Newcastle United, who hadn't been quite convincing either before the international break, delivered another disappointing performance against Brighton, now being winless for 4 games. Although Fabian Hurzeler-led Brighton wasn't going to be an easy opponent for the Magpies, the way they dropped some crucial points would certainly affect their morale.
Eddie Howe makes serious mistake admission after the disappointing loss to Brighton
While the fixture saw star forward Alexander Isak returning back to the Newcastle XI, the Swedish star couldn't help in their goal-scarce, himself being guilty of missing a few brilliant opportunities. Thus, even though Eddie Howe's side had a positive game in overall terms, a lack of proper finishing in the final third cost them a potential 3 points.
However, while the unit's terrible final third presence has been much talked of by then, manager Eddie Howe himself made a serious admission as to what didn't help their side. As has the 46-year-old's tactical playstyle been, he targets to utilize his substitutions to the fullest, but that is what didn't fall in place against Brighton.
Speaking to the Northern Echo, after the fixture, Eddie Howe mentioned,
"“To be honest, I don’t think our substitutions helped our performance; I’ll be the first to give you an honest opinion.”"Eddie Howe
Be it the comeback win against Wolves or the late win against Tottenham, Howe's substitutions have been an integral part of his tactics, but yesterday's game was one such incident where he couldn't help his side elevate much after getting behind. In his words,
"“Sometimes the opposite happens; you make changes, and it elevates the team. Whenever I make changes, I’m hoping for that.”"Eddie Howe
Firstly, starting his substitutions in the 65th minute, unlike his usual halftime changes, and picking up potentially wrong names as per the game's demand did play an aid in Newcastle's 0-1 defeat to Brighton. While certainly questions can be raised on other moves, starting Harvey Barnes on the bench seemed a bit off move for the manager, and that too for an out-of-touch Jacob Murphy.
Overall, it is quite clear that the Magpies club needs to improve on various aspects as they head towards a series of difficult PL matchdays. Having been scheduled to play against Chelsea and Arsenal next, it remains to be seen what manager Howe plans to change the ongoing scenarios, as Newcastle need to extract some crucial points from the two matchdays to keep their top-4 contention in place.