Eddie Howe happy to take point after holding Manchester City 1-1
28/09/2024
St James' Park, Newcastle, UK
28/09/2024
St James' Park, Newcastle, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00OK.
00:11You all right, guys?
00:12Sorry.
00:15Hi, how are you?
00:25So, Rob, we'll start with Nick.
00:27Eddie, you asked a few players to step up and be brave.
00:30Do you think you got that today?
00:32Yeah, I did. I thought it was a really good performance from us.
00:36In both halves, I thought we committed.
00:39We were brave, as you say.
00:41I think a very difficult team to press high up the pitch,
00:44but I think we managed to find a way to get to them.
00:49Really, Anthony Gordon, I think, epitomised that spirit
00:52and that determination to be aggressive.
00:54I thought his work that he got through was really,
00:56really impressive.
00:57Big, long-distance runs.
00:59I think he proved that he's getting back to his very best
01:02in terms of fitness levels, so I was really pleased with him.
01:05And then the team backed that up, and it's not easy to do,
01:08as I say, because they're so good at what they do.
01:11But I thought everyone, to a man, put in a really good shift today.
01:14Pep Guardiola's just told us how much he loves and admires you
01:17and how you players go about it.
01:19Can you tell us a little bit more about that conversation at the end?
01:22It looked to be engrossed in a long, deep conversation.
01:25I just think Pep's really good for the English-British game.
01:28I really do. I think he's an innovator.
01:29I think he's very good at what he does.
01:33Arguably the best ever that we've seen here.
01:36And I think he's taken the game to another level,
01:38and that's why it's so good for us all to go up against him
01:41and try and find solutions to problems.
01:47I thought it was a really good game today.
01:49I thought it was really interesting tactically.
01:51I thought that's our best display of the season.
01:55No doubt about that for me, with and without the ball.
01:58And probably the most competitive we've been against Manchester City as well.
02:02Even the 3-3 draw, I felt we had a little bit more control today
02:07than we had in that game.
02:09So, yes, really good signs for us.
02:12The penalty, obviously, was a big moment in the game.
02:14The right call from you?
02:16Yes, I mean, Anthony's done well to keep himself onside.
02:19It's a good team move.
02:21I think he's clipped.
02:22And going at that speed, that's all it takes to go down.
02:25Just on Sandro Tonali and Kieran Trippie,
02:28was it always in your mind to bring them up?
02:30Were they coming off anyway?
02:31It looked like they both came off.
02:34The movement didn't appear great, but were they coming off anyway and how are they?
02:40Yes, I think that's how you want a player to exit the pitch, really.
02:43And I think that's the difference between this week and last week.
02:45Both players had given everything they couldn't give anymore
02:48and they had to come off.
02:49And I always say to the players, that's how I want you to play.
02:52Both players have had, obviously, different reasons,
02:55but broken pre-seasons.
02:59You can still see Sandro's got a little bit of fitness work to do to get to his best.
03:02So he comes off with cramp and Kieran, we hope, is cramp.
03:04We're not 100 per cent sure at the moment.
03:08But really good displays from both players today.
03:10Thanks, Dave. Of course, Damian, Luke and Simon.
03:13You talked there about the challenge you're going up against.
03:16When you, as a coach, draw a plan like that and it works or comes off,
03:21how satisfying is that?
03:24I never see it as coach against coach.
03:30I see it as players against players.
03:32So all you're trying to do is give the players the best chance to
03:36execute how they play against their opponent.
03:39If you get it wrong,
03:41it can be very, very difficult against Manchester City because the level of play,
03:45their style of play is unforgiving.
03:49You make a mistake, like we did for the first goal.
03:51I mean, we didn't do a lot wrong in that first half defensively.
03:53I think they had minimal chances,
03:54but the one time we just make a couple of bad decisions, they expose you.
03:58So there's still stuff for us to grow and learn from and to try and get closer to them
04:04in every level, but they're such a long way ahead
04:08in terms of their style and their development.
04:11But I can't fault the players for what they've given today to try and execute that plan.
04:15And on another day, I think we could have won the game if things had swung slightly differently.
04:19So a lot to be positive about.
04:21Can I just ask you about Lewis Horne? He's still young, probably inexperienced.
04:26When you see a performance like that, is that sure why you've had so much fun?
04:32Yeah, really pleased with Lewis today because he was, that's a big challenge.
04:35He's up against not just his starting opponent,
04:38but then the substitutions and fresh players coming on.
04:41And he's fatigued late in the game.
04:42It's really interesting to see how he adapted to that battle.
04:45I thought defensively, very good.
04:47His positioning, his understanding, because again, tactically today,
04:50we did something slightly different with our backline and he was pivotal to that.
04:54I thought he did really, really well.
04:55But also his composure on the ball.
04:57He's very, very good technically.
04:59I think we can get him involved in the final third more.
05:02So there's areas to still improve,
05:04but he's got a very bright future if he continues to develop like he is.
05:09One of the things Pep said is that your team on Newcastle
05:12are impossible to contain for a whole 90 minutes.
05:16How do you react to that?
05:21I think, and I'm not dismissing the comment,
05:24I think it's difficult to contain any team for 90 minutes
05:28because, you know, Manchester City play their brand of football
05:31and they're only one mistake away with the ball from being counter-attacked.
05:36And that's why I've got a huge admiration for how they play.
05:40But I do think we're a difficult team to contain
05:43because we do have pace and pace is a key element
05:46when you're deep in your own half, like we were at times,
05:49especially towards the end of the game.
05:50And you've got to have good technical players to find a way out.
05:52And if you can, there's spaces to exploit.
05:56And, you know, we did that with our goal.
05:58A goal is a great example of how we can hurt teams like Manchester City.
06:03I felt we had a goal in us today.
06:05I felt there was opportunities.
06:06I'm really pleased with some of our interplay around the box in the first half.
06:09Just maybe we didn't get enough bodies in the box.
06:11I think you said you didn't like what you saw last weekend.
06:14The team didn't like what they delivered.
06:17You look forward to like today.
06:20Yeah, and I think that's one of the beauties of this game.
06:23Hopefully, you always get another chance to put something right
06:26and to leave a much better imprint of what you're about.
06:29Today, we did do that.
06:32We leave the pitch not having won the game,
06:33but we leave with our heads held high and a much better representation
06:37of what we're about.
06:37Now, the challenge for us is to find that consistently.
06:41And there's no better game to do that with than the Cup game we have in midweek.
06:44This is a brilliant challenge for us to try and progress again
06:48in another important Cup competition and to set really high standards
06:51in terms of attitude.
06:53Have you perhaps been asked a load of questions about Rodri being missing?
06:58It's almost the implication has been drawn today because Rodri's not there,
07:03which I'm sure is not quite accurate from his perspective.
07:07But as an opposition coach, how hard is it to go against City
07:13when you know they're going to be at a high level,
07:17even though everybody else thinks they'll be affected by one player being missing?
07:23Yeah, I don't think we looked at the game like that.
07:25I mean, Rodri, yes, is pivotal to what they do.
07:29But we knew that they would reshuffle, potentially tactically
07:32do something different.
07:33And I think that was one of the challenges for us today,
07:35was to try and predict their starting line-up and their system.
07:41It's difficult to predict their system at the best of times,
07:43but it was even more difficult today without their number six,
07:45who glues everything together.
07:48So we sort of had a couple of plans.
07:53But I think we all make too much of one player.
07:56You know, we're missing two number nines today, two centre-halves.
08:01So it's very, very difficult to replace those players
08:06because they're all unique.
08:09But you have to, and you have to find a way to still try and get results.
08:12One more to get through, we'll get through as many as we can.
08:14Lee, and then Craig.
08:16Eddie, can you give us a little bit more insight into how much you kind of suffered
08:21at the start of the week in terms of putting the players through,
08:24sort of looking back at the game for one of them?
08:27You know, today was the ideal response.
08:29It's obviously paid off.
08:33Yeah, I think it was a different week than the one we expected
08:38because we expected to play on Tuesday.
08:40And so we were all preparing for the game on Tuesday,
08:43on Monday morning, just before I'm due to come and speak to you.
08:46And then, of course, the game's called off.
08:47And I think I said in my press conference on Friday,
08:51it's probably a good thing for us because it gave us a chance to attack
08:55a clear training week and build our game plan for Manchester City
08:59from Monday, really.
09:01That's probably the most we've reviewed a game with the players.
09:04So I think they had a lot of time to digest the performance.
09:08But I think if if we produce something, it's only right that we analyse it
09:12in the correct way with a view to,
09:15of course, producing a much better outcome.
09:18Obviously, we've seen last week, but today,
09:22are you sure that you can go talk to them and say,
09:26can this team be anything it wants to be, even without other players doing it?
09:32That's very much mindset.
09:33My mindset, sorry, that we can be whatever we want to be.
09:36We are in control of what we deliver.
09:41And there should be no obstacle in how we think internally.
09:46And we're all working towards that sort of aim, if that makes sense.
09:50And just quickly on Alexander Isaac,
09:53is there an update there, will he feature on Tuesday?
09:57He definitely won't feature on Tuesday.
09:59Let's see how he looks for Everton.
10:01Of course, there's an international period coming up after that.
10:04So and he's an international player.
10:06So we'll see the implications of all that.
10:08But we'll make decisions during this week.
10:13But I think, well, we know it's not a serious injury,
10:15but it's it's a niggly one that
10:17is obviously preventing a key player playing for us.
10:31Yeah, again, brilliant from War Flags, brilliant from everybody.
10:36Anthony probably needed a bit of love today.
10:40You know, of course, it's difficult for me to love the players all the time.
10:43Sometimes you have to give them
10:45the opposite in order to get the right responses.
10:50But ultimately, I think it's really important that we love all our players
10:53and we allow them to enter the pitch in a great frame of mind,
10:57knowing that they're free to make the odd mistake,
11:00that they're playing in an environment where they feel protected and loved.
11:02And I think Anthony's got that.
11:05I think Anthony's got that through what he's done here.
11:08And today, again, you could see his commitment and the crowd really
11:11could see how much effort he was putting into the game.
11:13And that's what we want to see and me included.
11:16So brilliant from the supporters and a great response from Anthony.
11:40Yeah, I think that is a balance that you always need.
11:42You need the steeliness,
11:45the determination to beat your opponent or try and beat your opponent.
11:50And give no inch on duels, tackles, whatever the moment is.
11:55But you can't lose your discipline.
11:57One thing we couldn't do today was go to 10 men against Manchester City or any team.
12:02So I think we were in control of our motions,
12:04but I think we had that bite to us today.
12:06So it was great to see.
12:09Hi, George.
12:10Firstly, can I just ask you to reflect on the quite shocking news about Darren for Newcastle?
12:16Yeah, I think all of us associated with Newcastle
12:20really feel for Darren and throw a protective arm around him.
12:24Devastating news for him and his family.
12:28You know, Darren is a really hard worker.
12:31He wants to do a great job for Newcastle.
12:33He's always been really committed.
12:36And just that news put everything into perspective.
12:38And we hope he makes a full recovery and he's OK
12:42and we'll do everything we can to support him.
12:45And it does mean that, I mean, it's been a year of change at the club,
12:48whether it's Dan leaving, or can he be in a band of their own?
12:52So that means there's more ahead.
12:53How challenging is it?
12:55Well, obviously there's a huge story that unfolds at the end of the month,
12:59but how challenging is it and how important is it for you as a coach
13:03to find a pathway through that change?
13:06Yeah, I think that the first thing is Darren's health ahead of anything else football related.
13:11Now it's about the person and his family.
13:15So putting that as the most important priority
13:17and then looking at the football side, yeah, it's not what we wanted.
13:22But I'm sure the club will have its plans in place
13:26and build that through time.
13:28I know Darren's going to stay and support the club,
13:30which is testament, again, to his character and how he wants to leave his legacy,
13:35which is a fantastic thing.
13:37And the club will be OK.
13:38Thanks, George.
13:39Just Scott and then Dominic to finish.
13:41Just when you talk about the steeliness and the kind of shift, if you like,
13:46in the way you approached this game, maybe last weekend,
13:49how important in particular for Carumo and Jolinton to set the tone for that?
13:53Because it felt today like those two in particular were right back
13:56at the kind of aggression and energy levels that they were showing last season.
14:02Yeah, I mean, you've picked two players and probably Jolinton
14:06is the sort of standard bearer for that.
14:07When you think of that type of aspect in our play,
14:10he's the one that, well, I probably first think of,
14:13and it needs to be there in his game, but it has to be reflected
14:17in everyone's game, regardless of their style of play.
14:21First thing, you have to work hard and you have to win your tackles
14:23and win your headers, which is what we didn't do against Fulham.
14:26We were too easy to play against.
14:28Today, I think Manchester City walk off and go,
14:31no, they're a team that have committed everything.
14:33And that's all we want,
14:34because then you add the ability to it and we're a match for anybody.
14:38Dominic, Anthony Gordon obviously scores today,
14:41kissing the bar and showing real passion for the club.
14:43What do you think saw their lip after Mayer in you today?
14:48I think a mixture of things.
14:49I never think it's one thing.
14:51I think he knew he needed a performance.
14:55He's playing in a different position, so sometimes that can make you freer.
15:01But I think the whole squad knew what we needed to do today.
15:03I don't think there was anyone that was left in any doubt
15:06about how we needed to perform.
15:08Anthony set the tone and that you need your number nine to do that.
15:11And the whole team then follows suit.
15:13Just finally, any update on his contract?
15:16I don't know anything on that.
15:19Of course, I think we spoke about it being close on Friday.
15:21Hopefully it gets even closer.
15:23OK, thanks, everyone. See you Monday morning.
15:25Thank you. Thanks very much.