Eddie Howe opted against reading the riot act at Anfield after Newcastle United’s potentially damaging 2-0 defeat against Liverpool.
Howe stated that Newcastle’s general performance ‘was good’ – but was he convinced of that himself or was he trying to maintain confidence going into a crucial period? Either way, this showing was night and day compared to say Arsenal away in the first leg of the Carabao Cup on a night when Newcastle showed they CAN mix it with the best.
Unlike the icy Press conference at the Etihad Stadium just two weeks ago, when Howe pulled no punches, the head coach offered a layer of protection to his players, knowing that this is not the time to start firing into people so close to the Carabao Cup final. Eroding what looks like frail confidence would be a major own goal with Wembley on horizon.
Newcastle veer from a boisterous team celebrating Premier League wins wildly in the dressing room to a side capable of leaving the big stages in English football with their heads bowed. Anfield was another example of this Newcastle side failing to rise to the big occasion.
Add this one to defeats at the Etihad Stadium and Stamford Bridge earlier in the season with the loss column in the top-flight now displaying nine bad days in the office. Make no mistake sitting on 44 points with 11 matches left, Newcastle are still very much in the hunt for the Champions League.
But they could be more comfortable and with away games at Arsenal, Brighton and Aston Villa to come, making a better fist of it against Champions League rivals is something that must be improved. The performance in isolation at Anfield could have been worse and it wasn’t the end of the world for Howe.
In essence though they merely avoiding a heavy defeat like at Man City. Howe flickered back to the 3-3 draw against Liverpool earlier in the season.
He said: “I think we’ve shown previously we have the quality to hurt them in the home game. We had a really good attacking display then.
“Today was not so strong, but I thought our general performance was good. Let’s hope we can put them both together.
“Of course, there’s a bit of a way to go. I couldn’t sit here and say I’m absolutely satisfied with that, but I thought the spirit and determination, and everything we lacked against Manchester City recently, was there.
“So, I was pleased with the psychology of the squad. But there’s no doubt we’ve still got a bit to go. I think it was a big improvement from our last away performance though, and I take big hope from that.”
Howe’s side put together a run of nine successive wins earlier in the season and for this season to be a success they may need something similar. It’s now four defeats in six Premier League matches with some of the losses coming either side of cup ties.
The ex-Bournemouth boss said: “We’re going through a difficult run of fixtures – when you consider Nottingham Forest as well, they’re tough games for us. I think we’ve come through relatively well – now we’ve got to try to get back to winning ways.”
That mission starts at home to Brighton in the FA Cup and then on to West Ham before Wembley. Newcastle have a couple of chances left to disprove the theory that they haven’t been fully distracted by the Carabao Cup final.
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