Newcastle United took their time getting going against West Ham United on Sunday.
The energy expended on Wednesday night’s spectacular win over Paris Saint-Germain appeared to have depleted Eddie Howe’s players in the early stages in east London.
Newcastle, on the other hand, came back into the game after the break and even took the lead thanks to a quick-fire brace from Alexander Isak.
While they were eventually forced to split the spoils, the improvement after the break was noticeable.
Now, Isak has revealed what Howe did at halftime to improve performance.
Alexander Isak describes Eddie Howe’s halftime performance on Sunday.
The Sweden striker stated that the team was performing below par at the start of the encounter against the Hammers.
Indeed, it appears that Howe informed them of this during halftime at the London Stadium.
“We were very off in the first half, and the manager let us know that as well, which I think was correct,” he explained to Match of the Day 2.
“But the reaction second half was very good and we were gutted we didn’t get the three points but we are happy with the reaction.”
Certainly not a disaster
To have come from a meeting with a very strong West Ham team while dealing with injury issues is hardly a disaster, especially given Newcastle’s start.
Of course, in an ideal world, they would have held out, but to have raised their level during the contest just days after the exhausting triumph over PSG was extremely commendable.
Isak was instrumental in this, proving clinical when needed, despite having an admittedly difficult chance to score a hat-trick.
Newcastle is clearly in better shape than they were before last month’s international break.
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