Christian Norgaard of Brentford is challenged by Joelinton of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United.(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Christian Norgaard of Brentford is challenged by Joelinton of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United.(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Christian Norgaard of Brentford is challenged by Joelinton of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United.(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Do Newcastle United have an identity? Many would argue they don't this season. On the contrary, I think they do...
This team has proven to be consistently inconsistent and sadly that was further underlined with a hot, maybe warm, and cold performance at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Alexander Isak and Harvey Barnes had dug the Magpies out of a hole in the opening period to go in at the break 2-2, before a second half capitulation saw them leave West London empty handed for the first time in the Premier League.
Here’s our five takeaways from the game:
Form points to decline
Newcastle just aren't firing this season, no matter how you try and paint things. No win in a month. No win in four. Two wins in 11 in the Premier League.
At every point they look to take one step forward this season - mostly against tougher opponents on home soil - they take two back in quick succession.
While Liverpool was everything everyone wants Newcastle United to be - this wasn't it, not the second-half anyway. The trend for Newcastle is not upward - and that has to bring questions the way of Eddie Howe and his players.
Individual errors costly - but this was more than that
Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We can't beat around the bush here, the result was disappointing but Newcastle did create enough chances to win two games in the first half.
However, they did not have the quality to take them. Sean Longstaff off the bar, Isak around the keeper, Barnes, Bruno Guimaraes, Jacob Murphy's header - the chances were plentiful in that first 45.
But individual errors meant it was level at the break, however undeserving the home side may or may not have been. To look at the missed chances only tells half the story, though.
That second half was again back to the bad old days, a far cry from the Liverpool intensity, and much more akin to the backwards and sideways surrender versus West Ham United and Crystal Palace
Too often Newcastle are reverting to type this season - and it's not a type fans have come to expect under Howe.
Tough Sandro Tonali & Anthony Gordon decision
Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United and Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, applaud the fans following the Premier League match between Brentford and Newcastle United. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United and Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, applaud the fans following the Premier League match between Brentford and Newcastle United. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United and Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, applaud the fans following the Premier League match between Brentford and Newcastle United. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Howe may have hinted at resting Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon during his pre-match press conference, but it was still a surprise to see both on the bench.
Should he have changed the midfield? He'd been searching answers in that department for so long, and the Italian looked to have given him an 'out ball'.
The same with Gordon - why change something that worked? Barnes, as good a finisher as he is, is a pale shadow of Gordon on that left.
Look, it’s a tough one as only Howe and the club’s medical team know the true condition of the players. In truth, the pair not starting probably didn’t matter in the first-half but their introduction on the hour-mark proved largely ineffective.
The in-game changes has actually made Newcastle worse in recent weeks.
Fabian Schar rolls back the clock - not in a good way
Newcastle United defender Fabian ScharNewcastle United defender Fabian Schar
Newcastle United defender Fabian Schar | Getty Images
The Swiss has been one of Newcastle United's, even the Premier League's most impressive bargain buys of the last decade. He was cheap but at times looks to have the parts of a Rolls Royce.
When things are working like clockwork around him, like they largely did organisationally under Rafa Benitez, and also in recent times under Howe, Schar is up there as one of the best footballers in his position around. But, when things loosen up, the defender looks all at sea, his flaws exposed.
His Brentford show was akin to his performances under Steve Bruce, which is another bad sign in what has been an underperforming campaign for the player.
Eddie Howe right to be questioned
Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, applauds the fans following the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, applauds the fans following the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, applauds the fans following the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The manager of Newcastle United should never be given a free pass, no matter of his past achievements.
Fifteen games into the 2024-25 campaign and the team is sliding backwards and down the table, it looks further away from its goal - a top six spot - that it has done all year.
Howe is the man who needs to find the answers. Last weekend, the focus was on the lack of goals, now it’s about a leaky defence with seven goals conceded in two games. Where’s the balance?
I reckon Howe was left scratching his head last night. He wants to defend his players, which maybe explains why he brought up the weather! But it’s clear he feels let down by them. They too are not blameless.
But there’s no time to rest as now comes a massive, massive period. Newcastle must beat Leicester City next Saturday and they must advance past Brentford in the Carabao Cup. Failure to do so then the pressure will mount 10 fold.
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