Liverpool vs. Newcastle: 6 Things We Learned About the Reds in Defeat

Liverpool continued their recent dreadful Premier League form with a 2-0 defeat at St. James' Park, the home of Newcastle United.

It was another day of frustration and learning for Kenny Dalglish and his team.

Papiss Cisse was the Newcastle hero as he scored twice, once in each half, to hand the three points to the home side, though there was plenty of evidence for Liverpool to complain about the second strike as Cisse was offside.

A handball on the line by Danny Simpson in the first half and a complete gaffe from Andy Carroll early on could have made the outcome of the match very different, but as it is, Liverpool recorded their sixth defeat in seven league matches.

Here are six things we'll look at which really need to be addressed by the Reds before their season implodes completely.

Midfield Not Working Hard Enough: Lack of Confidence or Application?

Jonjo Shelvey, Steven Gerrard and Jay Spearing.

Arguably the three players Liverpool fans would have picked to make up the Reds midfield out of the available players to provide the mix of work-rate, skill and balance between defensive and attacking thirds of the pitch.

It was going fairly well in terms of chances created, attacking intent and stopping Cheick Tiote and Yohan Cabaye in the first half—but after the break, and after the second goal particularly, Liverpool's midfield trio stopped working entirely.

The passing was gone, the movement disappeared and the lack of closing down their opponents was just a horrible nightmare to watch.

No cohesion, no working together, no attempts to direct play from the centre of the park...it was dire to watch.

The understanding is something that must come over time, not all of a sudden with the three playing their first game together from the start, but still, to let Newcastle walk all over them with 25 minutes remaining on the clock was unforgivable.

More, much more, is required from all three.

Where on Earth Is Liverpool's Finishing Touch?

36 goals in 31 games says it all.

The Reds managed to create three decent goalscoring chances during the game against Newcastle: Andy Carroll passed up the chance to shoot with the first, diverted the ball towards goal off his back or shoulder for the second which was blocked on the line and Luis Suarez saw his close-range effort blocked for the third.

When was the last time Liverpool managed to fashion a clear goal-scoring chance which didn't fall to Steven Gerrard, and take it?

The level of shooting this season from the Reds has been woeful.

It's easy enough to say they need to buy another forward, but these players need to work in tandem with each other.

They all need to accept responsibility and do much better.

Despite the Result, Liverpool's Formation Worked

An odd statement to make, perhaps, but the system that Liverpool went with is absolutely the right one for them.

With Jonjo Shelvey and Steven Gerrard getting forward through the centre, Craig Bellamy causing problems down one flank and Luis Suarez coming infield to support Andy Carroll centrally, the play from Liverpool in the first half was very good at times.

A couple of alterations to key personnel—a Lucas holding midfield instead of Spearing, for example, or an instinctively-attacking and overlapping full-back on the left instead of Jose Enrique, say—and this is a system which will reap massive rewards for Liverpool.

Bodies in the box, supporters from midfield and strength in the centre have been issues which have plagued Liverpool for much of the season and the first 45 minutes put much of those to rest.

It's also a system which will make the best use of Jordan Henderson in the long term, something which presumably the club will still want to do.

After the break was another story of course, and the mentality of the players is something which needs to be addressed.

Fast.

Alexander Doni: Can He Cope with a Wembley Occasion vs. Everton?

Pepe Reina's red card against Newcastle will earn him an automatic three-match suspension.

That means that Alexander Doni, the former Roma goalkeeper who has sat on the bench for the entire season for Liverpool, will make his debut next week at home against Aston Villa.

He will also keep goal against Blackburn Rovers—and then against Everton, at Wembley, in the FA Cup semifinal.

A veteran of more than 200 games for Roma and a dozen for the Brazilian national side, Doni has certainly garnered experience in playing big games, but a cup semifinal against Everton, at the national stadium, will be an eye-opener for him.

He hasn't exactly looked stellar in the non-competitive matches he has played for the Reds, but friendlies can be far from a proving ground at times.

Certainly Liverpool will hope that he can hold his own, and more, when called upon over the next three matches.

Jose Enrique Needs Some Serious Competition (at Left-Back, Not in Goal)

After a brilliant start to his Liverpool career, Jose Enrique has fallen off so severely over the past three months that he is in danger of being grouped in with the "summer flops", as they are labelled all over the media, Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing.

Technically and physically an able defender, his decision-making at times is nonetheless shocking and his penchant for delaying releasing the ball has gone from causing frustration to outright anger and endangering his teammates by giving possessions away cheaply.

The main problem with this is that there is nobody to challenge Enrique for a spot at left-back.

Jack Robinson is unproven in the main and has struggled with injury over the last six months, while Fabio Aurelio—well, everybody knows Aurelio's unreliability. The fact that Dalglish just doesn't seem to fancy him either, and that his contract is soon up, also means he is an unrealistic challenger to oust Enrique from the side.

Glen Johnson has performed well on that side but is also injured—and that's about the extent of Liverpool's ability to throw someone in to challenge the Spaniard.

Top Seven Is the Limit for Liverpool, Is It Enough Even with Silverware?

Following the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle, Liverpool now lie a massive 11 points behind the Magpies with seven matches left to play.

It can pretty safely be said that Liverpool will not be finishing any higher than seventh place in the Premier League this season.

After rallying last term to improve from 12th to sixth in the space of four months, this campaign has been thoroughly underwhelming for Liverpool.

As it stands, they are a point and a place behind Everton, who haven't finished higher than the Reds since 2004-05, and even then Liverpool won the Champions League instead.

"Well, we won the Carling Cup" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as a comeback.

Liverpool could of course still win the FA Cup, though the succession of defeats must come to an end sooner rather than later for that to be anything more than a glimmer of a possibility, but is a cup double enough to fend off criticism of a failing in the league?

Another sixth-place finish would have been tolerable, when combined with silverware, but a drop from last season?

Liverpool were always going to be rebuilding this term and in need of time, but getting worse in the league table was certainly not supposed to be on the cards.

And of course, with Sunderland, Swansea and Everton all in much better form at present than Liverpool, there is no guarantee that even seventh will be the extent of the damage if they don't pick it up—immediately.