Howe on battling Newcastle's 4-2 Liverpool loss
Howe on battling Newcastle's 4-2 Liverpool loss
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00:00 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:02 OK, who wants to start us off?
00:22 Anyone?
00:25 Dominic?
00:26 Yeah, a disappointing defeat tonight, what's your rebuttal?
00:30 Yeah, of course disappointment, whenever we lose.
00:34 I thought it was a really good performance from Liverpool,
00:37 I thought they made it very difficult for us.
00:40 I thought we did very well to come in at nil-nil.
00:42 And we were in the game right to the end,
00:44 and the character, commitment of the players was at the highest level.
00:48 Maybe not our best performance, but certainly a lot of effort given.
00:53 [INAUDIBLE]
00:59 I think there's two ways to look at it,
01:01 the challenge on Sean Longstaff for me was a penalty,
01:04 and that changes the game massively,
01:06 and then Liverpool got the other end in the same attack,
01:09 and for me that wasn't a penalty, so that's a very tough moment for us.
01:13 Dom Shaw?
01:15 [INAUDIBLE]
01:22 Yeah, I think take away the penalty moments,
01:25 the goals we conceded we're disappointed with,
01:28 we know we can do better in those moments.
01:30 We were asked a lot of questions tonight,
01:32 their movement, their quality,
01:36 and the majority of the time we came up with some really good defensive passages of play,
01:44 but in those moments I thought we switched off and we're disappointed.
01:47 [INAUDIBLE]
01:50 Yeah, Kieran's got a groin problem, both injuries picked up against Nottingham Forest,
01:54 Kieran's got a groin problem, we're unsure how serious it is,
01:56 we hope we can get him back pretty quickly.
01:59 Callum will be missing the next two games.
02:04 [INAUDIBLE]
02:09 Yeah, no, he was magnificent tonight, obviously the penalty save,
02:13 a lot of other big moments for us, he really stood up and showed what a great goalkeeper he is.
02:18 Chris Woff, then Lee Ryder.
02:20 You mentioned the defensive pieces you were pleased with,
02:23 but Liverpool have had the highest XG ever in a Premier League match there,
02:27 are you concerned by how open you side is at certain points, and why do you think that is?
02:32 I don't necessarily think we were open,
02:33 I just think it doesn't help when you concede two penalties,
02:36 the XG of the two penalties itself is huge.
02:40 Two penalties that I think, one I didn't think was, and I thought the other was very soft.
02:44 Of course there's other moments where we didn't defend well enough,
02:49 I thought they had a lot of long shots tonight as well.
02:53 But certainly it's difficult for me to comment now, I'd need to watch it back,
02:57 but they're a team, especially here, that just examine you in every way,
03:01 and you know you're going to come under pressure and you will concede chances.
03:04 But, yeah, I need to reflect on those moments.
03:09 Are you aware of what you spoke about before, is confidence a little bit brittle?
03:15 Well, I think they're human beings, so naturally I think we're not at our most confident levels currently,
03:20 and I think we have to do everything we can to protect that confidence,
03:24 because it's such an important thing whenever you play.
03:27 So, that's why I think, and I've said before,
03:31 but I think we need to be not overreactive, not over-dramatise things currently,
03:37 we have a huge game to come in the next few days,
03:40 and I just think all our energy and resources have to go towards that.
03:43 Thanks, Chris.
03:44 Lee Ryder, then Kieran Kelly.
03:45 You talked about the confidence there, last season you did have it, it was flawed everywhere.
03:50 Is it almost the opposite this season?
03:53 No, I don't think so, I think maybe in the last few games, yes,
03:56 but you're bracketing the season as a whole,
03:59 we've played some brilliant football at times this year.
04:02 I think if we're going to go into that depth of talk,
04:07 then I have to bring up the injuries and the players that aren't here.
04:10 You talk to any team in the Premier League and you take half their team away,
04:14 you're going to notice that over a long period of time and over a month,
04:17 where you're playing every three days, so I think we've been put in a tough spot.
04:22 The big thing that I look for is the commitment and effort of the players,
04:26 was that there today? Yes.
04:28 And as long as we have that, we'll be fine.
04:30 The poor psychologist in your name, is he earning his money now?
04:36 Or is it something you have with the players on a one-on-one basis?
04:40 Has much changed from last season?
04:43 No, I think that can always be over-reported.
04:54 The psychologist has been brought in to work with the whole football club,
04:57 not just the first team. So it's such a broad role,
05:02 and nothing's really changed with the dynamics of how we work with the players.
05:06 You've got a top goalkeeper, he's an outstanding player,
05:18 and he showed tonight what a good goalkeeper he is,
05:21 because some of those saves were at the highest level,
05:22 especially the penalty save, which was a big moment for us.
05:26 He distributes the ball well as well, so we're very, very pleased with him.
05:29 That will do him the world of good.
05:31 Did you feel your team disrupted Liverpool enough,
05:36 particularly in the last season?
05:38 Did you feel you had a good skin of the crowd as well?
05:41 I don't think we were as good as we wanted to be with the ball tonight.
05:46 I thought we gave the ball away under pressure too much.
05:50 In the times that we were good enough to play around their press,
05:54 I thought we did give them problems, there were some really good moments for us.
05:57 We scored two goals away from home, I think one of the toughest places in the Premier League.
06:03 We've probably taken that before the game,
06:05 but obviously our defensive performance needed to be better to win the game.
06:08 It was such a hard score last season, you're a defensive team,
06:12 how do you feel about that?
06:16 I think there's more to it, because I think people will naturally look at
06:19 the goalkeeper in the back four, but it's the whole team functioning well.
06:24 I don't want to sit and make excuses, because you'll be tired of writing it,
06:32 but we do have half our team out, which is a reality, and that will make a difference.
06:37 And again today, how many attacking players could I change in running?
06:41 It's a difficult situation.
06:44 Will the derby be some kind of game-changing, re-energising season?
06:49 I think it has to, and that was my message to the players after the match,
06:52 there's no point over-analysing what just happened, we'll do that.
06:56 Obviously in the cold light of day, in the next couple of days.
06:59 But I think for the players we have to look forward,
07:01 the players have to look at Sunderland, we know how important the game is for the city,
07:04 for the supporters, for us in our season, so all our energy is now going towards that.
07:10 Thanks, everyone.
07:11 Thank you.