Jaissle Says Newcastle Played Long Balls Against His Plan in Everton Loss

• Matthias Jaissle said the long balls his Newcastle players played in Monday’s 1-0 home loss to Everton were “not the plan”, per the Daily Mail.
• Thierno Barry’s second-half goal gave Everton a second win over Newcastle in five days, and Newcastle have lost four of their last five games.
• Jaissle also said “I’m responsible for that, to make it work” while describing a gap between training and the match.

A Manager Who Owns the Blame and Names the Problem

Matthias Jaissle did not hide his frustration after Newcastle lost 1-0 to Everton at St James’ Park on Monday night. The head coach said the long balls his players kept sending forward were not what he had asked for, and he named the striker. “If you just play long balls, it’s not the style Osula prefers and that was not the plan,” Jaissle said of striker Will Osula, who spent the night isolated up front.

It was a pointed verdict from a manager whose side sit 13th in the Premier League and who is under pressure just months into the job.

What Jaissle Says Was Meant to Happen

Jaissle, who replaced Eddie Howe this summer, began with his disappointment. “There is big frustration and disappointment,” he said. He then described a team that looked different on the training pitch. “We could not transfer what we saw in the week, training in a high level,” Jaissle said. From the start of the game, he said, not much of that work appeared, and that was hard for him to understand.

His diagnosis was about courage. “We were not brave enough to break the line and play on the ground,” Jaissle said. He had seen those qualities in training, he said, but there was almost nothing of them in the match.

He also set out what the plan was. “We have a clear identity of how we want to play,” he said. That means pressing the opposition high up the pitch and creating one-on-one situations. Long balls were not part of it.

Then came the line that stops the story from being a simple case of a coach pointing at his players. “I’m responsible for that, to make it work,” he said. Speaking after the game he also said: “It’s also clear that I have the responsibility, and I also take that as manager of this club. We need to do things better.”

How Everton Made It Count

The match itself gave Jaissle little to build on. Neither goalkeeper was seriously troubled in the first half, but a deflection off Jarrad Branthwaite briefly worried Jordan Pickford after Harvey Barnes cut inside. Early in the second half, Lukas Hornicek let a shot from Tyrique George squirm under his body, and Barry tapped the ball into an empty net.

Jaissle conceded that Everton caught his team “sleeping”, and Newcastle have given away a number of soft goals this season. His side had no shot on target until late in the game. Substitute Jacob Ramsey was then sent off in stoppage time for two yellow cards.

Everton manager David Moyes, whose team also won 3-1 in the Carabao Cup tie last Thursday, praised his players. “They’re a brilliant group of players,” he said. His side won without Jack Grealish, who was unavailable for a second successive game.

The Crowd and the Questions

Supporters voiced their disapproval again at the end. After the cup defeat at Everton, most of the 7,732 travelling fans had left by the time Jaissle walked onto the pitch to acknowledge them, and St James’ Park emptied just as fast on Monday. It follows a booing crowd earlier this season.

Jaissle has already apologised to fans once this season after conceding eight goals in two away games. Some supporters are also puzzled that Sean Steur, who made a hugely promising start after joining from Ajax, has been on the bench in recent games.

The job was always going to be tough after Eddie Howe’s exit, with big-name players leaving over the summer and Jaissle arriving at the last minute. Howe achieved a great deal in his first four years as head coach, which made him a hard act to follow.

Jaissle’s answer is unity. “The only way is togetherness, showing unity, and then the belief comes,” he said. The supporters who filed out of St James’ Park on Monday are still waiting to see it.