Liverpool just didn’t turn up against Newcastle
Liverpool were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle at St. James’ Park marking Jurgen Klopp’s first away defeat as Reds manager.
Klopp made six changes to the side that crushed Southampton, bringing in Mignolet, Clyne, Firmino, Milner, Benteke and Jordan Ibe for Bodgan, Randall, Lallana, Can, Sturridge and Origi.
The German went with a 4-2-3-1 with Lucas and Allen as the midfield pair, Milner and Ibe in wide positions and Firmino in behind Benteke, as Liverpool struggled again to break down a defensive-minded team.
Newcastle were set up to defend deep and frustrate Liverpool as much as they could and look to play on the counter. Sissoko and Wijnaldum came back and helped Janmaat and Dummet whenever needed. De Jong dropped deep and helped Colback and Anita in holding out Liverpool’s forward play.
There was no space for the Reds to attack so the need of the hour was to be patient and look to mix it up as much as possible. They created a few good spaces in the first half by making clever runs but the final ball was disappointing every single time.
Ibe, Firmino and Milner were disappointing when it comes to putting a cross or giving the pass. Moreno in the first half did not offer much going forward as compared to Clyne, so Janmaat and Sissoko were able to press Milner.
Clyne, on the other hand, had more going forward but not enough in the final third. The Reds looked very disjointed with Firmino now and then dropping deep to force the play which forced Benteke to drop a bit behind, leaving less options for either of Milner or Ibe to attack or throw in a cross at. Newcastle were very compact and looked to have every area of their defense covered.
After the Newcastle goal which, unluckily for Liverpool, came from Skrtel. Klopp changed to a diamond 4-4-2 with Origi and Sturridge leading the line, Lallana just behind those two, Lucas in the deeper role and Milner and Allen ahead of him.
This change inspired Liverpool a bit, but one should say, Liverpool were very lazy in their approach and looked disjointed as an attacking threat and in their midfield pressing.
One more aspect that was clearly missing in Liverpool’s play was their pressing and counter-pressing. The midfield pressing and retaining possession was poor, Lucas and Allen were not working on the same wavelength as far as pressing a player is concerned.
Milner and Ibe did not press Newcastle’s wide players and Benteke’s stagnancy was also a major factor of the disjointedness in counter-pressing, the Belgian’s main movements were in around his own original position which makes it very easy for Coloccini and Mbemba to defend. He rarely took part in counter-pressing when Newcastle were looking to play out from the back.
Lack of good crosses was also a problem but no excuse, Benteke needed to be more sharp and look to take defenders with him and allow others to run in tandem.
All in all it should be said, Liverpool deserved absolutely nothing out of this game and Klopp’s post-match comments suggested that too. They’ll need to shore up few tactical mistakes as they face similar defensive-minded opposition in the near future.
