Matthias Jaissle demands Newcastle response after 4-1 Leeds United horror show

Matthias Jaissle has demanded a quick response from Newcastle United after admitting his side failed to match Leeds United’s intensity and physicality during a damaging 4-1 defeat at Elland Road.

Newcastle were already three goals behind at half-time following a disastrous opening period in which virtually everything went wrong for the visitors.

Lewis Miley’s own goal opened the scoring in the 32nd minute before Jayden Bogle and Dominic Calvert-Lewin extended Leeds’ advantage before the interval.

Noah Okafor then made it 4-0 on the hour mark, with substitute Bazoumana Toure scoring Newcastle’s consolation goal in stoppage time.

The result represented Newcastle’s first defeat of the season and left Jaissle deeply frustrated with the standards his players produced.

For Jaissle, Newcastle’s biggest problem was not simply the goals they conceded but their failure to compete with Leeds in the fundamental areas of the game.

The Newcastle manager felt his players were second best when it came to intensity, physicality and individual duels.

“I think we were not matching as a team,” Jaissle said. “The level of intensity, the level of duel behaviours, the level of physicality, this is something we need to bring on the pitch in every match, because, again, this is not negotiable; that should be the basic, the fundamentals in football.”

Newcastle fielded a youthful side and their lack of experience became increasingly apparent as the first half developed.

Jaissle accepts young players require time to develop but made it clear Newcastle cannot afford for that process to happen slowly.

“Even these are young lads, the learning curve needs to be fast,” he added.

Newcastle had already travelled to Elland Road without the injured Anthony Elanga before suffering another significant setback early in the match.

Nico Gonzalez was forced off with a head injury after only 19 minutes.

Sean Steur replaced the Spaniard, making Newcastle’s team even younger at a time when they were already struggling to deal with Leeds’ aggression.

Steur was then unfortunate to become involved in both of Leeds’ opening goals.

Ao Tanaka’s effort took deflections involving Steur and Miley before beating Lukas Hornicek for the opener. Steur then surrendered possession during the build-up to Bogle doubling the home side’s advantage.

Jaissle admitted losing Gonzalez had made Newcastle’s task considerably more difficult.

“You saw then that the team became younger and younger,” he explained.

What particularly concerned Jaissle was Newcastle’s reaction when the match began moving away from them.

The Magpies committed costly unforced errors before conceding and struggled to recover mentally once Leeds established control.

“Especially when it's going to be tough, and that was tough, especially in the first half,” Jaissle said.

“Then additionally, unforced errors taking place before we conceded the goals, then you need to straightaway find the right reaction on the pitch, and today we struggled with that, definitely.”

Calvert-Lewin’s third goal before half-time effectively left Newcastle requiring a remarkable comeback, while Okafor’s strike after the break ended any remaining hope.

Toure at least ensured Newcastle avoided a clean sheet with his late goal, but it did little to change the mood surrounding their first defeat of the campaign.

Jaissle made little attempt to disguise his emotions afterwards.

“For sure now the frustration is a big part of it,” the Newcastle boss admitted. “It feels s--t, for sure.”

However, the German immediately turned his attention towards understanding what had gone wrong.

Newcastle faced a long overnight coach journey back to the North East, and Jaissle revealed the analysis would begin immediately rather than waiting until the squad returned to the training ground.

“But we need to analyse it straightaway, that's the most important thing,” he said.

“Always try to influence the things you are able to influence, and to work on that. Let's know about it, know where we can progress, where we need to improve, and hopefully we can see that already on Saturday.”

Newcastle must quickly put the Elland Road collapse behind them as they prepare to host newly-promoted Hull City at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.

Jaissle intends to use the immediate aftermath of the Leeds defeat to analyse where Newcastle went wrong, with intensity, duel behaviour and their response to mistakes likely to feature prominently.

There will also be attention on Nico Gonzalez after the midfielder was forced off with a head injury, while Newcastle will hope to have more options available as they attempt to produce an immediate response to their first defeat of the season.