Isak injury update, surprise comments and Nick Pope - Howe speaks after Liverpool loss
Eddie Howe has been speaking to the media following Newcastle’s 2-0 loss against Liverpool last night.
Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister either side of half time were enough to condemn Newcastle to defeat, in what’s hopefully not a preview of things to come at Wembley in just over a fortnight.
With controversial selections, injury woes and an FA Cup tie against Brighton on the horizon, here’s what the gaffer had to say after the game at Anfield.
Alexander Isak injury update
The big news before the game was Alexander Isak’s absence from the squad, which was later revealed to be a groin injury.
Speaking on the injury to his star man, Howe clarified further for fans: “It goes without saying how important he is to us and I think you can see that tonight - I thought we missed him.”
“It was a late decision, around midday. He didn’t feel right with his groin, so we didn’t risk it. We’ve got too many big games to come. We knew he was feeling something yesterday. We hoped he would improve overnight but it didn’t improve enough."
After the game, Howe said that he still expects the former Real Sociedad forward to indeed be fit for the Carabao Cup final, feeling it is "not serious at all" and a precautionary move to make sure he's fine for the weeks ahead.
Surprising comments on Toon display?
The gulf in class between Arne Slot’s Champions-to-be and the rest of the league has been evident almost every week, and Wednesday night was no exception.
Without Isak, Joelinton and Sven Botman in the side, Newcastle looked a shell of its best self, although Howe wasn't too critical of the display when speaking after the full-time whistle.
"I thought we played OK tonight. We could have done better, I don't think it was a bad performance in any way but with the two goals we could have done much better. Both were passes into our box that we did not get tight enough to their midfielders which is frustrating really.”
“Going the other way we had opportunities and moments but we were not clinical enough when those few chances did come our way. Maybe we were a bit lacking with the final ball too.”
“It is always about our team and what we want to do but of course you have to try to control their big threats. I thought we did that pretty well in general but they are never a team that you can fully control with the pace and quality they have on the counter-attack especially, that can be devastating. But in the main I think we defended pretty well.”
Howe is always loathed to throw his players under the bus, but suggesting it wasn't a bad display in "any way" felt slightly off considering we failed to muster a single shot on target.
On preparing for Wembley
In just over a fortnight’s times, Newcastle and Liverpool will meet on neutral ground at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final, and every Mag fan will be hoping for a performance closer to our 3-3 earlier in the season against the Reds rather than the 2-0 loss we’ve seen tonight.
Howe has said that tonight was a learning experience for his team, and important things were picked up on which will help prepare for their return to Wembley.
“I think you always learn, sometimes you learn more in defeat than you do in victory. Two games against them this season, we’ve been competitive, I thought we were competitive today, but we’re obviously going to have to perform better if we want to win.”
On Nick Pope’s performance
The contentious issue about our starting goalkeeper came up once again, as Nick Pope found himself between the sticks again over Martin Dubravka.
Fans have been quick to lambast Pope’s performance, especially for Szoboszlai’s opener, and questioned Howe’s inclusion and commitment to playing the keeper.
“I thought we played pretty well, I think what let us down was the two goals we conceded," Howe said. "We should never concede from those situations, we've got enough bodies back, we just don't mark the men.”
On Pope's role in the first goal, he added: "Difficult for me to comment, I don't know. I've not spoken to Nick about it and I've not seen it again from any angle. I think it went through two people's legs, so I think that's the difficulty for Nick, he's probably unsighted but I've got no idea. I can't give you a definite on that.”
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