4 Things Arne Slot Got Massively Wrong in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup Loss vs Newcastle

In an attempt to win the first piece of silverware of his Liverpool tenure, Arne Slot was far from his managerial best as Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United ran riot in a 2-1 win, thus ending the Magpies’ 70-year trophy drought. But what went wrong for the Reds?

A simple question, of course, given that Liverpool were not at the races and Newcastle were much more measured in their approach – but it’s much more intricate than that.

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In the game, unlikely scorer Dan Burn opened with a header (more on that later!) before the inevitable, Liverpool-linked Alexander Isak half-volleyed his effort home to double Newcastle’s lead as they looked one step closer to making history.

Federico Chiesa’s late goal was merely a consolation for Slot and his entourage, but the ex-Feyenoord tactician has plenty to chew over between now and the end of the 2024/25 campaign. Here are four of the Dutchman’s biggest mistakes he made in the capital.

Opting for Mac Allister to Mark Burn

Newcastle's opener came via a Burn header

The above video speaks for itself, doesn't it? Watching Burn, one of the tallest players in the Premier League right now, being marked by Alexis Mac Allister, a player not blessed with height, was baffling and it's not unfair to say that it was a mismatch that caused Liverpool plenty of problems throughout the 90 minutes. Elsewhere, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk were tasked with zonal marking.

What was more baffling from Slot’s perspective is that even after Burn escaped the Argentine and nodded home the opener, there was absolutely no change in strategy as Mac Allister continued to pick up the giant from set-piece situations – and although the Dutchman’s stubbornness didn’t result in further pain, there was every chance that it could have. On the decision, Slot said:

I can explain. We play zonal. We always have five players zonally close to our goal, if they ball falls there there is always one of the stronger five players to attack that ball. We have 3 players than man mark, Macca is one of them.

He continued to justify his choice by praising Burn's unpredictability. "Normally a player like Burn runs to the zone because normally, I think he is an exception, I have never in my life seen a player from that far away heading a ball with so much force into the far corner.”

Starting Jota Amid A Poor Run of Form

The Portuguese has not scored since mid-January – and it showed

Diogo Jota hasn’t been in the good books of the Anfield faithful for some while now. The Portuguese, 28, is entirely devoid of confidence and is merely a shadow of his former self – a hungry centre-forward who is able to create, score and be a menace. And Slot’s decision to start him was reckless.

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So far this campaign, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man – widely regarded as one of the best finishers in the Premier League right now – has scored eight goals in 29 outings, though he’s not scored since mid-January. Relying on such an out-of-form striker in an all-crucial game was a mishap on Slot’s part.

Waiting Too Long to Bring on Reinforcements

Slot delayed Chiesa and Elliott's introductions until the 74th minute

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Following on from Jota’s ponderous 57-minute performance, it begs the question of why did it take Slot so long to replace him? It was relatively clear from early on that neither the aforementioned Jota nor Luis Diaz were getting much (if any!) joy out of Newcastle’s well-drilled defensive line and that was highlighted by Federico Chiesa’s impact off the substitutes' bench.

The same can be said for Harvey Elliott, who reportedly had to be assisted off the pitch as he was in 'a lot of pain'. With a deficit to reduce, Liverpool were lacking any sort of real firepower up top and keeping things fresh may have allowed the Reds to gain momentum – but both Chiesa, whose delicate finish gave fans a slight glimmer of hope, and Elliott entered the fray with just 16 minutes of regulation time left.

Starting Kelleher, Benching Alisson

The latter was available to play in the capital

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To give him his due, Liverpool and Ireland's Caoimhin Kelleher is an excellent goalkeeper and he’s, arguably, the best back-up in world football. But not to start Alisson Becker, commonly admired as one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history, in his first shot of lifting silverware was certainly… a bit odd.

And although some fans may claim that Kelleher could’ve thwarted Burn’s aforementioned header, that’s not to say that he was truly at fault for either one of Newcastle’s goals. Often is the case, managers opt to utilise their second fiddle stopper for the entirety of a cup campaign, but that cannot be the case given that Alisson, who was fit and available to play, featured in the semi-finals.

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