Newcastle will spend the week focusing on defensive improvements after Steve Bruce held an immediate post-mortem in the wake of losing to Manchester United, per Chronicle Live.
The Magpies suffered their third defeat of the season at Old Trafford on Saturday, with only Norwich City losing more. The Canaries have lost all four of their opening fixtures in their first month back in the Premier League as 2020/21 Championship title-holders.
Newcastle have also conceded a league-high 12 goals over losses to West Ham, Aston Villa, Manchester United and a 2-2 draw with Southampton. Bruce hopes to improve the Toon’s defensive shape over the coming days, before hosting Leeds United on Friday night.
Bruce and his coaching team will focus on improving Newcastle’s defensive shape after an immediate post-mortem in the wake of losing to Manchester United. The Toon addressed the late defensive errors that helped allow the Red Devils to win 4-1 at the weekend.
Chronicle Live add Bruce told the media at Old Trafford: “I am disappointed we have given away some poor goals and that has cost us”. While noting he left a “disappointed dressing room” following an intense dressing room dressing down on Saturday.
Newcastle gave their players Sunday as a day off and will hold four full training sessions this week, starting Monday. Bruce will also consider making further changes to the United line-up to face Leeds on Friday.
Bruce axed Federico Fernandez, Fabian Schar and Jacob Murphy from the line-up that drew with Southampton to face Manchester United. Ciaran Clark, Isaac Hayden and Javier Manquillo started in their place, with Joelinton replacing the injured Callum Wilson.
Bruce has big defensive problems to fix at Newcastle after Manchester United loss
Bruce’s entrusted Newcastle central back-three of Clark, Lascelles and Hayden all struggled to weather the Manchester United storm on Saturday. Particularly in the second-half as the Red Devils took charge, the trio wilted under the pressure.
Hayden struggled with the pace of Cristiano Ronaldo and dangerously stood off the 36-year-old for his second goal. A trend of Newcastle’s season, unfortunately, with Bruce’s men giving up repeated chances without winning the ball back to match.
Per WhoScored data, Newcastle have given up the fourth-most shots per game with an average of 17.8. But the Magpies only rank ninth for tackles per game (17.5) and 17th for interceptions (7.3). Everton face Burnley on Monday night first for interceptions (13.7), seventh for tackles (18.7) and 11th for shots allowed (12.3). Rafa Benitez’s side have additionally only conceded once per game over their opening three fixtures.
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