Eddie Howe admits he is concerned by Newcastle United’s lack of killer instinct in the Premier League.
The Magpies again drew a blank on Saturday as Manchester City ran out 2-0 winners at the Etihad, courtesy of goals from Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva.
Despite playing well in spells and matching the reigning champions for much of the encounter, it was Pep Guardiola’s men who had the cutting edge in the final third, taking their chances while Newcastle squandered theirs.
As a result, the Magpies remain on the back foot in their quest to return to the Champions League for the first time in almost two decades. It also underlined their poor start to 2023 in front of goal, with no other team scoring fewer than their three since the turn of the year.
For the first time, Howe has revealed his private concerns about his team’s short-term goalscoring capabilities, although he backs them to return to form in the long run.
“I’m not going to lie and say it isn’t a concern, of course it is,” he said. “But I think when you’re still creating chances, which we did today, not in abundance because we’re playing one of the best teams in world football but we had the moments.
“I back the players over the long term that we will start scoring again. We need to, that’s a fact because the confidence of the team is dependent on it. It’s certainly something for us to reflect on.”
What has to be taken into consideration is the Magpies’ recent opposition. They have faced three of the traditional top six in recent weeks and been beaten 2-0 each time.
“I think they have been three very interesting games because our overall performance has been very good high level games,” Howe said of the consecutive losses to Liverpool, Man United and Man City.
“We’ve gone toe to toe with all of those teams but come out beaten. But on the general performance, that’s a harsh reflection on those games. Today was a similar pattern because I thought we were competitive and had our chances but we didn’t take them and Manchester City took theirs.”
And while doom and gloom reigns supreme for many, with fears among the fan base that wheels look set to come off the Magpies’ season, Howe has the belief his players can kick on.
“Certainly from my perspective, the last three games have told us that we’re competitive,” he said.
“We have things to improve, areas of the team to grow, but certainly compared to our games against Manchester City last year, I think we’ve seen a huge improvement.
“Last year was a really tough experience. I thought there was quite a big gap between the two teams. I think this year, in the two games we’ve had, they’ve been very good games. They were on a knife edge and could have gone either way. That’s a big improvement for us.
“Hopefully we can come back next year an even better team, but certainly that becomes more difficult.”