Matthias Jaissle has denied that his Newcastle United team are 'too soft' but has warned that the charitable defending on offer away from home has to stop.
The Magpies gifted Everton three goals with cheap giveaways and a lack of alertness at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Just days after a clean sheet and three points at Crystal Palace, Jaissle's team reverted to type by handing Everton a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
Defensive errors prove costly
The likes of Amar Dedic and Jacob Ramsey were at fault, while Lewis Hall made a weak attempt to stop a cross on the Hayden Hackney goal. As Newcastle look to bounce back on Monday night with a home fixture against the Toffees, Jaissle has shut down suggestions that Newcastle have a weak mindset.
Jaissle said: "It's something you just need to adjust. For me, it's something, what I just mentioned, about being mature in that situation, being more clinical, solving the situation, not allowing them to give almost a gift for the opposition to score."
"It feels like the opposition is not giving us these gifts at the moment, and therefore we need to avoid it."
Finishing under fire
Jaissle's side served up 28 goal attempts at Everton with nine shots on target, with Dan Burn's goal only proving to be a consolation on Merseyside. The German coach blasted his side's finishing after creating that host of chances and remarkably finding a way into the Everton penalty area 37 times compared to the home side's 17.
Jaissle said: "On the other hand, also, when it comes to scoring goals, we need to be more efficient out of so many occasions today. How often we enter the box of Everton, there needs to be more than only one goal."
Learning curve for young squad
The Toon boss admits it is a learning curve for many of his players but knows he is also up against the clock. He said: "These are the things we need to learn quickly. We had many occasions, many opportunities to score, big chances as well, but in their box we need to be more clinical to get a different result."
"We need to avoid these mistakes, be more mature, be more clinical in these situations. This is a learning process, but you don't get the time. We need to learn fast, especially with these young lads. Being a young team is not an excuse any more."
Jaissle knows his side are up against the clock in many ways but also pointed out that some of his players are still learning. While there are a number of youngsters in the squad after a summer recruitment strategy that focused on players aged below 24, Newcastle had a starting XI of experience with the likes of Dan Burn, Fabian Schar and Jacob Murphy all over 30, and then Yoane Wissa and Joelinton entering the pitch at half-time.
The Newcastle boss said: "These are the things we need to learn quickly. We had many occasions, many opportunities to score, big chances as well, but in their box we need to be more clinical to get a different result. We need to avoid these mistakes, be more mature, be more clinical in these situations. This is a learning process, but you don't get the time. We need to learn fast, especially with these young lads. Being a young team is not an excuse any more."
