Eddie Howe Manchester City v Newcastle United pre-match press conference: Dominic Scurr reflects

Shields Gazette

Dominic Scurr reflects on Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe's pre match press conference ahead of the trip to Manchester City in the Premier League.

Transcript

00:00Hello everyone, Dom Square here, outside the Newcastle United Media Centre where we've been

00:04speaking to Eddie Howe ahead of Newcastle United's trip to Manchester City in the Premier League,

00:09return to Premier League action after back-to-back cup wins for Eddie Howe's side,

00:14but the Premier League, I mean, generally speaking, in a great run of form, won 12 of the last

00:1914 in all competitions, but lost two of the last three in the Premier League as the wind

00:24just picks up here. Trying to shelter myself from the wind inside the dugout, but

00:29we'll see how things go. But yeah, Manchester City, not a happy hunting ground for Newcastle,

00:34but I'll tell you what, if you were offered being level on points with Manchester City,

00:38with only goals scored separating the sides 24 games into a Premier League season,

00:43you absolutely would have took it. You would have assumed something had gone very right.

00:46As it happens, Newcastle are probably there or thereabouts where you'd expect them to be

00:52in the league this season, and Manchester City have underperformed by their standards and

00:57we saw against Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek how vulnerable they can be,

01:01particularly defensively. I mean, you look at that third goal, Jude Bellum's goal for Real

01:07Madrid in particular, it was just a catalogue of errors, and that's something Newcastle,

01:11if you put Manchester City under pressure, capable of exposing, but historically,

01:18yeah, the Etihad, Newcastle have never won at the Etihad in the league. I think the last point

01:22they picked up was back in 2007, so yeah, a lot of defeats. You can cling to that Carabao Cup

01:292-0 win back in 2014 with Orlando Aarons and Rusescu Zocos going, but yeah, still 11 years ago,

01:35so yeah, it's going to be an interesting test for Newcastle, interesting battle between two sides in

01:41I'd say contrasting run of forms, but having different sort of seasons, really, Man City way

01:46off where you'd expect them to be, but still a very good team in their own right, but Newcastle

01:52will go into this game, okay, lost two of the last three in the Premier League, but their away

01:56form is excellent, they've won the last six in a row in all competitions away from home, which

02:01considering all their talk last season was about their away struggles, certainly something they've

02:06addressed, and if you go into those six games, they've beaten the likes of Manchester United,

02:12Tottenham, Arsenal, all the way from home. Their last away defeat came back against Brentford,

02:18which is, I mean, almost two months ago now, actually probably is two months ago now, so yeah,

02:24going into the game, Newcastle, in terms of injuries, there was a bit of an update from

02:29Eddie Howe on the injury front, Anthony Gordon should be fine for the game, has returned

02:33to training, Dan Byrne should be very close for the game, positive results on a scan on his groin

02:41after going off at Birmingham City, so positive news for him, again, is probably still technically

02:47a doubt, but Eddie Howe said he's very close, and said Sven Botman wouldn't expect him to be

02:53available, so hadn't completely ruled out Sven Botman, but saying it's probably unlikely he will

02:59feature, so yeah, Anthony Gordon, okay, Dan Byrne, nearly said Dan Botman, Dan Byrne, likely,

03:06Sven Botman, unlikely, so no players ruled out for the previous injuries, the pre-existing injuries

03:14to Harvey Barnes, Joe Linton and Jamala Sells, but yeah, no player completely ruled out,

03:19Sven Botman looks like he probably will be, Dan Byrne looks like he may make the squad,

03:24and Anthony Gordon could even start the game after missing the Birmingham game, so yeah,

03:28positives, and a big talking point, actually, particularly from a national perspective,

03:34something the likes of Sky Sports and the national papers were keen to ask about, was this sort of,

03:40not rivalry, but the two best strikers in the Premier League going head-to-head in terms of

03:46Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak, they're sort of traditional number nines, leading the line,

03:51scoring goals, very different players in their own right, but yeah, two real world-class strikers

03:57were blessed with in the Premier League this season, or in recent seasons, and Eddie Howe was

04:01asked outright, would he rather have Alexander Isak or Erling Haaland, and I think you wouldn't

04:07be surprised to know he did pick Alexander Isak, just naturally, he said Pep Guardiola would pick

04:12Haaland, because these are the players you work with, and I wouldn't swap Alexander Isak for any

04:16striker in the world, so yeah, it's an interesting debate, who would you rather have, I'd say at the

04:23moment, and based on what I've seen from Alexander Isak the past 12 to 18 months, you'd rather have

04:28Isak in terms of what he offers away from goals, I think creatively, the way he drops deep, brings

04:34players into the game, and some of the passes he's grabbed, the assists over the past couple months,

04:39been very, very impressive, and I think he leads the line, and offers so much in an attacking

04:44sense, and has brought his game on, I think he's improved this season, Alexander Isak, from already

04:49a very high level, where he scored 25 goals last season, I think from that creative standpoint,

04:55and also take nothing away from his goals as well, I think he's really taking things up a level this

05:01season, and yeah, I would agree with Eddie Howe, I wouldn't swap him for any striker in the world,

05:07I think he's on current form, possibly the best striker in the world, so yeah, that was an

05:12interesting talking point, which I'm sure I will rumble on, but important to stress at the end of

05:19the press conference as well, Eddie Howe said, look, in terms of Alexander Isak's future, determined to

05:25keep him, he's the type of player Newcastle need to keep hold of, in order to get where they need

05:29to be, so yeah, shuts down or plays down any sort of potential exit talk, Newcastle obviously keen to

05:36get Isak tied down to a new deal, but again, there's no real rush for that, because he's

05:41under contract till 2028, but obviously when you've scored what will likely be

05:48potentially 50 goals over two seasons for the club, then you get rewarded for that, or you should

05:56get rewarded for that, and he'll feel the same way, and Eddie Howe will be keen to to get Alexander

06:01Isak committed long term to Newcastle, beyond the next three years potentially as well, because

06:08Erling Haaland's obviously signed a very long contract at Manchester City, Newcastle probably

06:12not quite that long, but certainly reward Alexander Isak for what he's done at Newcastle, particularly

06:18over the last 18 months, or since he's signed really, but obviously slight slow start for him,

06:23given his initial injury troubles, but yeah, world-class striker Newcastle are blessed with,

06:28and hopefully you can fire them to a rare three points against Manchester City, or first ever

06:36three points against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this weekend, and we'll be covering it

06:41every step of the way, all the reaction from Eddie Howe's press conference over on the Shields Gazette,

06:44as well as all the fallout and coverage, player ratings from the match at the Etihad Stadium

06:51at three o'clock on Saturday afternoon.

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