Eddie Howe is a Newcastle 'legend'! Former Magpies star defends under fire manager as pressure mounts over troubling form

Former Newcastle goalkeeper Krul, who spent 11 years with the senior team at St. James' Park, has addressed the Magpies' disastrous form in the Premier League this season. Howe's side, who lost their latest league encounter 3-1 against Brentford, are struggling in the bottom half of the league table. Krul has admitted that the poor form needs to be fixed as soon as possible, but he fully trusts Howe to fix the situation.

The manager himself was critical of his players after the loss against West Ham earlier this month and questioned their mentality: "The dynamism wasn't there. The physicality and the energy were missing. We scored early and could have grabbed hold of the game but we didn’t and let it slip away. It didn't look like a Newcastle team that we've seen in recent seasons. The body language, the collective spirit on the pitch, loads of little things weren’t there. It was a by-product of us just not being where we needed to be mentally."

Speaking about the Magpies' poor run, Krul told Sky Sports: "There are a couple of points off the relegation zone, so does this feel like maybe a mini crisis for the club? Yeah, of course, but I think the people in charge know the task at hand for this season. Like I mentioned, they're in the quarter-finals in the Carabao Cup, they're in the top half in the Champions League. 

"Yes, in the Premier League they need to kick into gear and I think the wingers, the midfielders, they have to start chipping in their goals. Injuries, they are massive obviously, suspensions, I think the liveramento, Lewis Hall, have been really, really a big miss for this team. There's not been that attacking threat from the full-backs coming up, so there's reasons why there's been some kind of issues at the club at the moment but Eddie will be the first one to admit that domestic form has to improve."

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Further extending his support for the English coach, Krul added: "I'm a big fan of Eddie and I think he single-handedly changed the club and the people's expectations in that city. I mean, he's going to go down as one of those legend managers this club has ever had. Yes, of course, I think there could be some criticism, it's not good enough to not win an away game since April, but ultimately I think if you asked any fan a couple of years ago to have a trophy and to challenge the Champions League and to fire on all cylinders in the top competitions out there, I think they would have signed for that."

While Newcastle have struggled in domestic football, their form in the Champions League has been impressive. The Magpies are sitting sixth in the league stage table with nine points, having followed up a narrow defeat to Barcelona with wins against Union-Saint Gilloise, Benfica and Athletic Club. With their latest 2-0 victory over Athletic Club, the English side have moved ahead of 15-time winners Real Madrid and reigning Premier League champions Liverpool.

Howe will prepare his players for a huge home game against second-placed Manchester City in their next league fixture after the international break on November 22, which comes three days before their next Champions League outing at Marseille.