Dan Burn, an unlikely goal scorer, opened the game with a header (more on that later!). Alexander Isak, who is linked to Liverpool, half-volleyed his attempt home to double Newcastle’s lead just before the inevitable, putting them one step closer to creating history.
Slot and his group were only comforted by Federico Chiesa’s late goal, but the former Feyenoord tactician will have a lot to think about as the 2024–2025 season draws to a close. Four of the Dutchman’s most significant errors in the capital are listed here.
Selecting Mac Allister over Mark Burn
Burn’s header gave Newcastle the lead.
"It's the boy from Blyth!"
A bullet header from Dan Burn! 💥 pic.twitter.com/TWjNryvqeu
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 16, 2025
Doesn’t the video above speak for itself? It was perplexing to watch Burn, one of the tallest players in the Premier League at the moment, get marked by Alexis Mac Allister, a guy who isn’t particularly tall, and it’s fair to say that the mismatch caused Liverpool a lot of issues during the ninety minutes. In other areas, zonal marking was assigned to Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate.
Even after Burn got away from the Argentine and nodded home the first goal, Mac Allister kept picking up the giant from set-piece situations, which was even more perplexing from Slot’s point of view. Although the Dutchman’s stubbornness didn’t cause any more pain, there was every possibility that it could have. Regarding the choice, Slot stated:
I can clarify. We engage in zonal play. Five of our guys are always zoned close to our goal, so if the ball falls there, one of the five stronger players will always attack it. Macca is one of the three players we have that are better than Man Mark.
He went on to praise Burn’s unpredictable nature in order to defend his decision. “A player like Burn usually rushes to the zone because, in my opinion, he is an exception. I have never witnessed a player head a ball so hard into the far corner from that distance in my life.”
Jota’s debut amid a bad run of form
Since mid-January, the Portuguese have failed to score, and it was evident
The supporters of Anfield haven’t been fond of Diogo Jota for a while. The 28-year-old Portuguese is completely lacking in confidence and is only a shell of the hungry center-forward who can score goals, create, and be a threat. And it was rash of Slot to start him.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers player, who is now considered to be among the Premier League’s top finishers, has scored eight goals in 29 games this season, but he hasn’t scored since mid-January. Slot made a mistake by depending on such an unproductive striker in a game that was absolutely essential.
Holding Off on Using Reinforcements Too Long
The debuts of Chiesa and Elliott were postponed by Slot until the 74th minute.
It raises the question of why it took Slot so long to replace Jota after his plodding 57-minute performance. Federico Chiesa’s impact off the replacements’ bench demonstrated early on that neither the aforementioned Jota nor Luis Diaz were enjoying themselves much, if at all, from Newcastle’s well-trained defensive line.
The same is true for Harvey Elliott, who reportedly had assistance leaving the pitch due to “a lot of pain.” With just 16 minutes of regulation time remaining, Chiesa, whose delicate finish gave fans a glimmer of hope, and Elliott both entered the fray. With a deficit to reduce, Liverpool lacked any kind of real firepower up top, and keeping things fresh may have allowed the Reds to gain momentum.
Benchmarking Alisson and starting Kelleher
The latter could be played in the capital.
To give him credit, Caoimhin Kelleher of Liverpool and Ireland is a superb goalie and is possibly the best backup in all of football. However, not to begin Alisson Becker, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in Premier League history, was definitely a little strange in his first attempt to win a trophy.
Why would you start Alisson in the semis over Kelleher then start Kelleher in the final?
No issues with Kelleher starting but that seems weird to me.
— Laurie (@LFCLaurie) March 16, 2025
Furthermore, even if some supporters could argue that Kelleher had a chance to stop Burn’s header, he wasn’t really to blame for either of Newcastle’s goals. Managers frequently choose to use their backup goalie for the duration of a cup campaign, but this isn’t possible considering that Alisson, who was healthy and eligible to play, made an appearance in the semi-finals.
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