Mohamed Salah has been beyond brilliant for Liverpool this season, but his greatness could not quite extend to this crucial week for Arne Slot and his side. Yet while some audacious fingers will be pointed at the talisman who went missing, one of the manager’s changes at Wembley underlined where things were really going wrong.
I was lucky enough to be in attendance — and yes, I absolutely still consider myself lucky, given that my childhood self would not have even dared to dream I would get tickets to back-to-back Liverpool finals. I did my best to play my part in keeping the noise up for 90 minutes and more, and while the atmosphere obviously did not match up to Jurgen Klopp’s last trophy, the rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone at 2-0 down spoke volumes about this special club.
As if to repay the supporters, Federico Chiesa did conjure a goal from somewhere. But it could not disguise one of the worst performances of the Slot era, leaving all hopes pinned on securing the Premier League crown.
Understandably, much of the focus was on the attack — the uncharacteristic disappearance of Salah, but also the rapidly-extending droughts for Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota, and the failure of Darwin Nunez to alter the game. And there does seem little doubt that there will be a major transfer market reconfiguration in the front line come the summer.
But there was certainly more to it than that. And while Slot turned to Nunez in his first batch of substitutions, I found the other change he made at the same time far more interesting.
Slot chose to withdraw Ibrahima Konate, bringing on Curtis Jones in his place. The latter shifted into midfield, with Ryan Gravenberch operating as an auxiliary center-back.
It’s a break-glass emergency option we have seen from Slot once or twice before. And while it would be a massive stretch to say that it worked at Wembley, it did at least make things slightly better.
Prior to that change, the Liverpool build-up was practically non-existent. Newcastle was not even operating an especially aggressive press, and yet time and again the ball was sent long, either by Caoimhin Kelleher (should he really have played ahead of Alisson?) or one of the center-backs.
One of the most underrated improvements in Salah’s game in recent times has been his hold-up work — at points this season he has almost acted as Liverpool’s target man, controlling with his back to goal before setting the team on its way. But inevitably, he could not win any aerial battles with Dan Burn.
That more or less froze him out of the game. In fact, all of the attackers were feeding off scraps before Slot’s changes, with shepherding the ball from defense into midfield proving the biggest sticking point.
Yet within minutes of coming on, Jones received the ball deep, baited two Newcastle players to him, then released a pass into midfield, finally producing some space. Gravenberch was willinng to give it to him in tight spots, and he was able to deliver the solutions.
(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Had this unorthodox setup been in place from the start, the final might at least have unfolded a little more on Liverpool’s terms. The result may not have been different, but the performance would have been a little less dire.
Of course, the change ultimately only shifted the focus onto the impotence of Liverpool’s attackers, with a greater presence in the final third exposing shortcomings against the deep Newcastle block. But there will be little point in Slot refreshing the front line if he cannot find a reliable way out from the back.
I have been one of Gravenberch’s biggest fans this season. But I don’t think the search for a new number six should necessarily be called to a halt just yet.
Martin Zubimendi was identified as perfect for Slot’s system last summer, and part of the reason for that was his ability to knit things together from back to front. Gravenberch at his best has been able to do that, but at the very least, Liverpool needs a plausible alternative to avoid physically and mentally exhausting the former Ajax man.
Revisitng the Zubimendi transfer looks unlikely, with Arsenal now in pole position. But if Slot begins another campaign relying solely on Gravenberch, it will harm Liverpool’s chances.
There’s also a lesson about the kind of transfer target that will be needed in the back line. With Virgil van Dijk’s future still uncertain, Liverpool may well be thinking about a new center-back, and ball-playing ability needs to be right at the top of the list of priorities.
Even if Salah stays, and continues his uncanny impression of a target man, there will be games like this Newcastle one where that simply isn’t viable. The very top teams need repeatable ways of moving the ball from one box to the other, and that begins with the goalkeeper and defenders.
I’m far from against overhauling the attack in the transfer market. But it is changes at the other end of the pitch which will elevate Slot’s side the most, and ensure more (and happier) trips to Wembley in future.
