Arne Slot said Liverpool was outfought by Newcastle United in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, with the Magpies dictating the outcome of the game which was played at their pace.
The Dutchman’s hopes of a treble have been quashed this week with a Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain, five days before Newcastle United won at Wembley to lift its first major domestic silverware in 70 years.
Slot said ahead of the game that he expected a physical encounter but even if he must have been blown away by the intensity of the opposition. The Reds lacked rhythm and a coherent plan against a robust and highly motivated Newcastle.
But Slot rejected any notion that the midweek loss to PSG had a major bearing on the team’s physical preparation.
“This game had nothing to do with running,” the Liverpool boss said post-match. “This game had only to do with playing duels and there was no intensity in terms of running at all. So you cannot even judge it if we were tired, yes or no, physically because we could not press them.
“You can judge a team if they are tired and if they press. But there was nothing to press because they played over our press. If they had a goal-kick and if they got a free-kick every time they brought it into our last line.
“The game was slow, not intense. So it’s difficult to judge for me if we were physically ready. Mentally is always… yeah, that’s a difficult one.
“This game went exactly the way they wanted it to be: a fight with a lot of duels and a lot of duels through the air. If we play 10 times a game of football through the air against them they win it probably nine times because they are a stronger team than us.”
“I don’t think there was more hunger for them,” Slot added. “The game went the way they wanted it to go and they are stronger in that part of of football than us, and that’s why they were and they be us.”
