As discussed in part 1 of my piece on Sunday’s shocking display at West Ham, it was a performance that warranted the widespread criticism it received on social media.
Having touched on what went wrong and why it was such a concerning display, here are two more key battles Eddie Howe is facing in his bid to turn around our poor start to the Premier League season and sort out our awful away form:
Integrating signings
German duo Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw have settled well and hit the ground running, albeit both have played more than Howe may have anticipated at this stage of their Newcastle careers.
Yoane Wissa has not been seen due to his injury, and Jacob Ramsey has also been injured and played only in fits and starts.
Anthony Elanga has so far failed to dislodge Jacob Murphy from the team and is clearly in a period of adaption. After their respective performances in the last week, it won’t be long before calls start for Aaron Ramsdale to replace Nick Pope in goal on a permanent basis.
There was always going to be an element of transition this season with the churn of players, but for it to be a success Howe will have to integrate his summer signings and find them all roles in his squad. Up to now he has been unable to reliably call on £150m worth of talent.
The full back question
Injuries to Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall have been damaging to Newcastle’s season. For all his defensive qualities, Dan Burn is a different profile of left back to Hall, and the team has to adapt its style of play. There is less of a drop off at right back when Trippier is available, but at 35 he is not capable of playing three games in a week.
The right back situation at West Ham bordered on farcical. Four different players filled the role, including Tonali at the end of the match. That is no recipe for a calm and controlled performance.
Hall was back on the bench so will hopefully be able to play again soon, although he will take time to build his fitness after missing pre-season.
It may require a short-term change of shape or system, but Howe must work out a plan to mitigate the loss of his full backs until Hall and Livramento are back and up to speed.
Looking ahead
For all the justifiable upset about the performance in London, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that prior to West Ham, Newcastle had won five from six in all competitions and there were signs that things were coming together. It was just four days ago after Spurs that there was great positivity about the squad depth.
One of Howe’s strengths is that he remains balanced win or lose. He will screen out the noise to analyse this setback thoroughly and dispassionately. If he can find answers for the problems above things could turn around quickly.
HWTL!
