Arne Slot had perfect Liverpool explanation for Florian Wirtz question after Newcastle struggles

Arne Slot had perfect Liverpool explanation for Florian Wirtz question after Newcastle struggles

The ECHO was at the AXA Training Centre on Friday morning for Arne Slot's latest press conference

Florian Wirtz looks on during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Liverpool at St James' Park on August 25 (Image: George Wood/Getty Images)

For what Liverpool's hard-fought 3-2 win over Newcastle United lacked in technical quality on Monday, it more than made up for in thrilling and barely-believable drama. Rio Ngumoa's 100th-minute winner in the North East saw him become the youngest goalscorer of all time for the Reds and ended a spirited fightback from the 10-man hosts, who had battled from two goals down after Anthony Gordon was sent off in first-half stoppage time.

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Throw in the red-hot atmosphere of St James' Park and the the fact that an Alexander Isak-shaped cloud hung awkwardly over the game itself against the backdrop of a wounded and angry hosting fanbase, and it was easy to see why Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher labelled it 'one of the greatest games in Premier League history' in his giddy reaction to Ngumoha's winner on Monday.

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That claim was supposed to have been captured privately but in the modern age, content is king and his paymasters at Sky Sports decided the excitable celebrations from the Monday Night Football studio just had to be made into a viral moment.

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One player who was unable to contribute to what is likely to at least be remembered as one of the games of the season as much as he would have liked was Florian Wirtz, who found it difficult making in-roads against the powerful Newcastle defence, aided by a similarly robust midfield.

The Germany international forced Nick Pope into a decent save in the first half but as the visiting side struggled to get a prolonged spell of possession against the black-and-white-shirted fury of Eddie Howe's men, so to did Wirtz, who was largely a peripheral figure.

Such performances are to be expected from time to time when trying to get up to the unique speed and intensity of the Premier League and while there wasn't anything particularly poor on the night from the No.7, Arne Slot still found himself being asked about the £116m club-record capture in his Friday morning press conference.

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The Reds head coach, though, had a fine answer when quizzed as to why Wirtz found it tough to truly exert his influence on proceedings up on Tyneside.

"There was only 40% of the ball in play in Newcastle," Slot said. "So to have a lot of touches is quite difficult and then when the ball is in play, it is the air. So it was just duel after duel after duel.

"Set-pieces to defend, set-pieces to attack, there was not much football over the ground. So you are talking about Florian but I also know that Mo Salah would have loved to have touched the ball more but he did more than he did at Newcastle.

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"But he touched the ball more this time in Newcastle than he did last season in Newcastle and also in the League Cup final, so it is also the opposition, the playing style of the other team that you face.

"And I said last season after Plymouth (defeat in the FA Cup), that even with the starting XI we probably also wouldn't have played a good game and everyone is looking at me [asking]: 'What are you saying?'

"No, that playing style of every ball long, every set-piece is thrown into your box, it is a playing style that is not so easy to play your best game and for Florian or Mo or Hugo (Ekitike) and Cody (Gakpo) probably didn’t touch it a lot.

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"The last time it was 40% was in 2010, when Stoke City faced a Sam Allardyce team, Blackburn Rovers."

Referencing a statistic from 15 years ago between two now Championship sides was enough of a hint to suggest Slot and his team have done their homework on the post-match analysis and it's the sort of challenge he is expecting more of for the campaign ahead, potentially starting with Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday.

Slot added: "That is also not the first time we faced that playing style. This happened last season as well. The difference for us is all the Newcastle players can play in a different style as well but this style suits them also well.

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"If you look at how tall most of their players are and the deliveries from set pieces from Kieran Trippier are high, high quality. So that makes it all even more difficult.

"I am saying we would have found it as difficult against Plymouth as Newcastle, but in general it is a playing style where you constantly have to be ready for every single ball but we can do better than we did at Newcastle or at Plymouth. But it is not the first time we've faced this style, many teams did it last season as well."

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