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  • 4 months ago
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe reacts to their 2-1 defeat to Brighton

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00:00Yeah, I think the first half, or probably the second half an hour of the first half,
00:24I thought we made actually a bright start to the game and looked in a good place initially,
00:29and then we fell away from that, and I think we were loose with the ball today in that first period,
00:33and we ended up being in transition an awful lot, and yeah, we didn't play with our normal clarity on the ball.
00:39Much better in the second half, much more like ourselves, and in the end we're really disappointed to lose.
00:44How much of a concern is it that you're not getting goals from across the team?
00:49Yeah, that would be a concern for us, we can't rely on any one individual.
00:54I think we've always historically been a team that scored a lot of goals,
00:58we've had goals from different areas, we've never been reliant on any one player.
01:03Nick's done really well and we're delighted for him, we wanted to keep scoring of course,
01:06but we need more from the other areas of the team.
01:09I thought there were chances there for us today, especially in the second half,
01:14it was a good attacking display, albeit we weren't clinical in that.
01:17We've got Lee, Chris and then Dom, please.
01:20Eddie, people might look at it from afar and say there's pressure players to bring in,
01:24but do you know better than anyone the levels that your players are at?
01:27So the decision will probably be a sort of...
01:29Well, I think if you're talking Joe Linton and Bruno, they would be the two.
01:35Louis Miley hadn't trained for two weeks and Jacob Ramsey's just back from a long layoff himself,
01:40so they're difficult players to bring in themselves because they're arguably not 100% match fit either.
01:46So we made the decision to go with the two lads that had done the travelling.
01:50Bruno had a much better second half than he did first, so maybe that's not just pure fatigue.
01:55But we were much better with the changes in the second half.
01:58It was a much brighter performance and much more like ourselves.
02:01At one stage, you looked like you had security at least for point,
02:05and Welbeck pops up again. How do you look back on that sort of thing at that moment?
02:11Yeah, I mean, it's a big moment. We're chasing the winner in that moment.
02:15We feel we were the better team in that place in the game,
02:20and we're chasing the goal and we want to win games.
02:22Yeah, our midfield line gets penetrated and the ball ricochets to Welbeck.
02:27He finishes it very well, but yeah, we're disappointed with the two goals we conceded today.
02:31Chris?
02:32You made the two changes half-time, Eddie. Was that due to fatigue? Was that tactical?
02:37What was the...?
02:39Yeah, it was tactical. I wasn't happy with the first half, and I think it was...
02:42I think it was a time for us to try and shake the team up, to try and get new energy onto the pitch.
02:49Different players with different qualities, and I thought the team benefited from it.
02:54Nick's goal, I know it obviously didn't beat anything in the end, but the game showed the sort of ingenuity you could bring.
03:00Yeah, it's not your sort of classic centre-four goal. It's one that he has the ability to do these things.
03:07He's a very good sort of instinctive player in those moments, and it was an incredible goal.
03:13He had other chances as well. It was good to see him be an aerial threat in the box from crosses,
03:17and I thought his overall game was very strong today. I thought he played very well.
03:20But we do need goals and creation from the other players too.
03:27Just on that, Eddie, a few weeks ago you spoke about it being harsh to single out Anthony Alanga,
03:32the lack of goals and assists. Is it still harsh 11 games in, or is he one of the players you're talking about when you need more from him?
03:40We need more from everybody. It's never about one player. Anthony is going to be a great player for this football club,
03:46I've got no doubt about that. But some players need a little bit of extra time and more support,
03:51and just something to happen positively for them to suddenly kick off.
03:56He's got all the attributes to do really well here, so I've got no issues or worries with him.
04:00It's about the team. It's always about the collective, and too many of our attacking players currently aren't delivering enough,
04:07and that's sometimes withdrawing through the team, as in looking at your centre-halves and their distribution
04:13and your full-backs, their contribution as well. So it's never about any one player.
04:18And you had a penalty shout in the second half of 1-0? Any comment on that?
04:22No, I think we had sort of half shouts for several penalties, but none looks obvious.
04:27And Louis Smiley, one of the changes you made at half-time in a game of disappointment with the result,
04:32he was a positive in the second half?
04:34Yeah, he was. I thought all the substitutes impacted the game pretty well.
04:39I was very pleased with the control that he brought us, his technical work is excellent,
04:43he's outstanding in that area, and I thought he brought a composure that on midfield left in that first half.
04:47Jordan and then Kieran.
04:49Three defeats in the Premier League this season, all fight elite goals, what do you put that?
04:53Yeah, I don't put that down to necessarily the stereotypical fitness or mentality.
05:05I think today's was a very strong second-half performance, I thought we were by far the better team
05:10as Brighton probably were in the first half. But yeah, that ricochet could have gone anywhere
05:16from Dan's great tackle, it didn't and Welbeck finished it really, really well.
05:20We're disappointed because they're big moments, obviously the swing of points hurts you in the league
05:24and we want to be scoring those late goals, and I felt today was an opportunity for us to do that.
05:29You mentioned something about the concern, how do you do that?
05:34Maybe it's not a simple question, but...
05:36Yeah, well I don't think anything's ever that simple, I don't think it's a case of do one thing
05:41and suddenly the goals flood back to the team, I think it's a case of individuals performing at their highest level,
05:46and I think if you get that, you're going to score goals, as we did at Union
05:50where everyone stepped up and played really, really well in the Champions League.
05:54And we look like a free-flowing attacking team that can be at its very best again,
05:59so that's the challenge for us to get back to that level and we need to do it quickly.
06:04Gary?
06:05Do you think the team stood second a bit as a bit of a turbulence on the team?
06:09Can anybody see you to follow up?
06:13No, I don't think so. I think we are, as you always are,
06:17every time a new season starts you're a new team, you're not the same team,
06:20you can't look back and compare us really to what you can,
06:23but we can't do that ourselves. We're a new team and we have to form new relationships
06:27and new balances and, yeah, we have it all to prove again.
06:32Can I just ask you about Daniel a bit of time?
06:35Has there been a perfect game about him?
06:37What do you think he's still doing?
06:39Yeah, I mean the two goals he's scored today, you have to give him a lot of credit,
06:43especially the first one because that's not easy to run away from our back line
06:46and have the composure to finish past Nick who's been in great form
06:50and made a couple of good saves in that first half.
06:52So for him to still be playing in the way that he is is a credit to him.
06:57But really my focus is on our players.
07:00Thanks everyone.
07:02Thank you very much.
07:03Thanks very much.
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