It was Newcastle’s “World Cup”, Bruno Guimaraes said during the build-up. And once the game kicked off, Liverpool simply couldn’t match the Magpies’ desire and intensity.
All over the field, Liverpool looked like it was losing its battles. Sandro Tonali and Joelinton’s physicality was too much to handle and Guimaraes himself added steel as well as silk and flair. This was Newcastle’s day. Liverpool will have its celebrations when the Premier League title is confirmed and while it will still represent a stellar season, it should perhaps have been more.
Liverpool crashed out of Europe on penalties earlier in the week against PSG and a bad week was compounded here. That extra-time period in the Champions League certainly looked to have taken plenty of energy out of legs, though it might simply have been the exertions of the season catching up.
Either way, Alexis Mac Allister struggled at Wembley and he was far from the only one. The Liverpool attacking unit just didn’t get going.
“This game had nothing to do with running,” Arne Slot insisted during his post-game press conference. “It had to do with duels. We had no intensity. We could not press them. They played over our press and every time got it into our last line.”
While it might be running specifically, the intensity was low. So too was the level of creativity and prowess in the final third.
Substitute Federico Chiesa made some difference but it was telling that the Italian was the liveliest of the forwards When that is the case, on the evidence of the season so far, you know it has been an off day.
(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Mohamed Salah was stifled completely and Luis Diaz only completed one dribble. Diogo Jota, in the middle, looked lost, while Darwin Nunez didn’t come on and do any better.
Slot has gone with a front three of Diaz or Cody Gakpo off the left, Jota down the middle and Salah on the right as often as he can, but none had the answers here. They very quickly ran out of ideas.
Dominik Szoboszlai lacked the kind of poise he offers at his best, and given there was so little space or movement around him, it hardly mattered. No individual was at fault, but a collective faltering in attack is never the recipe for success.
In the second half, an exasperated Van Dijk could be seen waving his arms around frantically trying to inject some life into those in front of him, but to no avail. There was simply not enough movement to create space, and Newcastle was therefore let off relatively lightly.
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By a combination of coaching and recruitment, that is what Liverpool will have to get better at during the off-season. The Premier League’s top scorers by 14 goals they might be, but there is room for improvement. It couldn’t be more clear.
Against PSG and now here, the Reds needed a little something extra — and with so many minutes in the tank, they couldn’t provide it. Newcastle, in contrast, buoyed by the novelty of being in a final, just had that little bit extra that confirmed the result.
Eddie Howe and his players deserve plenty of plaudits. But for Liverpool, adding more quality in the summer is vital A) to ensure that creativity problems like this one are prevented and B) to strengthen weak points in the team like at number nine.
It is important to add the context that Liverpool will win the Premier League this season. But on this evidence, it is a good job there is a buffer at the top, with Slot’s men looking to have run out of steam.
