Newcastle United slipped into the relegation zone after a run of eight defeats in nine games, but Rafael Benítez believes the situation they find themselves in is to be expected as Amanda Staveley’s prospective takeover of the club rumbles on.
The 1-0 defeat by Arsenal, combined with West Ham’s 3-0 victory at Stoke, meant Newcastle dropped into the bottom three for the first time since the opening weekend of the season. But while his side played well and were perhaps unlucky not to secure a point Benítez admitted that their league position is not a surprise.
“I’m not happy with the situation,” he said when asked if he was feeling the pressure of events both on and off the pitch. “I don’t think the players are happy either. But if you analyse everything at the beginning [of the season], it’s to be expected. The main thing is to stay calm, to do our job properly, to have more chances to do well, win games and go up in the table.”
Benítez has consistently expressed his frustration that his team was not sufficiently backed in the summer transfer market as Mike Ashley prepared the club for sale. “We are what we are and we have what we have,” he said after the game, won by a brilliant Mesut Özil volley in the first half.
“We did so well for a while. Everyone was expecting we would be in the top 10, but we knew and said before, this team coming up from the Championship, we’re in a position that could be expected.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
“The players you have in the Premier League, in teams that normally we would be around, they have players with Premier League experience. We have a young team that is learning every week, and sometimes we make mistakes.”
Newcastle have taken one point from their past nine games and if West Brom and Swansea win their games on Sunday and Monday respectively, they could be bottom of the table going into the busy Christmas period.
“The main thing for me is that the team is working,” Benítez said, suggesting that one win could turn his team’s confidence around and get them winning again.“These kind of games we are losing by one goal. The difference between us and teams above is not big.”Arsène Wenger praised Mesut Özil following his match-winning volley. “It’s superb, he can deliver that,” Wenger said. “It’s important for him that he takes the risk to do what he did. Usually he is a guy who, 99% of the time, in this position, he controls the ball and gives it to somebody else. So I’m pleased he took the gamble to finish and I’m happy as well that he scored a very important goal.”
Özil is out of contract at the end of the season but Wenger has insisted the club will not cash in and remains hopeful that Özil can be tied down to a new deal. “I’m confident, yes, but what does that mean? I don’t know,” he answered somewhat cryptically when asked whether Özil will stay.