Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy.placeholder image
Newcastle United winger Jacob Murphy. | Getty Images
Newcastle United latest news: Jacob Murphy has spoken about the departure of club captain Jamaal Lascelles ahead of Newcastle United’s clash against Qarabag in the Champions League.
Jacob Murphy has detailed the impact that Jamaal Lascelles’ departure from St James’ Park has had on the squad.
Lascelles joined Leicester City on deadline day in the January transfer window, ending his eleven-and-a-half years as a Newcastle United player. Whilst Lascelles’ influence on the pitch had waned in the months prior to his departure, he still remained a big figure behind the scenes.
Murphy, though, believes that the Magpies can rally without Lascelles’ leadership and spoke about the hole that the now Foxes man has left in the squad: “Jam was a big figure. He looked after everyone really well,” Murphy told the Gazette.
“I hope he doesn't mind me saying this, but he was the aggressive one. You need that in your team every now and then. He had that.
“With him, it was all about total respect. He could really lead the dressing room like that.
“We lose that aggression, but then we have different ways of navigating that leadership group and making sure that we're going into every game fit and firing.
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“We spoke a lot recently about one brain. Everyone on the pitch is thinking together and being a collective. Doing everything, pressing together, sitting off together.
“Everything's done using one brain. I think that's been really clear to see, especially in the last four games. It's something we've identified, something we've been making a conscious effort on. We have to keep improving on that and make sure that's always evident in our play.”
Jacob Murphy previews Qarabag Champions League game
Newcastle United’s clash against Qarabag is their first match back at St James’ Park since their defeat against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday 7 February. Since that day, one that sparked a dressing room inquest between the players, they have won three times away from home, with a narrow defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday the only blemish on that record.
Whilst they do hold a commanding lead over their Azerbaijani opponents tomorrow night, a win would help continue to build momentum ahead of crunch Premier League games, both on Tyneside, against Everton and Manchester United to come. On returning to St James’ Park against Qarabag, Murphy added: “It's nice just to be back at home. We've had four really tough away games in a row. Just to be back in our living room, that's actually something that we're all looking forward to.
It's just nice to be back in front of our fans and playing in our stadium again. We're really looking forward to tomorrow. We know it's going to be a tricky game. There's still a lot of work to do, but we're just happy to be back with home comforts.”
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