Key Takeaways
- Newcastle have dropped 25 points from winning positions this season, the worst record in the league.
- They have conceded 19 goals after the 75-minute mark, also the top-flight’s highest figure.
- Captain Kieran Trippier says the squad must accept blame for losing the fear factor at St James’ Park.
Newcastle United used to arrive in north London looking for a fight. In January 2023 they left Emirates Stadium with a gritty 0-0 draw, Jamaal Lascelles booked for time-wasting and Eddie Howe trading words with Mikel Arteta. Afterwards the coach roared, “We’re not here to be liked.”
Two years on, the same team looks tame. Saturday’s trip to Arsenal finds Newcastle 14th in the Premier League and winless in six. Eight defeats in 11 league games have sucked the noise from St James’ Park and put Howe’s job under the microscope.
The slide is stark. Only last month Newcastle beat Manchester United with ten men, won at Chelsea and almost toppled Barcelona. Yet the late collapse against Bournemouth last weekend, when Adrien Truffert stole in to head the 85-minute winner, felt typical. Players jogged back, heads dropped, and the game was gone.
Kieran Trippier, who will leave this summer, fronted the media again. “We’ve lost our edge,” he admitted. “We used to be a force here – teams feared us. Now we concede too many late goals and it’s down to us, no one else.”
Dan Burn recently said Newcastle once “bullied teams”. That trait has vanished. Injuries, a thin squad and the hangover from last summer’s transfer window explain part of the dip, but not the mental fragility. Howe’s men have thrown away 25 points from winning positions and look increasingly predictable.
The head coach accepts the trend must halt at Emirates Stadium. “We’ve lost experience and know-how,” he said. “Duels, second balls, game management – they were our hallmarks. We have to get that back quickly.”
Without it, Newcastle risk slipping further into mid-table gloom and watching their season unravel before February.