Newcastle United captain Dan Burn has repeated Matthias Jaissle's claim that the Magpies will not be at their 'peak' against Liverpool when their 2025/26 season kicks off this Sunday.
Burn made his return to the Newcastle side for the first time since his World Cup exploits with England over the summer on Sunday, playing the first 45 minutes of their 1-1 draw with Strasbourg at St James' Park.
The 34-year-old captained the side for the first time since being announced as Bruno Guimaraes' successor and he is set to be in a direct battle with Sven Botman to start against the Reds on Sunday.
Jaissle's warning echoed
Jaissle has only had two weeks at the helm at Newcastle and while he has taken steps to implement his philosophy, it would be unrealistic to expect the finished article of what his Magpies side could look like when they take to the field this weekend.
He warned reporters in Edinburgh last week that Newcastle would not be at their 'peak' under him against Liverpool and while Burn has echoed that claim, he has also insisted they will be 'ready' to face Andoni Iraola's side on Sunday.
"Very ready," Burn replied when asked how ready he believes the squad are to face Liverpool this weekend. "Listen, we are not going to peak against Liverpool, I think the manager said that."
"It will take time to embed the things he wants to do, because there's always differences with managers and the way they want to do things."
Summer of change
Jaissle succeeding Howe as manager has been emblematic of a summer of change at Tyneside that has seen key players like Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Anthony Gordon and Kieran Trippier all leave the club.
None of Newcastle's six summer signings have exceeded 24 years of age, with the club set to take on a younger look this season after the arrivals of goalkeepers Lukas Hornicek and Ewen Jaouen, midfielders Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba, winger Bazoumana Toure and full-back Amar Dedic.
Burn will very much be an elder statesmen in the squad but he is ready to embrace the changes this summer, rather than fearing them, citing Toure's arrival as one he is really excited by.
"I think there's obviously changes made for certain reasons, but I think there's new energy came in with the new staff, there's a lot of people - I'm still learning names if I'm being honest," Burn joked.
"But it's been good and I think it's good to bring in some new energy with younger lads as well. I think you've seen some of it today, especially Bazou on the wing with his pace, he can be dangerous."
"As I said, there's not loads of lads with Premier League experience there, but sometimes that can be a good thing. So we're building towards Liverpool, we're excited, we're still going to have four days of solid training, which I think is going to be a good thing, but we'll be ready for Liverpool."
