Reflecting on Newcastle United winning the Carabao Cup by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final, Eddie Howe can take immense pride in the fact that his side were far and away the better team.
Newcastle were brave, direct and fearless — three traits that emphasise Howe’s brand of football that Arne Slot’s side simply could not match on the day.
Liverpool, on the opposite hand of the spectrum looked jaded and out of ideas as Federico Chiesa’s late goal perhaps and the eventual scoreline flatters them after what was an insipid showing from the Reds at Wembley Stadium. Mohamed Salah was extremely quiet against Newcastle and his forgettable display perhaps summed up how the Merseyside-based club were simply not at the races on Sunday.
The same cannot be said about Newcastle’s crop of players, however, who played their heart out.
Micah Richards lauded Dan Burn’s heroics against Liverpool as he perhaps put in the best performance of his career in the Carabao Cup final. Even Alexander Isak raved about Burn’s showing against Liverpool, who was a class act himself and scored Newcastle’s second goal.
Thierry Henry calls Alexander Isak “complete” after Liverpool vs Newcastle in Carabao Cup
Thierry Henry witnessed one of the world’s premier strikers in Isak cause mayhem against Liverpool as he was present at Wembley Stadium.
Isak has been compared to Henry and it seemed like he was keen to impress the French legend.
As Thierry Henry interviewed Alexander Isak after Newcastle’s victory against Liverpool, he told the Swedish international that he is a “complete” player due to his work rate out of possession.
Henry said on CBS Sports: “Forget about the going and faking, going and going in behind Gabriel, you gave him that the whole time at Arsenal and you guys obviously worked attacking their left-hand side but the way you press, this is what I wanted to talk about because a lot of people talk about players being complete because they can do everything on the ball.”
“You are complete for me because also, off the ball, you do a lot.”
Arne Slot labelled Isak as “unbelievable” before Liverpool tasted defeat against Newcastle as well and the former Real Sociedad goalscorer continues to justify the hype surrounding his name.
Thierry Henry on whether Alexander Isak is a young version of himself
During the interview, Kate Scott also informed Isak that Micah Richards compared him to a young version of Thierry Henry.
“If you had have been watching our pre-game [show], you would’ve heard Micah [Richards] describe you as a young Thierry Henry. How do you like the comparison?”
The Newcastle technician replied: “Yeah, I think that is a stretch.”
However, Thierry Henry laughed and claimed that it is a fair comparison, saying: “No, it’s not, man!”
The 25-year-old well and truly had a day to remember as he not only scored and won the Carabao Cup with Newcastle but Henry admitted to the pair being similar as players.
Isak, valued at £160 million by Newcastle showed against Liverpool that he is priceless to them and he may already be considered a legend at St. James’ Park after his latest exploits.
