Newcastle United players had previously experienced an unhappy Matthias Jaissle in training in the opening weeks of his reign. But the head coach was especially forthright in the away dressing room at Elland Road on Monday. It was a night the visitors suffered a chastening 4-1 defeat against Leeds United.
"There was all clarity in the room that the learning curve needs to be really fast," Jaissle said a few days on. Even during the course of a previous five-game unbeaten run, there was a recognition within the club that this was "always going to be a work in progress" following a summer of huge change. Newcastle have gone from having one of the most experienced starting line-ups in the Premier League last season to the second-youngest this time around.
Yet the manner of Newcastle's first loss of the campaign still came as a jolt. It already feels like much will be learned from how Jaissle's team respond against in-form Hull City on Saturday. "If you're tougher in the duels, if you're more aggressive, if you're more sharp and hungry to collect the second balls, then it will be automatically a huge step already," he said.
"That means that you're more dominant, that you have more possession, and then that leads also to the fact that you threaten the opposition much more. "So they will be the elements where we will focus on and there will be a reaction." Jaissle was parachuted into the hot seat just three weeks before the start of the season after predecessor Eddie Howe stepped down. He is still adapting to the Premier League and injuries to, among others, Dan Burn, Joelinton, Anthony Elanga and William Osula have hardly helped in that regard.
That being said, no team have faced more shots (76) in the opening weeks of the season in the top flight, while at the other end Newcastle have been averaging little more than three efforts on target per game in the league. The visitors struggled to gain a foothold against an aggressive Leeds side, even before influential midfielder Nico Gonzalez went off with a concussion in the 19th minute. Vertical football is Jaissle's trademark, in an effort to "stress" the opposition, but too often Newcastle's main tactic appeared to be punting the ball forward for Yoane Wissa and Matias Fernandez-Pardo to chase hopefully at Elland Road.
Leeds' three towering centre-backs outnumbered the pair and Newcastle were also swarmed in midfield after Jaissle stuck with his preferred two-man pivot. However exposed Jaissle's system was, though, that does not excuse those on the field failing to do the basics from the off against one of the most physical sides in the league. Meek Newcastle lost 56% of their duels in the first half against Leeds and defenders Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman were bullied by Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who scored twice.
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