Eddie Howe has defended one of Newcastle United players after another tough performance against Bournemouth yesterday.
Newcastle were not at their best and haven’t been for a while at home now, and Dan Burn in particular has come under a lot of criticism from the fanbase lately.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Howe was again keen to defend the £13m defender who he claims was not solely responsible for Bournemouth’s second goal.
Howe defends Burn’s performance for Newcastle
Burn has become a very controversial figure at Newcastle, though the criticism does seem to be focused more on Howe’s decision to consistently pick him rather than the player himself.
Nobody really is having a go at Burn for his lack of pace, which is what has been exploited so often, it’s not something he can help or improve it’s just part of his game, but they are unhappy with how he’s being used.
Despite being targeted by opposition teams seemingly every game now, the manager has continued to pick him in the starting 11 and once again in the game against Bournemouth decided to bring him off after they had scored a goal down his flank.
We saw this against Nottingham Forest back in December, against Aston Villa when they brought Leon Bailey on and against Luton a couple of weeks ago when they went 4-2 up.
But Howe was quick to defend the left-back in this game claiming it wasn’t one individual error that led to Newcastle conceding the goal.
On Burn, Howe said: “I am not dealing with that kind of thought in my mind. It is not about finding someone to blame it is about finding solutions. And that’s what I’ll do with my work. I can sit here all night and talk about the value of everybody’s performance, mine included, and pick holes in it.
“But for me the job has always been about finding solutions. That second goal would not have come from one individuals mistake. I’m telling you now it will come from three or four people’s individual mistakes. People may highlight one person but in my job you can’t do that.”
Newcastle fans call for £32m defender to replace Burn
While Howe has explained his decision for including Burn in his Newcastle team before, one person who possibly should feel hard done by is Tino Livramento who has been left out in the cold since Burn returned form injury.
The 31-year-old was out for a decent length of time with a back injury, meaning Livramento had to step in as cover down the left and the 21-year-old had done a brilliant job both in the Premier League and Champions League.
There were even some shouts for him to make a push for the England squad in the summer given their lack of options at left-back, though those have died down now with his little playing time.
With Newcastle now facing a trip to Arsenal, meaning Burn would likely be up against the in-form Bukayo Saka, it will be interesting to see if Howe sticks with his guns or risk playing the pacier defender in Livramento to help cover.
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