieces were a particular problem at Wembley, but if you dig a little bit deeper you realise that it has been an issue all season.
Barring Liverpool’s smart corner against Man City – the Reds have endured a pretty poor record from set-pieces.
Their record defending set-pieces isn’t the worry though, it is actually scoring from them which has been the problem.
The Reds, for example, have only conceded seven, which is one less than the likes of Arsenal, who have been famed for their set-piece routines this season.
Liverpool’s set piece record Goals Percentage of total goals
Goals scored 4 6%
Goals conceded 7 26%
Stats from WhoScored
Slot’s side though have only managed to score four, which is half of Arsenal’s tally and three behind cup final opponents Newcastle.
With this in mind, the summer may be the perfect opportunity to add another set-piece coach to their ranks.