Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle has clarified that his recent comments about his team's tactics were lost in translation, following the 1-1 draw at Fulham. Jaissle had suggested his players ignored his tactical instructions in the defeat to Everton, but he has now rowed back on those claims after a much-improved display at Craven Cottage.
Jaissle clarifies post-Everton comments
Speaking after the Fulham match, Jaissle explained that his earlier remarks about the Everton game were misunderstood. He said: "No I said that the bravery and the confidence was not there. We can't play no-risk football when we are not that confident, but we attempted it, and we were not confident in possession (against Everton). Therefore, we could not deliver our match plan against Everton; that is what I meant last time."
The German head coach signed off for the international break with an identical record to Eddie Howe after 10 games last season, reaching the 12-point mark with the draw against Fulham. Jaissle felt his players carried out the right game plan against the Cottagers, despite throwing away a late lead given to them by Jacob Murphy.
Late equaliser denies Newcastle
Newcastle were just 10 minutes away from an away win before Rodrigo Muniz poked home to earn a draw for Fulham. Jaissle was unhappy with the nature of the equaliser, describing it as "slapstick" and noting that fortune was not on his side in that situation.
Despite the disappointment, Jaissle praised his team's overall performance, saying: "It was a good performance and we deserved three points. Sometimes matches go like this and small margins don't turn in your favour like the disallowed goal. In my eyes, that was a really, really soft decision."
Hornicek stars in goal
Newcastle were thankful to Lukas Hornicek, who was the Magpies' star man after making five stunning saves, including an incredible stop to deny Josh King and a block to keep out Ryan Sessegnon's stoppage-time effort. Without him, Newcastle would not have earned a point.
The game could have looked different had Dan Burn's early strike counted, with Yoane Wissa adjudged to have fouled Timothy Castagne in the build-up. Jaissle said: "We have something we can build on, and it is always important to see a response, and this is the way we want to play football. We did not allow Fulham to use their style of play, we had possession and we also created chances. But the efficiency was not there 100 per cent unfortunately."
Jaissle added: "We definitely made the right step. That gives us confidence now, when the guys hopefully come back healthy from their national teams."
