Eddie Howe Bournemouth
Newcastle United endured a disappointing 3-1 defeat against West Ham United, marking Nuno Espirito Santo’s first victory as the Hammers’ manager. The loss left Newcastle fans frustrated, as their team failed to maintain momentum after initially taking the lead. In the aftermath, both Gary Neville and Eddie Howe offered frank assessments of the team’s performance, highlighting areas of concern for the Magpies.
Gary Neville said: “They made me really angry. I think probably in the last 20 minutes of that first half, but certainly in that second half, they didn’t have a shot for a long time in the game. I thought they really let the manager down, who is fantastic. A manager who has got a great record, but they’ve got a lot of work to do. And they’ve been found out today like you wouldn’t believe, Newcastle.”
Eddie Howe said: “I don’t think it looked like a Newcastle team that we’ve seen in recent seasons. I think the body language, the collective spirit on the pitch, loads of little things that contribute to our performance, wasn’t there. I don’t think that was tactical and I don’t think that was necessarily technical. It was a by-product of us just not being where we needed to be mentally.”
Eddie Howe continued: “I almost could have taken anyone off and I think that was a reflection of where we were in that moment of the game. It’s very, very rare for me to feel that way. In fact, I don’t think I have since I’ve been manager of Newcastle. The physicality, the energy was missing in our performance and the difficult thing to take from that. It was hugely frustrating for us – that was a poor performance.”
Eddie Howe added: “The numbers aren’t good in terms of our away form recently, so it would be foolish for me to dismiss that outright. I think we’ve got a very good group of professionals who care deeply and want to do well. Certainly we haven’t replicated our home form when we are away. We haven’t got the points that we’ve got at home, but I think some of the performances have been very good. We just didn’t turn those really good performances into wins. Today was a dip in terms of performance and that’s the worst we’ve played.”
Eddie Howe concluded: “I don’t want to look like I’m looking for excuses, I’m just trying to figure out what happened today. But certainly I’ve never accused my players of lacking effort. I want to see a response and I want to see an honesty because that’s what we’ve built all our success on, is that quality with the honesty in terms of what they’ve delivered in this game and then an honesty to go and try and put it right if it’s not to the level that they want it to be.”
The defeat against West Ham has raised questions about Newcastle’s away form, which has been inconsistent compared to their performances at home. Eddie Howe’s candid reflections suggest a need for introspection and improvement as the team prepares for their next challenge. Newcastle will have an opportunity to bounce back when they host Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Magpies are currently eighth in their group standings, having secured two wins in their first three matches.
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