Newcastle 2 Liverpool 0:AS A substituted Andy Carroll stomped straight down the tunnel with cries of "what a waste of money" ringing in his ears believers in Sabermetrics presumably rubbed their hands in glee.
The principle of using statistics to find value in unlikely places, Sabermetrics was born in baseball and underpins the famous Moneyball concept supposedly beloved of the Anfield hierarchy. Devotees claim that maximising the untapped potential of previously undervalued players is the key to sporting success but it is Newcastle United who appear to be implementing the idea rather better than Liverpool.
Despite spending a relatively modest €31 million during 14 months which have seen Kenny Dalglish part with €138 million, Alan Pardew’s side stand sixth, 11 points ahead of eighth-placed Liverpool and separated from Chelsea only by goal difference.
On a day when Dalglish presided over his team’s sixth defeat in seven Premier League games and Jose Enrique played the last seven minutes in the away goal after Jose Reina’s sending off for an attempted headbutt on James Perch, the €42 million the Anfield club paid Newcastle for Carroll seemed more inexplicable than ever.
What was crystal clear though is that whereas Carroll – who reacted to his second-half replacement by Dirk Kuyt by muttering a few choice expletives and neglecting to shake his manager’s hand – has regressed, Pardew’s fast evolving side have moved on, something emphasised by two more goals from their new centre forward Papiss Cisse.
Dalglish was never overly popular during a short stint as the Newcastle manager during the mid-90s and the home crowd quickly delighted in serenading him with cheeky choruses of: “You’re getting sacked in the morning” in the wake of Cisse’s opener.
A diving header which flew past Reina before going in off the upright was Cisse’s sixth goal since arriving from Freiburg in January. Yet even the Senegal striker would acknowledge that it would never have happened without Hatem Ben Arfa’s brilliance.
The unequal duel between the dominant Ben Arfa and Enrique, Liverpool’s former Newcastle left-back, had already turned into a compelling subplot by the time the Frenchman’s skill also confounded Jay Spearing and Jonjo Shelvey. Free of minders, Ben Arfa curled a cross towards the far post where Cisse comfortably outjumped Martin Skrtel to score.
Until then Liverpool had, albeit sporadically, threatened goals. They probably would have got one had Carroll stayed on his feet instead of collecting a booking for simulation following an apparent dive after rounding Tim Krul.
Cisse’s second goal began with Demba Ba’s attempt to play a slick one-two with Ben Arfa ending when Enrique’s challenge sent the ball spinning clear to Cisse who dragged the ball back beyond Reina before finishing with nonchalant poise from close range.
Off went Carroll and, so, shortly afterwards, did Reina. Objecting to Perch tripping him in the box, Liverpool’s goalkeeper reacted by barging towards the Newcastle centre half with his chest and then head. Having booked Perch, Atkinson red-carded Reina, forcing Enrique to take over in goal.
It was presumably not quite the return to Tyneside the left back envisaged when he accused Newcastle of “lacking ambition” on hightailing it to Anfield last July.
