“It’s really weird”, “I can’t believe it” – Steve Nicol reveals what left him ‘astounded’ despite Liverpool's win over Newcastle
Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol has criticized the Reds for failing to make their ball possession count in a narrow 2-1 win over Newcastle United on Wednesday, August 31.
Jurgen Klopp's men secured a last-gasp Premier League win after going down in the 38th minute to new Newcastle signing Alexander Isak's goal. The Reds fought back through Roberto Firmino, who scored the equalizer in the 60th minute.
Summer acquisition Fabio Carvalho completed the comeback, scoring in the eighth minute of injury time to seal all three points for the Reds at Anfield. This was the club's second consecutive victory in the league after going winless in their first three matches.
❤ https://t.co/vZjfhgCjbn
Nicol, however, wasn't impressed with Liverpool's performance against the Magpies. He highlighted how Klopp's side dominated possession, played '500 something passes' and took 23 shots, but were still left chasing the match
Nicole questioned while speaking on ESPN:
“It's really weird. I'm looking at those stats, 500 something passes, 23 shots, but yet I feel as though Liverpool got out of jail, right? They may have had all the possession, but they really didn't do anything with it. I mean, I don't remember any chance in the game where I'm saying, I can't believe whoever it may have been didn't score."
He added:
“I can't believe it. Six shots on goal and I don't remember saying Pope. What an incredible save. Yeah, I'm astounded.”
Liverpool played a massive 625 passes against Newcastle, while keeping 72% of the ball. But wastefulness in front of goal saw them bank on a late winner from Carvalho to seal the victory.
"We played too many long balls without a real idea behind" - Jurgen Klopp opens up on Liverpool's performance against Newcastle
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp pointed out how his players 'played too many long balls' without any clear idea of their next move. He also stressed how repeated stoppages in the game broke their momentum in the second half.
The win saw them climb up to fifth spot in the league table with two wins, two draws and a defeat in five matches. They will next face Everton in the Merseyside derby on Saturday, September 3.
Klopp said in the post-match conference:
"[We] told the boys at half-time that even before we were 1-0 down, it looked already a little bit desperate, there’s no need for that. We were forcing it too early, we played too many long balls without a real idea behind."
He added:
"Again, being 1-0 down is obviously not cool but it was the least of my problems in half-time. So, we showed the boys: if we do specific stuff, play the extra pass then we can cause them problems because they took some risk in their defending, how they moved to one side.
Incredible late drama at Anfield 😍 https://t.co/44LbHkEH6c
Klopp further noted:
"So we scored the equalizer and then it was just a difficult game to play because we didn’t play a lot. It was just interrupted constantly for some reason and that doesn’t give you the momentum. There was no chance to gain any kind of momentum."
He also said:
"In the end, I was really happy in the moment when we got this last corner in the 98th minute. What Mo and Fabio made then of it was obviously absolutely outstanding, a wonderful goal. A perfect moment; that we scored it after 98 minutes, I thought, is the perfect response to everything what happened during the game."