Alexis Mac Allister must take no less than a few of the blame for Dan Burn’s opening purpose towards Liverpool within the Carabao Cup remaining.
The Geordie’s header set the tone for the rest of the encounter, with Newcastle proving the way more dominant, bodily facet.
In fact, the Reds had been lucky to not have been blown away on the scoreline after the cup winners fired 17 pictures (six heading in the right direction) to the previous’s seven (two heading in the right direction).
Issues had been hardly helped by Mo Salah’s abnormally invisible displaying at Wembley Stadium, although there have been really few Liverpool gamers who might depart London with their head held excessive.
Alexis Mac Allister will wince at Dan Burn feedback
You possibly can forgive Alexis Mac Allister for grimacing a bit if he caught goalscorer Burn’s post-match feedback.
The defender – standing at 6’ 7” to the Argentine midfielder’s diminutive 5’ 9” – admitted he took benefit of his opponent’s failure to maintain his eye on the ball.
“I knew that Alexis wasn’t trying on the ball, so I’d be capable to get an excellent leap on him,” the 32-year-old informed Sky Sports activities.
“As quickly as I headed it, I knew it was in. It was simply considered one of them.”
“I do not actually need to fall asleep, I really feel like I am dreaming”
Dan Burn reacts to Newcastle’s Carabao Cup win… and is gate-crashed by his skipper 😅 pic.twitter.com/m4MTiAnUfO
— Sky Sports activities Soccer (@SkyFootball) March 16, 2025
Arne Slot explains logic behind Mac Allister marking Burn
To be utterly honest to our midfield technician, Arne Slot isn’t innocent for a way ruthlessly Newcastle uncovered this chink in our armour on Sunday afternoon.
The fashionable Liverpool boss did justify his rationale behind his ways, which left Mac Allister open to being dominated by a much more bodily imposing participant.
“I can clarify. We play zonal so we now have 5 gamers zonally near our purpose, so if the ball falls there it’s at all times one of many 5 stronger gamers which are going to assault that ball,” the Dutchman was quoted by the membership’s official web site.
“And we now have three gamers that man-mark and Macca is considered one of them. Usually a participant like Dan Burn or one other one runs to the zone as a result of usually… I believe he’s an exception to that as a result of I’ve by no means seen in my life a participant from that far-off heading a ball with a lot drive into the far nook.”
To be clear, we’re not against zonal marking per se. Nevertheless, absolutely it ought to have been made clear from the off that any potential scenario pitting our World Cup winner towards Dan Burn, a veritable behemoth of a person, can be removed from perfect.
Zonal marking should nonetheless be predicated on the understanding that sure mixtures of gamers can lead to a complete mismatch.
In Liverpool’s case, it was one which was brutally uncovered, paving the best way for Newcastle to grab one other trophy from our grasp.
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