Away to Newcastle, it was never going to be the easiest of fixtures.
The Magpies had been rattled as a result of losing their manager Eddie Howe on top of the heart of their midfield being ripped out with Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonalis seeking out pastures greener. Anthony Gordon off to Barcelona left the forward line less sharp than it would like to be. It was the youngest Newcastle side to take to a field in more than a decade, and it seemed as long since Newcastle last beat Liverpool at St James Park. All things considered, it was a game a slightly better than average Liverpool side would be expected to take three points from even if the game was tough. In the end they were lucky to take a point, Dominik Szoboszlai doing in the closing seconds of the game what Rio Ngumoha had done last season. It was hard on Newcastle and their fans but no less than a dull but worthy Liverpool deserved given the possession they had.
But possession is not penetration. Up front Liverpool were poor. This is the season where both Wirtz and Izak must deliver but neither showed any indication of being able to do so. If Ngumoha is to lay claim to the mantle of Salah, now extracting Turkish money, he will have to do much better than he did today. Ariola's side has more energy than Slot's ever did but a busy fool has has plenty of energy which just can't be turned into productivity.
If the Liverpool fans were expecting a quick transition under a new coach, they can put it on hold. Unfortunately, in the post Slot era the side played too much like a Slot team. The Slot rot has burrowed deep and it will take time for the new coach to weed it out.
I was in Dublin visiting my daughter and had rushed back home to make the game which I had promised my son I would watch with him. It is one of those things we like to do - watch soccer together. I am more restrained about it than he is. He reminds me of my earlier years when I both played and watched it avidly in the prison where I was a lippy pest on the jail's all weather pitches, always on the back of others. Not that I had any right to - my own performances were hardly top drawer.
The train was on time so I arrived four minutes into the game, missing the joint tribute to the late Kevin Keegan, my favourite all time Liverpool player. When I met him at an event in Dublin prior to his cancer I said to him that I felt he was the best Liverpool player ever. He smiled and said most would say that about Kenny. The two never played together, Dalglish taking Keegan's place when he moved to Hamburg.
Both players wore the coveted number 7 shirt. No one on the field today could fill it.
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