When Dan Burn Outdoes Mohamed Salah
Two losses in a row. The end is nigh.
Yeah, that was bad.
For the first time all season, Liverpool have lost two on the bounce, with the second coming in a final at Wembley. Not cool. Indeed, it was the first time that Arne Slot has lost two consecutive games across his entire managerial career.
The Reds deserved nothing against Newcastle United, but what happened, and what did we learn about the current Liverpool squad in the process?
So one dominant take triumphed ahead of every other on Sunday afternoon. After the final whistle, supporters on both sides were pretty unanimous in their belief that Newcastle simply wanted it more. That’s what a 70-year wait for domestic silverware will do to you.
I’ll be honest, I tend to roll my eyes when I hear suggestions like that. But in this case, the cliché line probably has legs — unlike Liverpool’s attack — not least because of Eddie Howe’s aggressive approach to pressing.
In my preview post last week, I touched on Newcastle’s tendency to go man-for-man and how that can be flipped and exploited. Well, Liverpool definitely didn’t manage to do that. And because the Toon wanted the trophy loads and loads, they simply won their individual battles a lot of the time. 57 per cent of the time, to be exact.
At no point did the Reds gain a foothold. They seemed interested in attracting pressure before hitting over their opponents — which I kinda expected — but in practice, the whole thing looked really ugly and dare I say it, amateurish.
The constant attempt to play the long ball in the direction of 6-foot-6 Dan Burn was crazy to me. The man who is built like a tree. A giant. Like, what are you doing? You’ve got to do more if you want to isolate Mohamed Salah. You’ve got to do more if you want to get behind their midfield.
Burn had the game of his life, and Liverpool made it happen. The Geordie who is representing his boyhood club. Nobody will have felt their wait for a trophy as much as him. And he got to play a contest full of aerial duels, set-pieces and protection from one of the world’s best attackers.
Baiting their press was successful once by my count. And we nearly scored from the eventual shot. The below move is what I had in mind for this game, enticing Howe’s men to press before dancing around them and going for the throat.
But the above just didn’t happen. Ever.
For the most part, Liverpool’s means of attacking was quite rudimentary if we’re being truthful. Kindergarten stuff. Salah had no shots and created no chances in 90 minutes for the first time in his Anfield career. He posted the same number of touches as Harvey Elliott, who played 17 minutes.
In their attempts to prevent the Reds from using their talisman, Newcastle almost seemed to lean towards his side when soaking pressure. Stop the guy with 44 goals and assists in the Premier League this term, force Liverpool to play down their left, win the game.
If there’s one big picture lesson that I’m pretty confident about, it’s that Liverpool’s left flank has grown increasingly toothless over the years, ever since the days of Sadio Mané and Andy Robertson sharing their prime years together.
I’ve got some sympathy for Slot because he’s still experiencing his first year at the helm. And I’ve previously praised his straightforward tactic of running every attack through his best player. But regardless, you’ll need to use the other wing every now and then.
DÃaz almost delivered after 40 minutes. Diogo Jota was dropping uncharacteristically deep at times, likely as a means of exploiting Howe’s man-for-man press and taking Fabian Schar with him.
When successful, Jota’s movements allowed his Colombian teammate to engage in a race with Kieran Trippier, who has recently started knitting as a new pastime.
The Magpies full-back is 34 going on 52 right now, and he featured as a weakness in my preview last week. It would’ve been cool to see DÃaz roast him every five minutes, perhaps as the forwards playing for Paris Saint-Germain would’ve.
Instead, the Toon remained as a collective. Liverpool couldn’t use their superstar, lost the aerial game by 17 duels to eight, conceded from a stupid corner — by repeatedly presenting Burn with a chance to be the tallest man in England — and absolutely deserved to lose.
We don’t need to lose our minds here. Liverpool have lost five matches all season. That’s from a possible 47. And two of those involved the kids against Plymouth Argyle and PSV Eindhoven. Sipke Hulshoff basically played up front.
The Reds faced Newcastle three weeks ago and won by two goals to nil. They are 12 points clear of the pack in the Premier League. And in the land of xG, they have the best attack in the division and the joint-best defence, alongside Arsenal.
But at the same time, the guys in charge will be learning things about this squad right now. The attack needs some form of refresh. The midfield needs to be reinforced with greater depth. The starting left-back — despite his upturn of late — must pass the torch to his successor and become a support act.
There’s plenty to be happy about at the moment. It’s safe to smile. Our 20th Premier League title is lying in wait, after all. But if you’re Slot or Richard Hughes, there’s a fair bit of work to be done to ensure that Liverpool stay at the summit next season and beyond.
It was so frustrating to witness Arne's tactics: trying to play over, rather than through, the opponent's press. Same tactical approach he used at Everton, turning it into a contest of who can win aerial duels & 2nd balls (playing in a way that suits our opponent). As with Everton, our best chances came when we played through the press. Just strange.
Of all the teams to rely on long balls against, Newcastle certainly is not that team. And the fact that Liverpool got to that point in the first place amazes me.