Jamie Carragher
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Liverpool’s attack was largely ineffective as they suffered a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
Goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak sealed Newcastle’s first major trophy in 70 years, with Federico Chiesa’s stoppage-time strike proving only a consolation for the Reds.
The Magpies took the lead just before half-time when Dan Burn, completely unmarked, powered home a header from Kieran Trippier’s corner.
Newcastle doubled their advantage seven minutes after the break as Alexander Isak finished clinically after Jacob Murphy headed down Tino Livramento’s cross.
Liverpool struggled to respond until deep into stoppage time when Chiesa slotted home from Harvey Elliott’s pass, but it was too little too late as Newcastle held on for a famous victory.
For the Reds, it highlighted that Mohamed Salah cannot be expected to carry the weight of the team’s attacking efforts for an entire season.
Diogo Jota continued his recent poor form, offering very little threat and slicing wide a good opportunity on the stroke of half-time.
Luis Diaz, while slightly more involved, could not get the beating of Kieran Trippier despite several opportunities to run at the Newcastle full-back.
And speaking after the game, Jamie Carragher believes the offensive ranks need to be reworked ahead of this season:
“It was probably one of the worst performances I’ve seen from Liverpool in a cup final,” Carragher said to Sky Sports as quoted by Metro.
“But they’ve given so much this season and they’ve lost one league game.”
It’s hard to be too critical but it has shined a light on where Liverpool need to improve.”
‘The lack of pace in attack is glaring,” Carragher explained.
“I feel sorry for Mohamed Salah, he was kept quiet by PSG and he wasn’t great today but he doesn’t get help from the other attackers.”
‘The other attackers are good players but they’re not great. They need to go and buy two attackers this summer to play alongside Salah.”
“The last week has shown what they need in the summer.”
“It’s exciting because Liverpool are going to win the league and they still need to improve in some areas,” he concluded.
At the start of the campaign, Arne Slot’s forward ranks were seen as the deepest in the squad, with six players all competing for three positions.
It’s fair to say that this sentiment has shifted in the last months, with the toothless display against the Magpies shining more light on the issue.
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