Nine days to prepare, yet Newcastle fail to cope with Chelsea in every department

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After watching Newcastle’s woeful performance against Chelsea, you’d think they had just nine hours to prepare for the game, not nine days.

The win against Southampton last week was a huge lift. We showed flair in the first half, then resilience in the second.

While we lost key players to injury, there was a lot to be positive about.

But all that positivity has disappeared after another defeat.

It’s been a grim weekend for Newcastle. Burnley won to shove us further down the table. Then Fulham won to close the gap between ourselves and the relegation zone.

Newcastle get it all wrong at Stamford Bridge

Steve Bruce’s team selection was positive against Chelsea, but that was as good as it got.

Thomas Tuchel’s side dominated from minute one, and will be upset not to win by more than two goals.

Newcastle did try to press high, but Chelsea constantly played through it and hit us on the break.

Our biggest issue was out wide. Emil Krafth and Jamal Lewis had nights to forget. Both were extremely poor, but their performances seemed to expose a lack of preparation from Newcastle.

Particularly down the Chelsea left, Timo Werner and Marcos Alonso created so many openings. Newcastle couldn’t cope with the overload in the flanks, and it should have brought Chelsea more goals.

But why didn’t Newcastle have an answer to this?

Since Tuchel took over as Chelsea boss, the system has always been the same. They’ve reverted to a wing-back system, creating an overload out wide on both flanks.

All night, Newcastle didn’t have an answer to this.

So what on earth were we working on all week in training?!

Newcastle had more time than most to prepare for this game. Chelsea even had a mid-week game to contest with. Yet Newcastle weren’t able to be competitive at Stamford Bridge, succumbing to yet another defeat.

There seemed to be no game plan from Steve Bruce. It felt like a case of ‘well this has worked in the past, so just do it again lads’.

Away to Chelsea isn’t a game that Newcastle expect to win. But this was another performance that gave fans nothing to be hopeful about.

It’s aimless performances like this that lead to relegation – and that’s where we’re heading if nothing changes.

The pressure is mounting on Bruce, and it could increase even more with Fulham facing Burnley and Sheffield United before we’re next in action.

Manchester United at Old Trafford is next up for Newcastle. And this time we’ve only got six days to prepare…