Newcastle United’s defence has been a major issue for Eddie Howe this season and that was showcased during their 4-1 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday.
Alan Shearer wasn’t impressed by how Newcastle performed, with Kieran Tripper and Sven Botman coming under fire.
Only a few nights ago, Arsenal were losing away in Portugal to Porto in the Champions League, it was a performance to forget for Mikel Arteta’s men.
But they didn’t show any signs of fatigue or nerves because they swarmed Newcastle from the off and forced them into mistake after mistake.
Alan Shearer stated that Kieran Trippier and Sven Botman were ‘all over the place’, whilst the latter also had his ‘worst game’ since signing for the club, as he told Premier League Productions (24/02/24 at 10:05 pm).
Last season, the reason why Newcastle finished in the Champions League places was because of their defence and how they would bully teams off the park.
That has now flipped on its head because they are fragile, losing their duels, struggling to play out from the back, being sloppy, inviting unnecessary pressure on themselves and making a lot of individual mistakes.
All of this was proven in bucket loads against Arsenal, with Alan Shearer not holding back on how he felt about it all during and after the game.
Kieran Trippier and Sven Botman struggle for Newcastle
“Good play from Arsenal,” said Shearer for the second goal. “But there is just no pressure on the ball.
“If you look, you have three or four players of Newcastle standing and watching in passive. You have got to get up. You have to put pressure on the ball, otherwise, with the players Arsenal have, really, really good players, talented players, they are going to hurt you.
“Trippier is all over the place at the back. Botman’s all over the place at the back and they end up getting a tap-in. Really good from Arsenal, but terrible from Newcastle. Where is the pressure? Where is the desire to go and close someone down? You are being battered by a very good team, so you have to roll your sleeves up and you have to put up a bit of a fight. None of that from Newcastle.
After FT: “Botman had his worst game in a Newcastle shirt, he gave the ball away and they couldn’t recover. Arsenal’s passing was slick”
Newcastle fail to test Arsenal’s fragility
This was Newcastle’s chance to test Arsenal’s resolve and try to pounce on their midweek defeat in the Champions League, especially given that they had to travel and had little time to recover.
But by the time they went into the break, it felt like the game was over and Bukayo Saka made sure of that when he scored a brilliant third after the hour mark.
After that, it was about damage limitations, with Jakub Kiwior then adding a fourth minutes later to send the Arsenal fans into party mode.
That’s a remarkable 18 goals in four Premier League games since the team returned from their winter break.
Compare that to Newcastle and they have conceded 13 goals during that period.
They will be hoping for some confidence and belief in the system when they are in FA Cup action against Blackburn Rovers in the Alan Shearer derby on Tuesday, because they need it.
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