Crystal Palace 2-0 Newcastle (Mateta 55′, 88′)
SELHURST PARK — Newcastle may have played in the Champions League this season, but defeat to Crystal Palace was a reminder of how much work there still is to do to turn this outfit into a top-tier side.
Eddie Howe refused to blame his own tactical decisions for a dismal 2-0 loss at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night, courtesy of a Jean-Philippe Mateta double, despite abandoning his back three in the final third of the game for a more familiar flat four.
Instead, he bemoaned the approach of Newcastle’s players to a game for which they had 11 days to prepare and their sure-footedness lasted all of 90 seconds.
“The first couple of minutes you think ‘Okay, we’re in a good place’ and then the first half from that moment unravelled into an uncomfortable feeling where you knew that we weren’t firing on all cylinders,” Howe said afterwards.
“I anticipated a much better second half – and we probably were better in the second period after about 60 minutes – but the two goals we conceded summed up our performance.”
He added: “When you talk tactically, it’s always about the attitude of the group first and foremost.
“If you’re not quite where you need to be for whatever reason mentally, then it doesn’t matter what you do tactically, you’re going to fall down and I felt that’s probably where we were today.”
Howe was not the only one who noticed. When Newcastle gave the ball away for the first goal, you could see Anthony Gordon frantically asking his team-mates to come out and meet the attack, to press as Howe’s side always do.
Instead they stood flat-footed and by the time Dan Burn overcommitted to a challenge and misread Mateta’s movement, it was too late. The ball was given away again 33 minutes later and again it ended in the back of the net via Mateta’s boot.
By contrast, Oliver Glasner’s side were committed, hard-working and fierce in their pressing.
“This is what we what we train every day,” Glasner said.
“But it’s the next thing to have the legs, to have the mentality, to have the character to do this because it’s effort.”
Ordinarily, you cannot fault Newcastle for effort, but they were strangely subdued by the typically oppressive atmosphere at Selhurst Park, where they have not scored a league win with fans in the ground since 2013.
Howe rued the 11-day break where, with a lengthy injury list, they were often training with only 12 or 13 players.
“It was a difficult period for us because we’ve still got players that aren’t 100 per cent fit,” Howe added.
“So we had a very, very small training group in between games and that limits your options.”
But it has not been the case all season long, while Newcastle’s patchy away form has been. The Magpies have managed just four wins on the road and are 15th in the Premier League in terms of points gained away from home, with the biggest differential between away and home form of any team in the division.
“[Away form] has to improve,” How said, admitting it has been the focus of internal meetings at Benton.
“I look at us play away from home last season: we were strong, we were resolute, we were resilient, we had loads of really good away performance qualities in our game every week.
“This season, I think for loads of different reasons that’s been missing at times and that’s something we’ve got to re-find.”
He added: “We know how important our away form is going to be, not just for this season, but for the future.”
In the league, Newcastle have trips to Burnley, Manchester United and Brentford to contend with, and although catching Tottenham is probably out of their reach, sixth place should be good enough for Europa League football if they can hang on to it.
But Europa League is not the ultimate ambition for this club and its deep-pocketed ownership. The Champions League foray this season was not a temporary incursion, it was a reconnaissance mission for future campaigns; campaigns where performances such as Wednesday’s will need to be rooted out for good.
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