Following our stunning 6-1 win over Spurs, Eddie Howe has hailed our “lethal” finishing, fast start and superb reaction to that 3-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
Speaking to the press after the game, Howe revealed the first thing he told his players after our stunning win – stay focused and “put all our energy” into Thursday’s trip to Everton.
It sums up his relentless pursuit of success that this was his immediate response to our most emphatic win of the season, sending us six clear of Spurs and in with a massive chance of sealing a top-four finish.
However, Howe is wary of the fact we lost 1-0 at Everton 12 months ago and wants us to kick on after Sunday’s demolition job. He also hailed Joe Willock’s display, saying the midfielder has “got a little bit of everything”, and thanked his players for their efforts since he took the job.
Here’s what he had to say after the game, starting with this brilliant message ahead of our trip to Goodison Park:
“My first message to the players after the game is that we’ve got Everton on Thursday. We had a very difficult experience there last season in very similar conditions where we were at a similar stage of the season so we know how difficult that’s going to be. We’ll put all our energy now into that one.”
Howe on the 6-1 win and five-star first half:
“That’s the reaction we wanted and an incredible start. The crowd were incredible for us.
“You don’t expect that. The quality of our finishing was incredible. They weren’t stick-on goals. We were lethal in front of goal. Everything about our first half an hour was where we want to be.”
Howe when asked about Joe Willock’s performance:
“Joe Willock has got a little bit of everything. He’s knuckled down, taken everything on board and delivered.
“Since I walked through the door here the players have responded so well. I can’t thank them enough.
Howe on the fast start:
“I don’t think you ever visualise a game going that way. You hope you can really impose your game plan on your opponents’ and you hope your players can impose themselves on the opposition. But you never know how the game is going to go.
“The unpredictable nature of the game is one of the beauties of football, but what really pleased me is that we kept our high standards throughout the game.
“We want the players to go into the games believing that we are the superior team. Now, to believe that takes very good preparation and then you also need the players’ inner belief to be very high. Hopefully, with the more wins like this we can get, the more that inner belief is strengthened.”
I find it hard to believe that Sky Sports (on their website) are banging on so much about how bad Spurs were. Whilst I agree that Spurs were pretty poor there was nothing on the website about how good Newcastle were and how well they put away their chances. Credit was due to NUFC for a great performance but as usual, Sky reverted to type and gave little credit to Newcastle for a superb performance in the game and implied that it was all down to a bad performance for a “top six” side from the capital!!
Johnno(Quote)