Dominic Scurr reflects on Newcastle United's 4-1 defeat at Arsenal
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00:00 Arsenal 4 Newcastle United 1 here at the Emirates Stadium this evening.
00:05 Something very disappointingly familiar about the game.
00:10 Tonight, and almost expected in some ways, Newcastle leaking goals continued to do that.
00:15 Gifted Arsenal. A couple of goals tonight, set pieces were weak, offered very little in the final third.
00:22 Certainly in the first half where they were just nowhere near Arsenal levels above them as the league table would suggest.
00:29 But Newcastle, just when you're thinking of closing that gap, obviously had a very good game against Arsenal earlier in the season
00:37 when they were an informed team in the Premier League. But that as soon, or quickly, went out the window.
00:43 Obviously that defensive solidarity as well, where Newcastle, when they played Arsenal, had one of the best defensive records in the Premier League back in November,
00:51 now have one of the worst. It's chalk and cheese really, defensively.
00:57 Eddie Howe tried to make changes today. One was forced, Loris Karius coming in goal for Martin Dabravka.
01:03 You could probably pinpoint the moment Newcastle's defensive solidarity went out the window as the moment Nick Pope got injured against Manchester United in December.
01:12 But looking at the team today, Tino Levermanto came back in for Dan Byrne.
01:18 So that was a problem area for Newcastle that Eddie Howe did try to address, but didn't make much difference today.
01:25 Sven Botman again on that left-hand side of the centre-back position.
01:31 Just own goal, couldn't do an awful lot about it, but then gifted possession to Arsenal for the fourth goal, I think it was.
01:42 And obviously defensively, just all over the place. Fabian Scherr as well, who's often been a standard setter at the back for Newcastle defensively.
01:50 Sloppy in possession, gifting the ball to the opposition, careless at times.
01:56 And then the midfield, it just keeps bypassing them. That midfield three of Louis Mailly, Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff,
02:04 while all three of them have their individual qualities, just does not work as a midfield three.
02:10 Not dynamic enough, not physical enough, the legs as well.
02:16 It's one of those issues that Eddie Howe hasn't had the chance to address.
02:21 I thought Newcastle did look a bit better when Joe Willock came on and Joe Willock ends up scoring the goal on his return from injury.
02:26 So that's one positive you can take from the game. Newcastle do have Joe Willock back.
02:33 Obviously, Martin de Bravca is ill. Will he be back in time for the trip to Blackburn on Tuesday night?
02:39 Loris Karius, for all he conceded four goals, didn't do an awful lot wrong.
02:46 I think he probably flapped a little bit, could have done better for the fourth goal in particular, but made a couple of decent saves and decent claims.
02:55 And I thought his kicking was, his distribution was generally quite good as well.
03:00 An unfortunate performance for him on what was his Premier League debut, but Newcastle in general just way, way off where they have been previously.
03:10 But recent weeks, while they've been unbeaten in the Premier League, the goals have continued to come.
03:20 And this result was expected in many ways. It was just the nature of it, the nature of the performance, particularly in the first half.
03:31 And the nature of the goals conceded that just make it that extra bit disappointing.
03:36 Now it's up to Eddie Howe and his players to find the answers for the defensive problems.
03:40 Something we've been saying for the past couple of months. But does Eddie Howe have those answers?
03:46 He said it's a collective effort. They'll have to work on it on the training ground.
03:51 Try to find those answers. Obviously, didn't happen today.
03:55 Blackburn Rovers, a different sort of kettle of fish, a championship club.
03:59 But then you've got Wolves coming up, difficult opponents at St James' Park and then Chelsea.
04:05 So it's not going to get easier. Teams are going to continue to ask questions of this Newcastle United backline.
04:10 And almost recent weeks have provided a blueprint to how to expose it.
04:15 So it's an important spell now coming up, as they always are.
04:21 But it's potentially a crucial one for Eddie Howe and how he addresses this, how he finds the answers to what's gone on, particularly over the past couple of months.
04:32 Obviously now boosted by a couple of players returning from injury, we'll soon have the likes of Elliot Anderson, Matt Target back.
04:39 But how much difference are they going to make to the starting eleven?
04:42 So, yeah, hopefully Newcastle can bounce back from this.
04:47 But big questions that need answering and answering quickly.