What Carragher noticed about Liverpool after Newcastle defeat will have Arne Slot sweating | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher expressed concern that Liverpool’s legs appear to have gone in the wake of a 2-1 Carabao Cup final defeat to Newcastle.

The Merseysiders did little to trouble Eddie Howe’s outfit beyond fray a few nerves with Federico Chiesa’s late effort in extra time.

Certainly, the Magpies looked to be superior in nearly every department on Sunday afternoon, amassing a considerably greater share of shots (17 to seven) and touches inside the opposition box (26 to 17).

To the naked eye, it would very much seam that Liverpool have run out of steam in recent weeks.

What went wrong for Liverpool?

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Carragher rightly drew attention to his old side’s energy levels after Arne Slot’s men fell short once again in a cup competition.

There was, however, a rallying message of hope issued around our title ambitions amid some rather disparaging (and frankly disrespectful) comments issued elsewhere in the media.

“Liverpool were poor vs PSG and Newcastle are a good Premier League team but they have wiped the floor with them,” the former Red spoke on Sky Sports.

“Liverpool’s legs have run out of steam but luckily for them they have a big enough lead in the league.”

It’s worth pointing out that, with squad fatigue in mind, the impending international break couldn’t possibly be more timely. An opportunity to rest, reflect and, hopefully, reset ahead of a crunch period of Premier League fixtures in April that could, hypothetically, see Liverpool confirm their 20th English top-flight title.

Either way, as the ex-England international rightly pointed out, we’ve enough of a cushion available to calm any fears about a possible Arsenal resurgence in the league.

Successive defeats highlight work to be done in the summer

Amidst what has been a truly remarkable 2024/25 campaign, regardless of successive disappointments in the Champions League and Carabao Cup, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture.

Beyond landing Federico Chiesa in the prior summer (Giorgi Mamardashvili’s arrival is still pending), this is still fundamentally a Jurgen Klopp side.

To have achieved so much without a significant change in the resources available, then, speaks volumes of the good work Slot and his team have done this term.

However, there is clearly a fragility within the squad in clear need of addressing in the upcoming summer transfer window.

The signing of two new quality attackers, as Jamie Carragher has suggested, certainly wouldn’t go amiss should we wish to mount a successful potential title defence in 2025/26.

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