Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe acknowledges the tough choice he faces ahead of the Wembley showdown for the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool, which will inevitably leave some players disheartened. He has called on those who end up as substitutes to rally behind their squad swiftly.
Howe’s starting lineup doesn’t pose many conundrums except for in goal, where Martin Dubravka and Nick Pope are in a tight race for the starting spot against Liverpool. The selection issue is a stark contrast to the previous Carabao Cup final against Manchester United, during which Pope was suspended following a red card incident with Liverpool, and Dubravka was cup-tied, resulting in Loris Karius making his Newcastle bow.
During his press conference before the Carabao Cup final, Howe revealed that no definitive decisions have been reached regarding the goalkeeper position. He also mentioned there wouldn’t be any individual player meetings about the decision.
“Everybody will find out at the same time when I name the team. When that will be? I will leave that to myself, not you guys!” expressed Howe, stressing the complexity of the situation: “The team selection for these types of games is always difficult because players will be disappointed naturally. Everybody wants to play in the bigger games. I can only pick 11.
“Everyone has a role. If you are not starting the game your role is to support the players that are playing. That is just as important as stepping on to the pitch. If you don’t support your team-mates well enough it has a negative effect to those on the group. Personal disappointment, I understand. Then you have to put it behind you and focus on the team.
“Genuinely, whenever I look at a team selection for any game, there are always decisions to make. That’ll be no different for this game because you’re always looking at the opposition and your own strengths and trying to figure out what players need to go up against certain players.
“So that’s what we’ve done. We don’t have a huge pool of players to select from – that’s pretty obvious. We have a very tight squad, and in some senses, that can help you in different moments, and that can also be a negative.”
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In light of Newcastle’s impending departure for Wembley ahead of the final, Howe’s comments regarding the team’s morale were optimistic: “Very good, thanks. I think it does feel different. I think the whole thing and this season’s felt different in the sense that I think we’ve just gone about our business in a really calm, controlled way, professional way, we’ve had a really tough run of fixtures in the Carabao Cup.
“I think to attack those games in the way that we did, and of course, you’re in the midst of a busy campaign – Premier League, FA Cup.
“We’ve sort of just gone from round to round and now we’ve ended up in the final, there’s been a lot less emotion. There’s been a lot less the noise I think outside.
“So hopefully that helps us in our performance in the game. You never quite know what effect that will have, but we’ve been very much focused on our build up and preparation and getting the game plan right. So I’d say that’s the biggest difference.”
