Eddie Howe has spoken to UEFA.
A huge week and a half ahead for the Newcastle United head coach.
Eddie Howe interviewed by official UEFA media as the play-off approaches.
Newcastle United away against Qarabag on Wednesday.
Then the following Tuesday at St James’ Park.
The winners of the two-legged tie will progress to the last 16 of the Champions League.
UEFA official media asking Eddie Howe how he would sum up his four years and three months at Newcastle United so far: “Exciting,” I think, is a really good word to use because it’s been an incredible time. I enjoyed every second of it. Overall, it was a great success. But sometimes you are on the edge because it is such a demanding club, in such a positive way. There are high expectations, high demands on us to achieve success and keep winning, which is great, and we’ve really tried to respond to that. It’s a great club to be a part of and to lead. We consider ourselves very fortunate. It’s exciting and I hope it stays that way.”
Newcastle United continues to compete on three fronts.
In the Champions League, United are one of six Premier League clubs still in the competition.
When asked to name the Champions League coach he learned the most from, Eddie Howe: I’m going to say Pep Guardiola because when you go against his teams, those have been the most rewarding learning experiences. And the majority of them have been in the Premier League, and they have been difficult experiences for us, believe me. It’s such a difficult team to prepare for, but you only look back afterwards and say, Well, we learned and developed a lot by going against his teams and seeing how they play, or thinking about how we did against them and then trying to come up with a plan that makes us stronger next time. Sometimes you learn the most from the most difficult experiences. And for me, he is the best coach I have ever met.”
Eddie Howe has been at St James’ Park since November 2021.
This season was also going to be a huge challenge, especially with all the additional obstacles that stood in the way of the United Head Coach. Especially the behavior of Alexander Isak and the fact that five of the six signings for the summer of 2025 arrived too late to have a preseason with their new teammates.
Eddie Howe asked about the development of his Newcastle United team: “It’s a new team and I felt that at the start of this season. We have been through a three and a half year cycle with the same group of players, and there has been a lot of turnover in the recent transfer windows, the summer being the biggest. In some ways we have started again. We have been trying to find the best way to work with those new players. I would say we have improved and we are going in the right direction, but there is more to come. I am very excited about the future with the team, but at the moment we have We still have a few more gears to go to be at our best. The first year we had in the Champions League, two years ago, was just a great experience to be part of, but now we want to do well in it. This year there is a different feeling [we’ve played]They’ve been tough, but I think they’ve made us a better team because of it.”
#UEFA #interview #Eddie #Howe #Champions #League #week