Rafael Benítez has said that Newcastle United players must learn to control their nerves if they are to survive in the Premier League this season. The Spaniard’s side came out on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller at Carrow Road on Saturday and the 3-2 defeat leaves them six points adrift of Norwich City in 17th place.
Martin Olsson struck the winning goal in the last minute for Norwich after Newcastle had twice pegged the hosts back and threatened to clinch victory themselves. Ultimately, however, Benítez suggested they paid the price for their jittery first-half performance and rash mistakes at crucial times.
“When you are at the bottom of the table, you have to manage situations and your character and your nerves and we didn’t do that well in the first half,” said Benítez. “We were fine for the first 10 or 15 minutes but then we made mistakes and gave them belief that they could win. We were much better in the second half. But when you concede after the last minute of the first half and in the last minute of the second half, it is very painful.”
Benítez is aware that the agonising manner of the defeat could aggravate the gloom that has enveloped the club for most of the campaign. He says much of his focus will be on trying to raise morale and hone focus for the seven matches that Newcastle have left in which to save their season. “It’s not easy when you have been in a difficult position for the whole season but all we can do is give them confidence in training and the right instructions and try to be ready for the next seven games. We have seven games to play and have to start winning as soon as possible.”
The manager said he did not regret choosing to start Papiss Cissé against Norwich rather than Aleksandar Mitrovic, even though the Senegalese, who had not played in the Premier League since December, fluffed a clear chance early in the second half before Mitrovic came off the bench and scored twice. “Not really,” replied Benítez when asked whether, with hindsight, he would started with Mitrovic, explaining that he felt the Serb was not fresh enough after playing for his country in Estonia in midweek. “The only thing we can take [from the defeat at Norwich] was the positive reaction in the second half. When we were at 2-2, we had control and were sustaining attacks. But then we made another mistake and gave them a chance to score.”
Benítez’s mood was in direct contrast to that of his Norwich counterpart, Alex Neil. “It was a sweet way to win and I felt it was no more than we deserved,” said the Scot, who paid tribute to his players’ character.
“Norwich over seasons gone by have been looked at as having a soft underbelly but I don’t think we’ve got anything like a soft underbelly at the moment. We fight tooth and nail for everything and always till the last minute. And I was saying that even when we were losing matches.”
