Newcastle United player Dan Burn in action during training ahead of their UEFA Champions League match against Athletic Club at Newcastle United Training Centre on November 04, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)placeholder image
Newcastle United player Dan Burn in action during training ahead of their UEFA Champions League match against Athletic Club at Newcastle United Training Centre on November 04, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Dan Burn addressed Newcastle United’s poor form following the defeat to West Ham United.
Dan Burn says Newcastle United need to rediscover their ‘----housery’ after pulling no punches on the inconsistent form.
Newcastle continued their poor start to the Premier League season on Sunday after losing 3-1 away to West Ham United, who started the day 19th in the table and without a home win since February.
United haven’t won away in the Premier League since April, which is also the last time they won back-to-back league games, and currently sit 13th in the table after 10 matches.
But their form in the Champions League has been somewhat the opposite and they head into the Athletic Bilbao clash at St James’ Park eyeing a third straight victory after wins over Union Saint-Gilloise and Benfica.
Dan Burn pulls no punches on Newcastle United’s inconsistent form
On the contrasting form, Burn said: “It's tough, I think we haven't won in nine away games, so I think it's something that I know the manager will be working on, to understand why we’ve not been performing at that.
“The frustrating thing is that we've got the Champions League tomorrow, and I think everybody knows that we'll turn up for that game, the crowd will be buzzing and we'll be buzzing, and it's just about trying to replicate those performances away.
“I think the years that we've done well, the first year that we qualified for the Champions League, we weren't always playing great away from home, but we always picked up results, so maybe we need to do more of the ugly side of the game that we were known for at the time, and we’ve probably got away from that just from the evolution of the squad.”
Burn added: “Yeah, of course it's frustrating, because I think it's very, very easy to get up for these games and play in these Champions League nights, because it's what you want to play in your career and these best games, and I think these are the games where, say, Brentford on Sunday, is a game where you've really got to earn your money and turn up and perform.
“I think that's the frustrating thing for us, that we've got lads in there that can do it and will do it, and we've got a squad that fights for each other, but we're just not putting in those performances.
“We're a very tight-knit group and we spoke before that there isn’t many changing rooms, in my opinion, like ours in our league, the way that we'd demand from each other and push each other, I think it was more frustrating, we really wanted to go out there and put on a performance against a team that was struggling, and failed to do that.
“Even going 1-0 up, I think they expected us to go and kick on, and it sort of had the opposite effect, and I feel like at this level in the Premier League it's very cliched, but if you don't turn up, there's quality in this league, and in my opinion they've got very good front-liner and we didn't cause them problems.”
Dan Burn calls for Newcastle United to rediscover their ‘----housery’.
Burn went on to highlight he and his teammates’ mentality, believing they lack the “ugly” side of their game from two seasons ago.
Burn said: “I think it comes out of mentality, but I think it's more that the manager will look at that, and I'm sure he’ll come up with a plan to win games.
“I'd probably [say] just be a little bit more ugly with stuff, I think we were well-known a few years ago for. I don't want to say it away, but something ‘housery’, and probably a lot of the stuff that's come in has pushed us away from that, but I think sometimes if you go away from home, it's important enough not be beaten as well, and pick up points and keep yourself fit.
“As long as you're winning your home games, and you're not getting beat those away games, it's better, but we've not done that well enough at the moment, so I think that's a good lesson.
Burn added: “I think we were always quite ugly and bully teams, and that was the way that we went about it, but I feel like as you progress and want to push on, you move away from that because you bring in better quality players.
“We play a different type of football, but I think there's always a place for that in the game. Arsenal, for instance, are quite good at doing that, but are also playing very, very good football, top of the league and performing well.
“I think it's important that you can mix games up sometimes. I think possibly sometimes, especially on Sunday, a little bit too nice, but we need to be a bit more compact and a bit more resilient.”
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