Alan Shearer has slammed Newcastle United for their performance in a heavy defeat to Arsenal at the weekend.
Newcastle were never really in the game from the minute the referee blew the whistle and once the first goal went in it really felt as though there was no way back into it for Eddie Howe’s men.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer explained that Newcastle’s lack of running, intensity and closing down resulted in the disappointing defeat at the Emirates.
Shearer says Newcastle were ‘rotten’ on Saturday
It wasn’t a game that many Newcastle supporters were expecting something from, but it was still a fixture in which they had competed in last season and walked away with a point after a battling 0-0.
We saw none of the character and determination this weekend as the defence may as well have just opened up for them to allow the Arsenal attackers to walk into the box and put the game to bed.
Sven Botman has previously been singled out as having the worst game in a black and white shirt, though none of the defenders could really hold their head up high after that display.
Now, Shearer has suggested that it may have been the worst Newcastle performance under Howe after claiming that every single player was off their game on Saturday night.
On Newcastle, Shearer said: “That was as bad as I have seen under Eddie Howe, particularly in the first half, they were an absolute disgrace in the first half. They weren’t prepared to run around, there was no closing down, they were just off in every single position.
“They were a little bit better in the second half but could not compete with Arsenal’s intensity, their closing down and it was a rotten performance. They are just so wide open at the minute.”
Newcastle’s defence has been woeful this season
For a team who had boasted one of the best defence’s in the Premier League this season, this has been an incredible turnaround for all the wrong reasons with now 45 goals conceded in 26 games.
Of course, injuries have impacted this and losing Nick Pope has arguably been the biggest blow to Newcastle’s season, but you still wouldn’t expect a capitulation of this size.
Kieran Trippier has suffered some difficult spells this season, Botman hasn’t looked quite right since returning from injury, Fabian Schar was very disappointing against Arsenal and we all know of Dan Burn’s struggles.
Perhaps a change of system would improve results, but ultimately there is only so much Howe can do, as soon as the game kicks off its down to the players to go and execute the plan.
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