Sea of Yellow

[Newcastle 2 – 2 Liverpool].

Four goals aside, this was not a good game. And for once (ha), the reason it was not a good game was clearly the fault of one person, referee Stuart Attwell. It’s not any one decision he made, but rather the aggregate of many small ones that killed it; the excessive use of the yellow card in situations when even a foul would have been a stretch, not to mention all the fouls that weren’t and put paid to promising attacking moves on both sides of the pitch. All of it combined to make both teams hold back, because what’s the point of going for it when the ref has a massive outburst of itchy fingers?

Attwell ruined the game.

Which is a shame, because the first 20 minutes were fairly enjoyable before a series of marginal calls had everyone rolling their eyes and reaching the collective realization that the hostilities that never truly started must end anyway. The game lost its pace, and my eyelids grew heavy.

It was nice to walk away with a point after yet another goal in deep stoppage time, as has become tradition for us against the Toons. But if we’re honest, Liverpool has the better players and should win games like this. If not for Attwell, I think we might have, but the Reds did not play particularly well. As much as everyone loves Rio, it will take some serious adjustment for him to play on the right, and he appeared defanged and a bit miserable. I’m getting a little tired for Isak and Wirtz to show up. Grav the Szobo both want to play higher, and without a proper holding midfielder, a known issue that we were supposed to solve during this transfer window but apparently aren’t, Newcastle found it easy to transition rapidly into lethal breaks while taking full advantage of the lack of communications in the Liverpool backline. Nyoni might have helped but never saw the pitch. In the end, Gakpo was the best player in the squad, and that’s telling, because he’s not supposed to be the one leading the front line.

Nice goal from him, though.

If there was anything good to be said about today, beyond the purloined point, it’s that Iraola’s style looks more like Liverpool than Slot’s ever did, and if and when the team learns to play it, it should pay dividends, or at least a lot more excitement. Then again, I’m not sure that was even possible today, thanks to Attwell.

Welcome to the new season.