Newcastle paid for playing an emotional game whilst Liverpool, guided by their imperious captain Virgil van Dijk, kept their cool…
LAST week I spoke about emotion and how drama clings to this club like a barnacle.
On Monday night, Newcastle invested heavily on an emotional game. Excessive pressing from all quarters, a feral crowd who have decided we’re the root of all their ills and with tackles flying in once they’d realised that the referee, Frank Spencer with a whistle, wasn’t a man to rock the boat. Liverpool were made to work to just get out of their own half.
There are two ways of looking at the response to that. Liverpool panicked and couldn’t get out, or, that they successfully destroyed the momentum by time wasting and only going backwards and sideways rather than losing the ball further up the pitch. I prefer the latter argument.
There were times when Virgil van Dijk, playing arguably his greatest game in a red shirt, and Ibou Konate (arguably doing the exact opposite) had the ball for so long in front of their own box that they could have left it alone and gone for a chat with the keeper.
No one presses Virgil van Dijk. Ever. This means that every time he has the ball in his own half it’s akin to a free-kick where Liverpool have time to regain shape. Newcastle’s tactic of uberpressing couldn’t have that so tried to press him into making a mistake. Good luck with that. He just kept it or popped it off to another defender. Using the ball to tire Newcastle’s legs. Control over tempo.
Maybe we recognised their frustration. The problem with a determined high-tempo game like that is that you pretty much have to score immediately for it to work. It’s too easy to tire and become discouraged when things don’t go to plan. Heads start to go. You could say this is where Anthony Gordon came in, but that wouldn’t strictly be true. Joelinton had already set a couple of markers on Mo Salah before Gordon committed his assault on the Champions’ captain.
Too much emotion can lead to a lack of control. Yes, Newcastle were impressive but their game plan was naïve. Liverpool can ride a storm so what do you do when you haven’t scored and are suddenly the more tired of the two sides? And it’s Liverpool? Luckily for them they waited for us to knock off.
What Liverpool can’t do is maintain a lead and it’s become a problem. Six points on the board is a great start, but Arne Slot and his team will be looking at those four conceded goals – all of them preventable.
At St James’s Park we had a weak challenge from Milos Kerkez for the first and whatever that was supposed to be for the second. Why was the defensive line so high for that free-kick? Insane.
Sky Sports were keen to point out that we got away with a lucky win, but Liverpool managed a difficult game as Champions do. Far from impressive at times but we fought till the end and there’s a lot to be said for that.
The difference, for me at least, was Virgil van Dijk. Newcastle can look to their own centre-back talisman in Dan Burn but give me the Dutchman every day. Not just for his almost effortless ability, but for his leadership when we were really under the cosh.
There are times when your head’s going that you need your captain to navigate you through the next five minutes. Virgil van Dijk is great at that. He doesn’t panic and we’d have been knackered without him yesterday.
There’s work to be done though. That much is clear.
That’s fine though. Liverpool just haven’t settled yet. Kerkez and Wirtz seem at odds with either the pace of the game or the position they’re supposed to play in this setup, but that will come with time.
In the first game we missed Ryan Gravenberch and against Newcastle we missed Alexis Mac Allister, but we should be back in shape for the weekend.
But the final word has to go to Rio Ngumoha. He dances on the Tyne. He’s not old enough to order beer or wine.
I’ve just worked out what I was doing four days before my 17th birthday, and it turns out I wasn’t scoring last minute winners against Newcastle United. I was probably panicking about not getting into Flintlocks club at the weekend.
He wins there. I reckon he’d get in if it still existed.
Much work to do then, but a win against Arsenal on Sunday and …
No, let’s not go there. Sometimes it’s best if emotion is kept in check.
