Eddie Howe shares what he told his Newcastle players after their heavy defeat to Arsenal

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Eddie Howe was very disappointed in the way that Newcastle United had collapsed against Arsenal at the weekend, particularly in the first half.

It was an embarrassing showing from the players who proved last season and in this campaign to some extent that they are capable of competing with the best, but they played like an academy side on Saturday.

Speaking to ChronicleLive, Howe shared what it was exactly that he told his squad after their 4-1 defeat at the Emirates as they looked to make amends in the FA Cup against Blackburn.

Howe says Newcastle lost their identity vs Arsenal

Howe prides himself on the fact that his team can play a very high intensity and high energy game that makes things difficult for any opposition on the ball, and it worked so well last season.

Sometimes it would win them big games and sometimes it wouldn’t, but Newcastle would always walk away from a game knowing that they had played their game and left everything out on the pitch.

But that’s not been happening lately and perhaps it’s not down to a lack of effort, rather a lack of personnel, but regardless it’s certainly not been good enough, especially defensively.

Against Arsenal, the players looked out of ideas, struggled to get out of their own half and it wasn’t until when Joe Willock came on with the game already lost that they had started to look a threat.

On what he told his players, Howe said: “I always try to use the things that I feel myself. It’s not fake motivation. There was a lot of mixed feelings after Arsenal, and I used that as motivation to help the players, but I felt I needed to get across to the players in no uncertain terms that we have to do a better job of representing ourselves in that game. Our identity wasn’t clear in the Arsenal match.

“At Blackburn, we were not fantastic in our performance but the spirit was there and the determination and the fight was there. That was all missing against Arsenal.”

Howe needs to have a strong three months

With time running out this season Howe needs to have a very strong final three months to push his Newcastle side back up the Premier League table where they currently sit in 10th and could soon drop into the bottom half.

The 46-year-old really needs some of his stars from last season to step up with the likes of Sven Botman looking off of his game lately, though he may still be trying to get up to speed after his injury.

Champions League is now out of the window , but European football is still on the table and a seventh placed finish would still be big progress for Newcastle considering where they were just two years ago.

Looking ahead to Wolves, Newcastle must find that intense style of play or they risk dropping more points to a team directly ahead of them and suddenly they’re staring down the other end of the table.