Newcastle United manager Rafael Benítez aired his frustrations in his post-match press conference on Saturday afternoon, as he stated that his side's game was wrong from the "first minute" as they frustratingly thwarted 1-0 by bottom-club West Bromwich Albion at St James' Park.
I am a little bit more unhappy now
Fans will have been forgiven to thinking that they would be heading to St James' expecting to see a masterclass, with The Magpies having all but secured their top-flight safety with an excellent four-match winning streak before a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Everton on Monday night.
However, from the first blow on David Coote's whistle, all the signs pointed to a frustrating afternoon for the home side, despite controlling much of possession they only had misplaced passes and shots to show for it.
While West Brom though very much passengers proved clinical, taking their only real chance of the game from Matt Phillips just before the half-hour mark.
That kicked Newcastle into life momentarily with Kenedy hitting the post and Mohamed Diamé being excellently denied by Ben Foster, they continued to turn the screw in the second period but like the first nothing was coming off and Benítez showed his disappointment post-match.
"For us, everything was wrong from the first minute," Benítez admitted to his post-match press conference. "When we tried to put it right at half-time, it was too late."
"We played too direct, too many crosses in not good positions," the manager frustratingly highlighted. "We were giving the ball away every single time in simple positions."
"I was not happy after Everton," the Spaniard added. "And I am a little bit more unhappy now."
A drop off is natural
Judging by their last two matches it does seem that United's players are very much on the beach, as it is no coincidence that their two defeats have come in the lack of determination and intensity that secured their safety.
The Magpies still have three games to go before the season comes to a close, and Benítez admitted that though his side are lacking something he is hoping that shaking things up will push them over the line.
“I will not say motivation because we were running and we were working hard," he said when asked if his players were already thinking about their summer break.
"But we were doing it in the wrong way, so we were in the wrong positions, going late and when we were on the ball, we were giving the ball away."
“It’s not that we were not trying, I think we were trying in the wrong way,” the 58-year-old proclaimed. "Sometimes it can happen, but still it’s not nice to see your team, when they have been doing so well with so much intensity, making so many mistakes.”
“It’s telling me that we did fantastic," the coach stated on what he thinks the recent results mean.
"An amazing job during the season, but now we have to realise that we have to push a little bit.
"Maybe, some players or maybe change players to be sure that everybody goes out there focused," Benítez concluded.
"And with the same ambition and determination that we had before.”