Newcastle United are back in action this Wednesday with a Carabao Cup clash against Fulham and it sounds like Eddie Howe can’t wait.
After the dismal Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday, most Newcastle United fans are eager to move on and forget about what happened at the Stadium of Light.
After the derby disaster, what changes should Eddie Howe make for the Carabao Cup quarter-final? 🏆
We'll start – get Yoane Wissa in the starting XI!!!
That result left Bruno Guimaraes fuming, although Eddie Howe did suggest things were not as bad as his captain made out.
The Newcastle United manager has come under fire for the way he set his team up in that game, but he clearly knows he has to make amends this week against Fulham.
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Eddie Howe wants to make up for Sunderland defeat with cup progress
Speaking to the press ahead of the cup clash with Fulham, Eddie Howe was asked how he can turn things around and fix what happened on Sunday, and he insisted this will be a team effort from everyone associated with the club.
He said: “I can’t do that myself – it’s going to be us together as a group. I understand it. All I urge the supporters to do — what they’ve always done since I’ve been here — is support the team when they’re playing.
“We have a huge group of games to come and we have the opportunity to still make this an amazing season. While we’re in that position and while everything can still be positive, we have to attack it with all of our efforts combined.”
Howe appears to believe this cup game can give Newcastle some momentum back and perhaps even go some way towards washing the bad taste away from the Tyne-Wear derby.
He added: “You get another opportunity to focus on and that’s good for us after Sunday. It’s a difficult game but a great opportunity to get to another semi-final in this competition — and then change the feeling and the mood, and have something positive to focus on.”
Some pundits, like Jamie Carragher, have suggested Howe deserves to be cut some slack, given what he’s achieved at Newcastle. However, if the Magpies were to lose tomorrow night, he would certainly be feeling the heat.
Will a win in the cup against Fulham help you get over losing to Sunderland? 🏆
Fulham will be a tough challenge
It won’t be easy to get a win against Fulham, either. Yes, they have been struggling in the Premier League this term, but cup games are a different animal.
Discussing his opponent’s ability to hurt Newcastle, Howe also said: “We’ve played Fulham already and we know those strengths. It will be a good challenge for us to recover and see where we are mentally.”
The problem for Howe, now, is to get his team selection absolutely spot on. Plenty of players deserve to be dropped after Sunday’s debacle, but he also cannot afford to weaken his line-up by resting the top players.
It’s quite the conundrum for Howe, but the fact that Yoane Wissa could be available to start the game will be a massive boost in that regard.
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