Why Rafa’s men blew it AGAIN
SLUMPED against a wall in a corridor of Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, rafa Benitez had a theory as to why his team threw away a Premier League lead for the seventh time this season.
his newcastle side simply have a habit of switching off and that is what happened here. After controlling the majority of the match, they crumbled in nine minutes.
A 2-0 lead became 2-2 and, once again, Benitez was left frustrated by his side’s inability to see out a win, something they have done seven times this season. Bournemouth took full advantage of newcastle’s soft underbelly.
Worse still, next up for newcastle is a trip to Liverpool. Switch off at Anfield, where Mohamed Salah is running riot, and it could be a massacre.
‘We are talking about teams with players who can make a difference,’ Benitez said. ‘ You cannot lose concentration for one second because you pay.
‘We have been working so hard during the whole season and we have been very close to winning games that we have drawn or lost. It’s not fair but it’s like this. It is a pity.’
newcastle’s manager is a hard man to please. Fernando torres revealed over the weekend that once, after scoring a hat-trick for Liverpool, his team-mates all signed the match ball with messages of congratulations. Benitez wrote: ‘ today you lost the ball eight times.’
Jonjo Shelvey will not receive much praise for setting up newcastle’s opener with a pass over the top then. the midfielder missed a sitter in the 79th minute before Bournemouth’s Adam Smith and Dan Gosling scored in the 80th and 89th minutes, as Shelvey neglected his defensive duties.
Benitez continued: ‘ When we saw Christian Atsu pass the ball (to Shelvey), everybody was thinking, “Goal. that’s it”. After that, we conceded the goal.
‘You have to manage this situation much better because you are in control, then miss a chance, then concede a goal, then you are panicking.
‘You have to have the composure to continue doing what we were doing.’
Bournemouth boss Eddie howe was not happy that the home side’s fans booed them off at half-time after Dwight Gayle had scored twice.
‘I would never encourage the crowd to boo what they’ve seen because you need the players to play in an environment where they feel totally confident and free to express themselves,’ howe said.
‘this group of players have never let the club down in my opinion. I’d encourage them not to boo but I think it is a case of expectations changing. We have to deal with that.
‘the last 20 minutes was a prime example of when we were fully behind the team and what a difference it made. What you need is people to understand the game, understand the league, understand the football club.’ AFC BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-1-1): Begovic 4; Francis 5.5, S Cook 5.5, Ake 6, Daniels 6 ( SMITH 45MIN, 7.5); Stanislas 6, L Cook 6, Gosling 6, Fraser 5.5 (Mousset 63, 6); King 5.5; Wilson 5.5 (Defoe 73, 6). Subs not used: Boruc, Simpson, Surman, Pugh. Scorers: Smith 80, Gosling 89. Booked: Ake. Manager: Eddie Howe 6. NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-2-3-1): Dubravka 6; Yedlin 6, Lascelles 6.5, Lejeune 6, Dummett 6; Shelvey 5.5, Diame 5; Ritchie 6 (Manquillo 84), Perez 6, Kenedy 6 (Atsu 64, 6); Gayle 7 (Hayden 78). Subs not used: Darlow, Clark, Joselu, Merino. Scorers: Gayle 17, 45+1. Booked: Yedlin, Ritchie, Diame, Perez. Manager: Rafa Benitez 6. Referee: Roger East 6. Attendance: 10,808.