Eddie Howe has criticised our first-half performance in last night’s 4-1 defeat at Arsenal, feeling we “just weren’t there” in all departments in a completely one-sided opening 45 minutes.
He was reluctant to make “rash statements” when speaking to the media after the match, but thinks we never settled after coming under early pressure and “did not compete” with Mikel Arteta’s in-form side.
Watch what he had to say below, discussing the performance, the goals, our worrying defensive record and next week’s FA Cup trip to Blackburn:
“I was disappointed with the first half especially. I don’t think we truly got going, they got us under pressure, but at no stage did we come out of that moment. We will learn a lot from that. We did not compete well enough which is not like us. We didn’t do the basics right. We kept making technical mistakes. We didn’t weather the storm and conceded some bad goals.”
“I need to see it again before I make rash statements – but we were not where we needed to be, whether that was psychological or technical. We just weren’t there.
“It (our defensive record) is a concern. Of course, we are working on things behind the scenes but that probably was not evident in today’s performance. It is a combination of things, we didn’t do well from corners, knew how good they are in those situations and the third goal as well, we were the dominant team and we’d have been right back in the game if we’d got that goal, so difficult moments defensively.”
Speaking to NUFC TV after the game, he felt it was “very unlike us” to see us fail to compete in all departments, admitting he will “ponder what to do next” after another poor defence display that left Loris Karius exposed.
The boss gives an honest assessment of #ARSNEW. 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/4BLSUcddAB
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) February 24, 2024
