Journalist suggests Eddie Howe thinks he made a mistake against Arsenal

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Newcastle United went toe-to-toe with Arsenal on Sunday, but just weren’t good enough against Mikel Arteta’s Premier League title chasers.

It was a frustrating afternoon for Eddie Howe‘s side, with Newcastle missing multiple chances before Arsenal put them to the sword.

Aaron Ramsdale made some remarkable saves, while he was bailed out by the woodwork on two occasions. Had those chances gone in, it would have obviously been a very different game.

But it was Arsenal who came out on top. It was a proper away performance by them, frustrating the crowd and the opposition with their gamesmanship. They also matched Newcastle physically, which is not easy to do.

Arsenal were really annoying, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. It was the kind of performance you expect to see from a team chasing the title, and the type of performance we have seen from Newcastle this season.

The Magpies lost their way at times against Arsenal, who managed to find a way of hurting Howe’s side at St James’ Park – something not many teams have been able to do. Arteta got the better of Howe, who may have regrets about his starting lineup on Sunday.

Chris Waugh states Eddie Howe may regret his team selection vs Arsenal

On the latest episode of Pod On The Tyne, the Athletic’s Chris Waugh discussed Howe’s team selection and suggested that the Toon boss believes he made a mistake.

“It was interesting that Howe said after the game, he said ‘I thought we lacked balance in the side’,” he said.

“I’ve exchanged a few messages with people inside the club who said exactly the same thing. I think that maybe he might have regretted his starting lineup a few minutes into the game because I think he saw that it wasn’t quite what Newcastle have been so far this season.”

Sean Longstaff injury limited Newcastle

The one change on Sunday saw Callum Wilson come in for Anthony Gordon. That meant Alexander Isak was moved to the left of attack, while Joelinton reverted to his midfield role. But rather than playing on the left of the three, he was used on the right.

Howe may now believe that those changes were the wrong ones, but he was severely limited by Sean Longstaff’s injury. He would have been a guaranteed starter on the right of the midfield three had he been fit.

Perhaps Joelinton and Joe Willock should have swapped positions. Or maybe Howe should have gone with an out-and-out winger on the left rather than Isak. He did have Miguel Almiron, Anthony Gordon and Allan Saint-Maximin on the bench.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and we probably would not be having these conversations had Newcastle won. If Jacob Murphy’s chance in the opening stages had gone in, it would have been a very different game.

It is fine margins at the top level, and it resulted in Newcastle losing at home for just the second time this season. Howe may feel like he made a mistake, but there is no doubt that he will learn from it.