Liverpool supervisor Arne Slot dismissed ideas his facet’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United within the EFL Cup last was the product of fatigue following their penalty shootout loss to Paris Saint-Germain within the Champions League.
The Reds had been favourites to assert their first trophy beneath Slot, who has overseen an impressive first season in cost since taking up from Jurgen Klopp, with Liverpool 12 factors away from Arsenal on the high of the Premier League.
However they had been undone by an excellent efficiency from Newcastle, who took a 2-0 lead by way of targets from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak earlier than Federico Chiesa pulled one again in stoppage time.
An underwhelming Liverpool show got here 5 days after they let slip a first-leg lead over PSG of their last-16 tie, a pulsating second leg finally going all the way in which to penalties, wherein Gianluigi Donnarumma shone to ship the Ligue 1 leaders by way of.
Liverpool seemed bereft of power at Wembley, however Slot wouldn’t cite fatigue as an element, as an alternative pointing to a direct strategy from Newcastle that supervisor Eddie Howe admitted he had saved near his chest when the 2 sides met at Anfield final month as the principle cause for his crew’s demise.
“Mentally is at all times troublesome to evaluate,” Slot advised reporters when requested if his facet had been drained.
“Had been we on Tuesday mentally or bodily drained? No, however this sport had nothing to do with working, this sport had solely to do with taking part in duels.
“And there was no depth by way of working on this sport in any respect, we can’t even choose it if we had been drained bodily, sure or no, as a result of we couldn’t press them.
“You may choose a crew if they’re drained in the event that they press, however there was nothing to press as a result of they performed over our press.
“In the event that they bought a goal-kick or free-kick, each time they introduced it to our final line which led to lots of set items.
“So the sport was gradual and never intense, so it’s troublesome to evaluate, for me, if we had been bodily prepared. Mentally, that may be a troublesome one.
“In case you take a look at the outcome and the efficiency you may really feel it [the PSG game] did one thing to us, however I desire to take a look at how the sport went, and this sport went precisely how they needed it to be.
“A combat with lots of duels, and lots of duels by way of the air, and if we performed 10 occasions a sport of soccer by way of the air towards them they win in all probability 9 occasions as they’re stronger within the air than us.”
Liverpool may have time to recover from the frustration of this week, with a world break permitting them the chance to regroup forward of the Merseyside derby with Everton on April 2.
On whether or not that break had come at a great time for his crew, Slot mentioned: “We’re one of many largest golf equipment on the planet, Liverpool. But it surely’s not for the primary time of their historical past, or within the final two seasons, that they’ve misplaced two video games in a row.
“That is a part of taking part in soccer, particularly if certainly one of them is while you face one of the best crew in Europe in the mean time, and the opposite one is going through Newcastle, which is a really robust crew in England.
“I’d’ve cherished to play subsequent week. However now the scenario is that they go to their nationwide groups, the place they’ve two extra video games once more. Then it’s in all probability one-and-a-half weeks earlier than we face Everton, which is once more a crew we already confronted. We all know how troublesome that one was. Let’s see.”
