Football News: Newcastle United v Liverpool - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

Newcastle United v Liverpool A Liverpool Perspective

It was not a particularly good performance by Liverpool, not in the slightest, but once again they found a way to win it when it matters. That is a great habit to get into while you are trying to get your football flowing. There were long periods in the second half that it looked like it was Liverpool that were a man down, as they allowed themselves to be overrun and pushed back. In the main though, they did deal well with the aerial onslaught from Newcastle. It was two bad basic errors that gave the goals away. I think I have to agree with Arne Slot on this though, games like this, especially this early in the season, you just have to get through and get the result. It was the same when Stoke were in the Premier League, games against them were never pretty but all that mattered was coming away with the result.

It does continue a worrying trend though of Liverpool's midfield being bullied out of games by a more physical opponent. So far it has not cost the team and so it is not a problem, but long term you would have to think the opposition will target this more and more. One thing is for sure, I have faith that Slot will find ways to deal with whatever is thrown at him. He has the ability to adapt and overcome, no matter how ugly it can be at times.

Once again in this game, Slot showed his ability to bring on substitutes, change the play and get that win. It may not be doing much good for my heart, but it is working. It was clear that he expected Newcastle to do exactly what they did and was just looking to soak it up and try and take the sting out of the game. You could see that by the way Liverpool took their time in everything they did, when they are usually looking to restart quickly all the time. Instead they were looking to frustrate Newcastle's team and fans. And it worked. Yes, it was unable to lower the crowd volume but instead it saw a number of the Toon players lose their heads. If the referee was not so weak, the man advantage would have been either more or the Newcastle team would have had to back off a bit. Unfortunately, Hooper is the weakest (and probably the worst) of the Premier League officials and he folded under the pressure. He seemed a lot more concerned with just trying to get good pictures on that stupid bodycam, than actually dealing with the problems.

But, the key thing is that, from a Liverpool point of view, it was three more points in what is likely to be a long, difficult season. The performance may not have been great, but it usually takes a while for teams to get up to speed and it is rare teams that start playing well in the first few games maintain it. And, if you can't enjoy a moment like Rio Ngumoha's last gasp goal in a difficult away match to win it, well then you may as well stop watching football. That is the kind of moment that makes the sport so special. It is a moment that will be remembered for years to come.

One last thing, I saw a piece by an ex-referee saying that this game needs to be investigated because of the amount of time the ball was in play. It was the least amount of time in a Premier League match since the days of Stoke City. However, he immediately tried to remove any blame from Simon Hooper for that, when he is mainly responsible for it. It was his weakness that led to so many free kicks being given. It was his inability to tell the time that led to him not putting enough added time on the end of each half. It was him that allowed the game to degenerate into a slugfest. Hooper set the tone from the outset by not clamping down hard at the beginning. I agree it needs to be investigated by the PGMOL, but not with the mindset that the officials did no wrong. Instead they should purely be interested in what the officials can do to improve matters. Instead they are only interested in covering their own arses and claiming they got every decision right, when everyone watching saw them get it hopelessly wrong!

Newcastle United

It was clear last season that Howe had decided the way forward for Newcastle was to utilise power and try to bully the opposition. This season he has doubled down on that. In this game, Howe decided to go full 1980s Wimbledon and just pump everything possible into the box and hope for a break. He seems to have become fixated on how effective Burn can be, with his height, and is just building everything around that as his tactics. It is quite worrying at the start of the season that a number of teams seem to be going back to the old long-ball tactics of lumping it up to a big man and looking for bits and pieces. Newcastle looked so much more effective when they play the ball out wide and crossed it in. Yes, they were still using longer balls, but it was not just for someone to fight for, but an actual pass into an area a wide man should be able to collect it first if they are alert. It does seem like Howe has panicked with no Isak and Wilson to play up front and is not confident that the current front three will get the goals.

The intensity had been cranked up for this game, the Newcastle players were really up for it, but that manifested a lot of the time as intentional fouls. From the start it seemed like they were far more interested in leaving something on a Liverpool player than getting the ball. Trippier launched himself in studs first at Wirtz within the first few minutes set the tone. They were lucky that Simon Hooper is a weak referee as Guimaraes could easily have already had a number of yellows before being booked and afterwards continued to tackle wildly. Even after Hooper gave him a final warning, he went in over the ball and made numerous reckless challenges that would normally have been a yellow. That did the Toon no favours though, as, apart from the red card, they picked up injuries with their reckless challenges and Tonali managed to hurt his shoulder after a couple attempts to foul failed and he threw himself to the ground looking for a free kick. I think that one was karma!

That intensity and bullying style did allow them to put real pressure on Liverpool and keep them from getting on the ball and playing the way they want to. So I would think Howe will probably see his tactics as being successful, despite the defeat. Personally, I just feel that they could have paired the intensity and physicality with a bit more brains, rather than just going for more brawn and going down easily looking for free kicks to launch into the box. Just a little bit more variety in their play could have been the difference for them. After all, there is a reason why Stoke City under Tony Pulis, though always competitive never actually competed for league titles. I am not sure this style is the way to move the club forward, but it seems to be the style favoured judging by the attempts to sign 6ft 4inch tall Strand-Larsen from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Liverpool

Alisson - was put under some severe pressure at times and mostly dealt with it well. Between him and Virgil, most of the aerial bombardment was dealt with safely. There were a couple of times he got crowded out when coming for the ball, but mostly he was very good.

Szoboszlai - had an excellent game at right-back, despite it being an unfamiliar position to him. He kept Barnes quiet. Then he popped up at the end, after moving back to midfield, with a lovely dummy to draw away the defender to give Ngumoha time and space to place the winner.

Konate - another rank rotten performance. This season he has played like a player whose head is elsewhere. His 'defending' on the second goal was embarrassing. He simply cannot handle physicality, despite being such a big, powerful guy. His head goes and he starts grabbing and pulling. He was lucky that referees are now looking to see whether a forward is going to get on the ball or not before giving fouls, as he would have been picking up a second yellow in previous years. This season however, we have seen it already a few times with penalties not given as the player held was not going to get on the ball. Not convinced it is a good idea, it just seems to be another excuse for weak referees to avoid making a decision or for VAR to hide behind.

van Dijk - a proper captain's performance. I lost count of the times he headed the ball away, even though he was usually giving away a few inches in height to Burn or up against multiple Newcastle players. He looked back to his best. His timing was there and his positional sense saved Liverpool a few times. Man of the match in my opinion.

Kerkez - was badly at fault on the first goal turning his back before the ball was played in. He is still young though, so that is something that can be worked on in training for the future. Play the ball, not the man. Other than that, he had a restrained game trying to contain the threat of Elanga, rather than being given the freedom to bomb forward.

Jones - put in a shift but struggled to get on the ball and make anything happen. Newcastle were working so hard that it was difficult for him to play the way he likes to.

Gravenberch - despite picking up an early booking, he was able to mix it in the midfield for the rest of the game. Had a good game, but never really got to do much more than defend, so never got to play to his strengths enough. Despite that, he was able to pop up on the edge of the Newcastle box to score his first goal of the season.

Wirtz - he has not yet made the hoped for impact in English football, but it is little surprise that he struggled in this match. This was not a game for skill, the referee made sure of that by allowing Trippier to stud him on the very first challenge he received. He was not given a moment to do anything, though he never stopped trying. His work rate was excellent.

Salah - found it difficult to impact the game until right at the end when he popped up with the ball across for Rio to finish. However, as usual he was handicapped by the opposition being allowed to manhandle and kick him at will, but the moment he so much as breathes in the direction of a defender they are given a free kick. There has always been an odd bias against from referees, but it seems more pronounced this season.

Gakpo - despite being very closely marked, he ended the game with 2 assists. Worked hard, but needed some help on the wing when getting forward, which he barely received.

Ekitike - a very good game and showed he has the physicality to deal with attempts to rough him up. It did not phase him at all and his finish for the second almost right after half-time was very cool. Ekitike is impressing me more and more each game.

Bradley - replaced Wirtz in the 80th minute. Had a fair bit of the play, but did not do well. Gave away a silly needless foul which gave Newcastle a chance to put it into the mixer and they equalised from it.

Chiesa - was brought on in the stead of Ekitike in the 80th minute. Was unable to really get involved, though he worked hard to try and do something.

Elliott - replaced Jones in the 90th+5 minute. Struggled to make any impression on the game, as Newcastle were missing out midfield and just lumping it forward into the mixer.

Ngumoha - came on in the 90+5th minute, taking the place of Gakpo. Despite him and Elliott having to wait a good five minutes to get on, Ngumoha showed no signs of nerves at all and played with freedom. Great finish for the goal as well.

Endo - took the place of Salah in the 90+11th minute. I am not even sure if he touched the ball, he barely got on the pitch before it ended.

Written by Tris Burke August 28 2025 06:55:53