Eddie Howe has expressed his worries regarding Newcastle’s struggle to find the back of the net, following a missed opportunity to elevate themselves into the Premier League’s top six.
The Magpies headed into Monday night’s encounter against West Ham at St James’ Park in search of a fourth consecutive victory across all competitions. A win would have brought them within a point of fifth-placed Brighton; however, they left the pitch defeated, with a disappointing 2-0 scoreline.
Newcastle has managed to score just 13 goals in 12 league matches this season, a stark contrast to their impressive totals of 68 and 85 in the preceding campaigns.
When questioned about the team’s current goal return, Howe candidly replied: “Yes, it is a concern. I can’t sugarcoat it because scoring goals is the most crucial part of our game. We need to find the net, regain our confidence, and rekindle that belief we’ve carried for so long.”
Despite the rare absence of goals, Howe noted that the side is still creating opportunities, stating, “I think that’s always the key factor. Against West Ham, we had moments when we could’ve easily scored a couple of times.”
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However, he admitted the team isn’t quite as fluid as in previous outings, revealing, “That’s something we need to address.”
In the opening 60 minutes of the clash, Howe was relatively pleased with his team’s performance, even though they conceded two goals during that phase. Tomas Soucek struck first with a powerful header in the 10th minute, followed by Aaron Wan-Bissaka netting his maiden goal for the Hammers just eight minutes after the second half began.
However, Newcastle’s frontline misfired, with striker Alexander Isak, who had been on a scoring streak in his last four games, experiencing a frustrating game after seeing an early goal disallowed for offside.
Too frequently, the team failed to deliver a quality final ball or finish, prompting Howe, who has worries over the fitness of midfielders Bruno Guimaraes and Joe Willock, to seek resolutions before their upcoming match against struggling Crystal Palace this Saturday.
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“That’s the crucial question, isn’t it? A lot of it probably hinges on the form and execution of individual players in those pivotal moments,” Howe remarked. “We had those big opportunities in Monday’s game. If you convert those, it tends to lead to more chances. That’s the nature of football, as we saw against Nottingham Forest last time out.”
Howe concluded with a nod to the importance of goals for rebuilding team morale: “There’s nothing quite like finding the net to foster confidence within the group. For me, confidence breeds from hard work in training—refining our approach and ensuring we rehearse our game plan.”
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