‘Nowhere near the level it has been’ – Eddie Howe questions his Newcastle players’ focus after defeat to Everton | OneFootball

Eddie Howe admits his side’s Premier League performance this season has been nowhere near good enough after losing to Everton.

Newcastle were beaten 3-2 at home to leave them in the bottom half of the table with ten games to play.

And Howe admits their Champions League run has taken a toll on his players when it comes to the Premier League.

“Certainly in relation to the Premier League, our form for a while has not been strong enough,” he said.

“It’s not been good enough. We know that. We take responsibility for that. It’s been really frustrating for us and that is the perils of Europe, I’m afraid, where we’ve tried to be laser-focused on every game and give attention to every game with the same importance.

“But with the deluge of games, your focus can be swayed. Our Premier League return in recent weeks has been nowhere near the level it has been historically. Our home form has been so reliable for us but it’s tailed off.

“We’ve got to try and grab that back as quickly as possible. We love playing here. We want this to be our place where we pick up the most points, where the players feel free to play and through our own performances, that hasn’t been the case.”

Newcastle twice found a way back into the game, equalising to make it 1-1 before conceding moments later to go behind, and did so again after making it 2-2 via Jacob Murphy, with Thierno Barry winning it late on.

“I don’t see the players not trying,” Howe insisted. “I see sometimes maybe the other way, where players are over-trying.

“I felt attacking-wise, we could still do loads better today. But we had enough ball around their box. We had enough crossing opportunities. half-chances, Sandro’s hit his volley at the end.

“It could have been a very different result again. But we’re just making too many individual errors. It’s costing us goals at the other end. We can’t do that at this level.

“If you put a list of our goals, watched a lot of our goals we’re conceding, in the Premier League especially, and put them together, it’s not good showing for us. So we need to focus on that.”