Carabao Cup Final: Liverpool 1 Newcastle United 2 (Mar 16 2025)

Good report.  Nothing overboard about it.  
 

Half the team didn’t have the stomach for a real fight while every opposition player put absolutely everything on the line. 

What do you think of Trippier's hand ball?

"Kieron Trippier appeared to handle the ball in the box when battling with Luis Diaz"

Penalty and 1-0.

Five minutes later it was 0-1.

What is the reason VAR didn't check that (Trippier) incident?

What is the reason VAR checked our goal so long?

I'd say it's the most (inadvertently?) persuasive report of yours I've ever read, dave.

You have pretty much convinced me we're not 12 points clear at the top.

1 hour ago, timo1966 said:

What is the reason VAR didn't check that (Trippier) incident?

 

What is the reason VAR checked our goal so long?

Atwell is the reason.

2 hours ago, timo1966 said:

What do you think of Trippier's hand ball?

 

"Kieron Trippier appeared to handle the ball in the box when battling with Luis Diaz"

 

Penalty and 1-0.

 

Five minutes later it was 0-1.

Think they said his arm was in that position for balance? Looked like he flicked the ball to me.

Told as it was without some of the hysteria seen in other threads, thanks.

I see first hand what the Ramadan fast does, dont know how they do it and it deffo plays a part in performance. 

Spare a thought for me though, I had to travel to the Monday quiz with my Geordie neighbours. Their Daughter is Downs and was doing the guest round, I somehow managed to suggest to her the first question....

"Guess who won the cup?"

Despite suggesting it, I booed! She was still buzzing.

I'm still utterly furious and disgusted by that performance. Genuinely sickening. 

While I agree with a lot of it I’m afraid this Nunez bollocks has to stop.

He’s probably had more minutes than Endo, Chiesa and Harvey combined, yet is still stinking the place out in most games. 
 

If you think Nunez has a right to play like a toddler throwing a tantrum, then those players do to, but every time they get on the pitch they put the effort in and try to have an impact on the game. If Nunez thinks he’s hard done by he should be doubly determined to ram it down the manager’s throat every time he gets on, not switching off.

Clip the Peacocks wings? Fuck that, pull them off and roast what’s left with a nice side salad.

Sobering read Dave, well done for putting it together. 

7 hours ago, aws said:

Good report.  Nothing overboard about it.  
 

Half the team didn’t have the stomach for a real fight while every opposition player put absolutely everything on the line. 

Every time there's talk of 'revenge' derby matches, I think back to the 2-0 defeat at Anfield in 2021. We'd had van Dijk assaulted by Pickford in the earlier game, a ridiculous offside given against Mane to deny us a winner and Richarlison throwing himself around like a toddler in a strop. Now we had them back at Anfield, where we hadn't lost against them for over 20 years or at all for over a decade. Perfect time for revenge, lack of crowd notwithstanding. And... we turned in a half-arsed, meek performance and allowed them to bully us. I just can't help thinking we're going to see the same and that we lack steel and guts when things turn nasty.

It’s a good report Dave, to have not been a bit ranty would have been a dereliction of duty!
The lack of fight has been a complaint of mine, particularly about our midfield. Macca is aggressive but he’s also a bit of a crybaby at times. Gravy is elegant, never a destroyer and Dom just annoys me, I’ve become biased against him. Fuck knows what’s happened to our forwards. 
I can’t deny that Slot has done wonders for a first season here, but… I said to my mate I missed Jurgen’s obvious physical involvement in our games (he popped up in a fucking trivago ad minutes later), and his humanist approach to ensuring the squad is fully engaged. Yet we are top of the league needing another 15 points to win it and I’m feeling a bit of an hysterical fanny.  

Agree with all of that.

I think you contradict yourself though when you say we have won the league already and at the same time don`t trust this team to get a result against anyone.

We need 5 wins and it is hard to see how the team in this state is going to get that.

1 hour ago, Judge said:

Agree with all of that.

 

I think you contradict yourself though when you say we have won the league already and at the same time don`t trust this team to get a result against anyone.

 

We need 5 wins and it is hard to see how the team in this state is going to get that.

 

We'll get five wins, although we probably won't need them anyway as Arsenal aren't winning every game. What I mean is I no longer trust them in any specific game where I can say "we'll defo win this today". The form over the last couple of months doesn't inspire any confidence that we will definitely go out and there and win any specific game. 

I'll give this a proper read later but it was infuriating how we let that cunt Jolinton bully us. Not sure if I'm overreacting but it feels like we're pussies when faced with physical sides. Not only losing the duels but just passive body language and feeling sorry for ourselves. You need a stubborn streak in those games where a few players decide "No you're not in charge here" and stamp their authority on the game, we just seemed to hide really. You can't let the other side set the tempo, you have to either push back or use their style against them.

1 hour ago, Judge said:

Agree with all of that.

 

I think you contradict yourself though when you say we have won the league already and at the same time don`t trust this team to get a result against anyone.

 

We need 5 wins and it is hard to see how the team in this state is going to get that.

 

Last time we failed to get 15 points from our last nine games was in Rodgers last full season, that is 11 seasons ago. Even the eight points we got back then will probably be enough to win the title this season.

We are on a completely different level now, so that will just not happen, Salah, Gakpo and Diaz alone will probably score more league goals than that whole squad combined.

1 hour ago, Anubis said:

If Nunez thinks he’s hard done by he should be doubly determined to ram it down the manager’s throat every time he gets on, not switching off.

In an ideal world that's how every player would behave. In reality, human emotions play a part and being benched every time you score or have a good game is invariably going to have an impact on a striker's confidence or motivation. Slot constantly says how Endo is the exception in how he handles things. Most players aren't like that, especially strikers.

There's a lot I could say about how important man-management is, or how the role of the 9 in this team isn't the same as it was before and how they get less shooting opportunities as a result of it, but you won't want to hear it and I'm sick of talking about it.

I daresay Nunez will be as desperate to leave as you are to see him go. 

8 minutes ago, TheSire said:

I'll give this a proper read later but it was infuriating how we let that cunt Jolinton bully us. Not sure if I'm overreacting but it feels like we're pussies when faced with physical sides. Not only losing the duels but just passive body language and feeling sorry for ourselves. You need a stubborn streak in those games where a few players decide "No you're not in charge here" and stamp their authority on the game, we just seemed to hide really. You can't let the other side set the tempo, you have to either push back or use their style against them.

 

That's something I addressed. Probably the thing that angered me most when I looked back on it. Someone should have broke his neck for what he did to Elliott.

As for the Trippier handball, those are not usually given these days and I wouldn't have given it either. If that had gone against us I'd have been livid.

I'm also of a mindset where I don't even want to talk about something like that as it detracts from how shit we were and how we deserved absolutely fuck all from the game. 

The title is not sewn up. Historical stats count for nothing. There is every indication in our play and our motivation that we will be watching Arsenal pip us in the last game of the season. If not before. 

No mention of the 88th minute yellow card for their keeper timewasting. Surely one of the most egregious, pointless cards of all time. And what happened to the new 8-second rule? 

7 minutes ago, TheSire said:

I'll give this a proper read later but it was infuriating how we let that cunt Jolinton bully us. Not sure if I'm overreacting but it feels like we're pussies when faced with physical sides. Not only losing the duels but just passive body language and feeling sorry for ourselves. You need a stubborn streak in those games where a few players decide "No you're not in charge here" and stamp their authority on the game, we just seemed to hide really. You can't let the other side set the tempo, you have to either push back or use their style against them.

 

After the initial shock at losing so meekly, Joelinton became the focus of my anger.

How can 10 outfield players just let him get away with cheering every fucking tackle he made. Surely one player thinks I'm getting a yellow for this cunt. We just let him think he owned the place and the sad thing is, he did. Imagine Souness or Gerrard letting Joelinton cheer every tackle.

2 minutes ago, Smell The Glove said:

After the initial shock at losing so meekly, Joelinton became the focus of my anger.

 

How can 10 outfield players just let him get away with cheering every fucking tackle he made. Surely one player thinks I'm getting a yellow for this cunt. We just let him think he owned the place and the sad thing is, he did. Imagine Souness or Gerrard letting Joelinton cheer every tackle.

Precisely this. 

You summed it up perfectly Dave, well said. I hope the players read it. Three more performances like that one and you can see the league disappearing. I don’t think hiring Slot was a mistake but i think hiring him and getting shot of all of Jurgens boys was a very big error

35 minutes ago, Smell The Glove said:

After the initial shock at losing so meekly, Joelinton became the focus of my anger.

 

How can 10 outfield players just let him get away with cheering every fucking tackle he made. Surely one player thinks I'm getting a yellow for this cunt. We just let him think he owned the place and the sad thing is, he did. Imagine Souness or Gerrard letting Joelinton cheer every tackle.

Because this team has a weak underbelly. And it rears its head every season except when we had Milner.

Agree with most of that.

One thing I will say is that this is what happens when you don't properly invest in a squad and allow big question marks over your star players to linger. This team feels more like an end of an era squad rather than the start of one under Slot. 

David Ornstein said we may move for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in January, and it may be that PSG had already convinced him and we couldn't get him, but just imagine if we had added him, just to freshen things up a bit?

Remember the days when we signed Diaz six months before Mane left or Gakpo six months before Bobby left?

If there's any truth that Diaz, Nunez, Jota, and Mo could be off, then we have our work cut out trying to replace all them in this market, not to mention the other glaring holes in the squad! 

I think we are becoming far too arrogant and stupid with our approach to transfers now. We think that whoever we sign will be a success and it's fine to let all your best players leave on a free!