As reported by the Chronicle, Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez has spoken about the type of players that he feels a squad needs, perhaps giving a hint to his plans for the remainder of this month.
Speaking to the Chronicle, Benitez said: “It is really important to have this balance.
“We need to have players with passion and a mentality to play and work hard.
“You also need players who understand how to manage the game and make the right decisions at the right time like I’ve said before.”
The manager then expressed his sympathy for the fans, adding: “We feel sorry for them.
“The main thing for me was to see these supporters but we created chances, and if we score we go through.
“I understand that they are upset but we can’t be for too long because in the next game we need to stick together and focus on the league.”
Benitez also gave an honest assessment of the game, saying: “We were quite confident after the performance in the first half.
“With the chances we created and the way we controlled the game we were confident that we could do similar things in the second half.
“We conceded an early goal and that made a big difference because we started to make mistakes.
“Also we missed the penalty, too many mistakes and you pay for them in a competition like this.
“It’s something we have to improve in terms of decision making and doing the right things at the right time.
“And after it we needed to improve in the way we were marking against corners.”
