The early months of 2025/26 were never going to be easy for Eddie Howe and the lads after a tumultuous summer and big transfer window full of incomings and outgoings.
Despite promising performances in the Champions League, and impressive displays from new names like Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw, it feels like something hasn’t quite clicked on the pitch so far this season.
And as we enter a packed few weeks of fixtures across three different competitions, Howe has recognised just how important it is we bounce back from the recent defeat against Brighton – but he’s confident a good run is just around the corner.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s Champions League game against Benfica at St James’ Park, Eddie Howe understands the feeling of frustration at our slow start to the season.
But alarm bells rightfully aren’t ringing just yet, and the gaffer is doing all he can to fine tune his side and fix the flaws identified over the past few weeks:
> _“Frustrating is the feeling. I think we’re so close to being something more and getting better results than we have.”_
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> _“I think team performances have been strong, we’ve been very good defensively although there was a couple of lapses against Brighton that we were punished for.”_
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> _“We’re working so hard to try and create chances and the best example of that is our goal. It was a move from our goalkeeper to the finish – it’s a brilliant goal. That’s a lot of work to get that goal.”_
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> _“You make your own luck and you can only turn things your own way by doing the right things continually. I don’t think we’re far away, we just have to keep to our beliefs.”_
Two seasons ago, a congested fixture list and injury-struck squad was our ultimate undoing in the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup.
This season however, Howe seems to be relishing the intensity of our current schedule, knowing it keeps his players in the right mindset, furthering our drive to succeed across all competitions.
> _“We feel like we need another game. We’re delighted to play again quickly and try to build some momentum back in our performances._
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> _”Reflecting on the Brighton game was mixed. There was a lot of good in the game but ultimately it doesn’t matter, we lost the game and we know we need to improve.”_
Benfica will be a welcome test for the lads: Jose Mourinho is a manager who can never be taken lightly, and our recent history with the Portuguese giants means we have something to prove on Tuesday night.
> _“We love these games. The Barcelona game here was so close for us and it could have been a very different outcome.”_
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> _“We’ve been in that position a lot this season where the results could have gone either way. We’ve been very competitive, we were competitive that night and this has a similar feel under the lights here._
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> _“The atmosphere will be electric, I have no doubt. I hope our performance mirrors that crowd energy.”_
A win on Tuesday night would put us up to six points in the league phase: considering 11 points was enough for sides to make at least the play-offs in last season’s competition, a triumphant display against Benfica will do wonders not only for our qualification hopes, but for our season moving forward.