Newcastle United manager Joe Kinnear believes Liverpool will end their long wait for the championship after watching his team torn apart by the Anfield outfit yesterday.
Liverpool romped to a 5-1 win at St James’ Park to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.
The Anfield outfit go into 2009 three points clear of Chelsea having taken 45 points from 20 games.
And as well as backing Rafael Benitez’s side for the title, Kinnear hailed a “magnificent” individual performance from Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, who scored twice and had a hand in two other goals.
“I think we have just seen the title winners,” said the Magpies manager. “And I think we’ve seen the best performance I’ve seen from a single player for a long time in Gerrard, he was magnificent.
“Without a shadow of doubt they are the best team we’ve played this season. They were head and shoulders above us. They are an exceptionally good side.”
Kinnear believes Newcastle would have put up a better fight had their squad not been decimated by injury, particularly in defence where three first-team regulars were absent.
“With all the injuries we have had and three of the regular back four out, whatever problems we had Liverpool took full advantage,” he said.
“Had we had half of the players missing available, then maybe the result could have been different.
“But it was such a one-sided game because they are a world-class team. You have to take your hat off to Liverpool.
“Without Shay it would have been even worse. The only positive from the game is that he has proven he is the best goalkeeper in the league by a mile.”
Kinnear added: “We had a lot of players missing. We had no Joey Barton, no Habib Beye, no Oba Martins, no Mark Viduka.
“We had no Sebastien Bassong, and without his height at centre-back we couldn’t deal with Hyypia at set-plays.”
Before the game, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley had announced he was no longer seeking a buyer and had withdrawn the club from the market.
Liverpool romped to a 5-1 win at St James’ Park to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.
The Anfield outfit go into 2009 three points clear of Chelsea having taken 45 points from 20 games.
And as well as backing Rafael Benitez’s side for the title, Kinnear hailed a “magnificent” individual performance from Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, who scored twice and had a hand in two other goals.
“I think we have just seen the title winners,” said the Magpies manager. “And I think we’ve seen the best performance I’ve seen from a single player for a long time in Gerrard, he was magnificent.
“Without a shadow of doubt they are the best team we’ve played this season. They were head and shoulders above us. They are an exceptionally good side.”
Kinnear believes Newcastle would have put up a better fight had their squad not been decimated by injury, particularly in defence where three first-team regulars were absent.
“With all the injuries we have had and three of the regular back four out, whatever problems we had Liverpool took full advantage,” he said.
“Had we had half of the players missing available, then maybe the result could have been different.
“But it was such a one-sided game because they are a world-class team. You have to take your hat off to Liverpool.
“Without Shay it would have been even worse. The only positive from the game is that he has proven he is the best goalkeeper in the league by a mile.”
Kinnear added: “We had a lot of players missing. We had no Joey Barton, no Habib Beye, no Oba Martins, no Mark Viduka.
“We had no Sebastien Bassong, and without his height at centre-back we couldn’t deal with Hyypia at set-plays.”
Before the game, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley had announced he was no longer seeking a buyer and had withdrawn the club from the market.
No comments:
Post a Comment