Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle has said his players ignored the original game plan and starved striker William Osula of the ball in a 1-0 defeat to Everton at St James' Park.
Jaissle also revealed he was taken aback that his team could not transfer what they produced in training onto the field on a difficult night. The Magpies managed just two shots on target during the match, with boos ringing out at both half-time and full-time.
Jaissle: Long balls were not the plan
In a press conference, Jaissle suggested his team had not carried out instructions given before the game and that the squad must go back to the drawing board.
He said: "Long balls was not the plan. It's something we need to work on. We lack confidence; to come out of that, we need to stick together. We need to make a fast learning curve in the right direction."
Asked why focal point William Osula had struggled, he said: "We could not bring him into situations. We need to jump the first lines with clear balance on how we want to play football. Just playing long balls is for sure not the sign he (Osula) prefers."
Fans' frustration acknowledged
Speaking on the boos that hit his team throughout the night, including from some fans during the lap of appreciation, Jaissle said: "I was aware of the anger. Big frustration, big disappointment because we couldn't transfer what we saw in the week."
"The team was training at a high level, but since the ref started the game, not much was seen. It's difficult to understand. Of course the fans are frustrated, like we are."
Jaissle talked up "vertical football" at the start of pre-season but feels his side aren't showing it as they slumped to a second successive home defeat. The display was met with a chorus of jeers from the home fans at full-time.
Jaissle: We need to improve really fast
The Toon head coach said: "The performance today, you didn't see our playing style and that can't happen."
"It's not easy to explain as it looked so good during the week [in training]. The lads looked committed and the confidence was there. Today from the start the confidence was missing. We need to improve really fast."
"We have to encourage them that they are able to do it, that they have the potential to play in that way We should have created even more moments. It was not good enough."
"To concede a goal like that also was not good enough. It's almost like a negative spiral [on the elements of the goal]. I'm not happy with the referee decision. For me it's a clear foul on Fabian Schar."
"It's a difficult period. We also know you can only overcome that as a unit."
