Matthias Jaissle has admitted it is 'clear' his Newcastle United side will not be at their 'peak' when they face Liverpool next weekend. Jaissle, who replaced Eddie Howe earlier this month, has inherited a tricky situation on Tyneside following a succession of high-profile exits. Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes have all been sold, and Kieran Trippier also departed the club following the expiry of his contract.
Jaissle's plea for new signings
The Reds take on the Magpies a week on Sunday at St James' Park in their opening match of the new season. And Jaissle, speaking after his side's 3-1 friendly defeat to Everton, not only issued an urgent plea for new signings but also admitted his side will struggle to be ready to face the Reds.
He said: "For sure, we cannot be at our peak [against Liverpool], this is clear. We have just been working for a couple of days together, and Liverpool is already next week now."
"We use every day in the best possible way, that's the only thing we can control to make progress. Then, it will be the same with the transfer market. Hopefully, there will be progress there too."
Transfer market progress
"We have already spoken about it in the press conference, and I think everybody has seen the matches and are smart enough to see the needs in the squad."
"I will always be consistent with my approach – we handle these things internally. We are aware of what we need, and as you know, there is still some time."
"It is not a case of just wishing for things to happen and then they happen – that is not the case in football or in life. But internally, we are really clear."
Iraola's energy concerns
But speaking after his side's 3-2 defeat to Monaco on Sunday, new Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola conceded his side do not have the energy levels at present to play with the intensity that he wants.
He said: "I think quite similar to the game we played against Leeds. I think we played really good [in the] first half, especially the first 30 minutes, but right now probably we don't have much more in terms of the level required to play like this."
"Then they were much better in the second half. In the same way we were better in the first half they were much better in the second half, and they deserved to turn around the game, yes."
Before he added: "I think they were in different levels but mostly they were in a good place. I think the ones that it was their first game, or even the ones that it was their second game, they had energy."
"The problem is right now probably they don't have the energy for 90 minutes and they start to get tired. It will take time with them, we need more training with them. But we can take a lot of positives, but also a lot of negatives from today."
