Former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman felt it was harsh to pin the blame on Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope for the Reds’ opening goal of Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat at Anfield. Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring for the Reds after just 11 minutes, putting the ball through the legs of Dan Burn and into the back of the net.
Questions were asked of the Magpies’ shot stopper following the 2-0 defeat, having conceded three goals against Nottingham Forest at the weekend. Eddie Howe made the decision to bring the England international back into the starting XI despite Martin Dubravka’s fine form in his absence.
There are now more questions surrounding Howe’s goalkeeper decision after the defeat at Anfield. There were nervy moments for Pope, when he came rushing out of his box to latch onto a loose ball, with Mo Salah charging down his clearance.
It was almost a repeat of a similar incident in the build-up to the Carabao Cup Final in 2023, which saw Pope given a red card for heading the ball into his own hands closing down Salah. Fortunately for Pope, he avoided any contact with the Reds winger and the ball went behind for a goalkick.
When asked about Pope’s involvement in the first goal and whether the Newcastle shot stopper could have done better, speaking to TNT Sports, McManaman said: “It is harsh, he’s slightly unsighted right up until – Dan Burn is right on the six-yard box. This is a better angle, he’s unsighted when he [Szoboszlao] hits the ball, he sees it there and gets down.
“He’s a big tall goalkeeper. It’s probably hard for him to get down and get it away seeing it so late. The second goal was similar. They were all backing off, they were all back in defence, they had numbers back in defence.
“They outnumbered Liverpool in defence, but still conceded and just didn’t learn. They defended well behind the ball which was great. You see here [Tonali giving the ball away before the second goal] they lose the ball and Liverpool are off again.
“Mac Allister off again, he started the move. Szoboszlai is running forward, Trent [Alexander-Arnold] has gone, you see how many red shirts are in the box. You see how many black and white shirts – they all get back.
“Mac Allister is in glorious isolation when he receives the ball.”
(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“It’s a principle in defence,” former Magpies and Liverpool boss Benitez interjects. “You have to defend the space, but the main thing is you have to defend the man. So then you have to find the balance between defending the space and the man.
“So the number of player Liverpool get into the box, when they are winning they still had a lot of players in the box.”
“Before Salah chops back,” McManaman continues. “Guimaraes is touch tight to Mac Allister and as soon as Salah goes back onto his right foot, Guimaraes drops towards the goal thinking we need to protect the goal.
“He leaves Mac Allister and of course Salah, the form he is in, he just puts it on a plate for him. It was all about the finish and the Argentinian just smashes it into the net.”
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