Before kick-off a banner was raised in the Gallowgate End inscribed with a quotation from the late Kevin Keegan. Despite a few, ultimately forlorn, attempts to introduce semblances of control on the parts of the visiting playmaker Florian Wirtz and Newcastle’s elegant central midfielder Lewis Miley, this was sheer, unadulterated, mutual mayhem of the sort to make Iraola’s more purist Anfield predecessor Arne Slot wince. Along the way to a draw secured, perhaps slightly fortuitously, by Dominik Szoboszlai’s 99th-minute penalty for Liverpool, the returning former Newcastle striker Alexander Isak left minimal imprint on a match that had been supposed to be all about him.
Instead Isak was upstaged by Jaissle’s forward William Osula. No sooner had the heartfelt tributes to Keegan, a player and manager adored by both clubs, been completed it very quickly became apparent that Jérémy Jacquet and Virgil van Dijk had no answers to Osula as the young Dane turned and accelerated towards goal following Ryan Gravenberch’s inexplicable surrender of possession. The stage was set for this most unpredictable of strikers to spot Anthony Elanga, then in the process of leaving Milos Kerkez for dust down the right, slide a pass in the winger’s direction and watch as, a steadying touch later, Elanga’s shot flashed beyond Alisson’s reach.
Only five minutes had passed, Jaissle’s tenure as Newcastle’s manager was off to perfect start and already Iraola looked distinctly stressed. His defence did not convince, with Kerkez finding few answers to Elanga. Like Jaissle, Iraola is a high priest of pressing but Liverpool’s best hope here seemed to be to retain possession, impose their technical superiority and out-pass Newcastle.
Significantly their best moments coincided largely with those albeit sporadic occasions when Wirtz –who would be withdrawn midway through the second half – managed to get on the ball and began unnerving a Newcastle side supposedly in the throes of a dramatic transition. It is only three weeks since Jaissle succeeded Eddie Howe but the former Al-Ahli manager has certainly succeeded in not merely re-energising a mentally jaded team but sharpening a swarm pressing game that had become more than a little half hearted and untidy. The 38-year-old German trusted 18-year-old Sean Steur, recently arrived from Ajax, alongside Miley in the key holding roles in his 4-2-3-1 system and for long periods they held their own.
Behind them, Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman excelled in central defence while Amar Dedic shone at right-back following his £30m move from Benfica. There are ways to leave a football club but the route Isak chose – mounting a one-man strike before forcing a record £125m move to Liverpool last summer – ensured he was greeted by chants of “rat, rat, rat,” as he alighted from the visiting team bus. If Isak seemed quite unconcerned – he grinned broadly in the face of some further sustained hostility before kick-off – the Sweden striker added to Iraola’s problems by miscuing his sole chance of an alarmingly anonymous afternoon.
Instead it was a forward facing an uncertain future at Anfield who kept Liverpool in it. When Jaissle’s midfield inexplicably stood off him Cody Gakpo’s first time shot from outside the area defied Lukas Hornicek. With Osula now limping, on came Joe Willock for Newcastle leaving the impressive Yoane Wissa – arguably man of the match – to shift from the No 10 to No 9 role.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
