Eddie Howe has described today’s 3-0 victory over Wolves as a “massive win”, praising our improved performance that secured our first three points of 2024 at St James’ Park.
The boss feels we looked much better physically and showed signs of some confidence returning to the team, revealing how “delighted” we are to win our first home game since mid-December after a recent “wobble”.
He also discussed the “slight tweak” to our approach today, with our focus on counter-attacks working a treat as all three of ours goals came from quick breakaways.
The only bad news comes on Kieran Trippier, as Howe admits it is a “concern” to see the right-back “feel something in his calf”. It’s not year clear how serious his issue is, with scans likely to take place over the coming days.
“Massive win for us”, Howe said. “We’re still not quite where we were. But it was better. We had a better physical look to us. Confidence can ebb and flow but we saw that starting to flow back into the group.
“It’s a big win, being back at home and hadn’t won for a while. Our home form has always been so good. To have a wobble here (home form in 2024) was a concern. So we’re delighted.”
“It was a slight tweak from our normal way of playing. We analyse our opposition as we do always.I know a lot of people say we play the same every week, but I assure you we don’t, we make little tweaks. We tried to be a bit more transitional today.”
Asked about Trippier’s withdrawal five minutes into the second half, he added: “Kieran felt something in his calf and that’s a concern. We don’t know how serious it is.”
Howe was also full of praise for Fabian Schar’s classy display, hailed Sven Botman’s impressive return to the side and revealed his gratitude at picking up his 100th win as a Premier League manager, admitting he would never have believed that after starting out in League Two.
🗣️ The boss' assessment of today's 3-0 win at St. James' Park pic.twitter.com/uPg3ZZNgJt
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