‘Confused’ - Arsenal legend ‘cannot understand’ Newcastle United tactics against Chelsea

Ian Wright was left baffled by Eddie Howe’s post-match press conference and believes Newcastle United should have defended deeper.

Despite having most of the ball, the Magpies failed to make that possession count - stuttering to their ninth Premier League away defeat this season. Chelsea registered more shots and controlled the game in the second half to put Newcastle to the sword.

Cole Palmer, in particular, was too much for United to handle as the former Manchester City man bagged a goal and an assist. But speaking post-match, Howe focused on the positives, claiming his team “started well” despite conceding an early goal.

"I thought we started really well but conceded from their first attack,” he told Sky Sports. “I don't think it was a game with a lot of chances and yet it was a high-scoring game, it was a strange one. I thought we were really good in spells but not good enough overall because the goals we conceded were really poor. I thought the control was there.

“I don't think we had an issue with the overall flow of the game, I thought we were competitive and looked creative. The final ball probably wasn't good enough today. We had a lot of opportunities to test their back four.”

Those comments baffled Arsenal legend Wright, who admitted to feeling “confused” by Howe’s interview. The 60-year-old also thought Newcastle were wrong to dominate possession and should have “frustrated” Chelsea.

"I cannot understand why they didn't play a deep block and frustrate Chelsea more,” Wright said. “I was confused by some of the things Eddie was saying (in his post-match interview) because I didn't see where they had any kind of control.

"I thought Bruno Guimaraes was very poor, couldn't get himself away from the fact that Nicolas Jackson and Conor Gallagher were in and around him. There wasn't enough movement from him. In the main, Tino Livramento tried, but overall, very poor from them."