That’s three times in the last ten league games we’ve let a two goal lead slip. It’s unacceptable and needs sorting, but at least we’re capable of going a couple of goals in front these days, so that’s progress I suppose. It sticks in the throat that we’ve only taken one point from six against this garbage Newcastle side though. It’s embarrassing. They scored with their only two shots on target, just as they did at their place earlier in the season.
Mignolet will take a lot of the flak for this and understandably so. He had virtually nothing to do but the one time he was called upon he failed us spectacularly, and not for the first time. He did the same thing against Sunderland with the same outcome of two dropped points to North East relegation threatened shite. It’s not all down to him though, the whole second half performance was flat and lifeless and fatigue has to be at least partly responsible. It’s difficult to play at such a high intensity for 90 minutes of every game and the energy in the second half didn’t look like it matched the first.
Of course with a 2-0 lead against a dog turd team like Newcastle we should be able to conserve a little energy and still see out the game, and that’s where Mignolet comes in. He gifted them the first goal and as soon as they got that it gave them confidence and belief they could get another. The second goal was a spawny deflection that he couldn’t do much about, but that first goal was just so avoidable.
It’s so infuriating because we’ve been on a good run and the first half went exactly how we’d have wanted it to. We made the dream start when Sturridge produced a fantastic goal out of virtually nothing with barely a minute gone. He brought the ball down on his chest, took a touch to set himself and drilled one into the bottom corner with two defenders on him. World class finish that.
Lallana’s wasn’t too shabby either. It was a nice little move and a glorious finish as he curled it into the top corner from 18 yards. Just reward as he’s been playing well recently with not much to show for it. I thought he was our best player in this game too, him and Milner.
Those two along with Allen and Moreno were very prominent in the first half, as much for their work without the ball as with it. Newcastle had a lot of trouble getting the ball down and playing because of the intense pressure they kept finding themselves under but it felt as though that changed after the break, either through complacency or maybe tiredness or perhaps both.
It’s not like it was a surprise though. At the risk of repeating myself, this is exactly why I still can’t allow myself to relax and trust them. I go from game to game just waiting for us to throw one of these in now as it’s inevitable. As frustrating as it undoubtedly is though, if it means we’ve got it out of our system for a few more weeks then far better it happened here than against Villarreal for example.
At least we didn’t get any more injuries, although we have lost Sakho now and he’ll be sitting in the stands with Can, Hendo and Origi for the rest of the season. I’m not going to say anything else about that sorry situation until more facts come out, but it goes without saying that we’ll miss him.
Kolo once again did nothing wrong though and Lovren was excellent. We’ve let in two goals and yet the defence were barely troubled all afternoon and performed well on the whole. Moreno was the pick of the back four but I thought Connor Randall looked a little overawed. Mad the way Flanno has disappeared off the face of the earth isn’t it? These are the games he should be playing in, yet he’s behind Randall and can’t even get on the bench.
I didn’t think Kev Stewart looked up to the job this time either. He didn’t do too much wrong but this was his least impressive outing to date. All he was doing was playing five yard passes to whoever was nearest. There’s playing it simple, and then there’s just not taking any kind of responsibility. I thought Stewart seemed to be overly cautious all game and I was surprised he completed the 90 minutes.
Randall and Allen were the first to be replaced and then Lallana got a ten minute breather at the end as Ojo was given a run out. Did we really need Lucas and Stewart on the field when we were chasing the game? Lucas was used further forward than usual but looked like a fish out of water any time he got near the box. Hard to believe he was once Brazilian player of the year when playing as an attacking midfielder.
I suppose it’s just because we're running out of bodies now though. Either Allen can’t play 90 minutes or Klopp was protecting him for Thursday. He wasn’t anywhere near as influential after the break, but it can’t be tiredness as he only played 20 minutes in midweek. We’re down to the absolute bare bones in midfield, especially in the Europa as Stewart isn’t an option.
We knew fourth was almost impossible even before this game but after dropping two soft points we’re going to struggle to even catch the Mancs and West Ham now. It’s disappointing but in some respects we’re playing with house money this year anyway. Klopp has had plenty of time to assess what he’s got, decide what he needs and improve those who are already here.
He’s already solved some of the issues we had, such as the lack of goals and the constant conceding from corners, so hopefully some of the problems we’re seeing at the moment, such as being unable to hold onto leads, will also be rectified in time for next season. This was a frustrating result but it doesn’t really change anything. It shouldn’t undermine the confidence that has been built up with recent performances either. It’s not as though we played particularly badly, they only had two chances all day but unfortunately both went in.
We’re still “in a good way” as Klopp likes to say, but we really can’t afford to lose any more players if we’re to reach - and then hopefully win - the Europa final. The two points dropped here should end any real interest in the league now and I’d expect Klopp to leave everybody out for the league fixture in between both Villarreal games.
And in the meantime, let’s hope no-one else has been on the gear.
Team: Mignolet; Randall (Firmino), Lovren, Toure, Moreno; Stewart, Allen (Lucas), Milner; Firmino, Lallana (Ojo); Sturridge:
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