Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer refuses to blame tiredness for the Magpies suffering back-to-back defeats.
Eddie Howe’s injury-ridden Newcastle side have endured a tough few days. First they lost 3-0 to Everton, then they followed that with a 4-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Spurs game saw Newcastle pick the same 10 outfield players for the fifth game in a row, with injuries and suspension stopping Howe from rotating as his players play twice a week on a consistent basis.
Fatigue has been a real issue, while the bigger problem has been the Magpies’ inability to make any meaningful substitutes. That at least changed on Sunday, with Sean Longstaff and Callum Wilson returning.
The injuries and relentless schedule are hindering Newcastle, but Toon legend Alan Shearer does not buy into tiredness being an issue – and he is sick of hearing about it.
Alan Shearer will not let Newcastle use tiredness as an excuse
On the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer and Gary Lineker discussed Newcastle looking ‘jaded’ during their defeat to Tottenham.
Lineker: “I thought Newcastle had a go in the first half but overall I thought they were really dominated by an excellent Spurs, against a I suppose a jaded looking Newcastle. Although I don’t quite buy that.”
Shearer: “Oh come on.”
Lineker: “Did you ever feel jaded in your day?”
Shearer: “In fairness to Eddie Howe and the players I have never heard one of them say they are tired but all I keep hearing is reporters and pundits and presenters saying how tired they are and they must be because the same team has had to pay five times in a row. Forgive me for thinking anything different, but isn’t that their job to play football? The one thing that has happened is that they are not able to change it in the last 20 minutes. The 11 they put out is really good but the thing they are missing is not being able to change it in the last 20 minutes. So I don’t go along with the tiredness thing and I will never accept that players play too much football because they have the best sports science, best pitches. They have the best of everything. And they don’t sit on coaches for six hours now, they sit on private jets.”
Newcastle need more players back as soon as possible
The inability to change a game using the bench has been Newcastle’s major issue in recent weeks.
There has been a clear sense of fatigue during our last two games, but that might be more mental than physical. These players are incredibly fit and play a relentless style of football.
On top of that, we have had some really difficult games. We had a trio of matches against giants of European football, which were quickly followed by two tough away fixtures.
The thing is, even if everyone was fit, a lot of these players would still be playing pretty much every minute. There would not be complete rotation.
But there would be a chance to freshen things up, which Howe has been robbed of. Fortunately, that could be about to change, with Newcastle starting to get some players back from injury.
That will delight Shearer, as he is sick of seeing tiredness used as an excuse for his former club.
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