Deniz Undav's Strikingly Blunt and Self-Critical Assessment of His Night at Newcastle
Key Highlights :
Deniz Undav has given a strikingly blunt and self-critical assessment of his night at Newcastle. The Albion midfielder scored an unfortunate own goal and gave away a needless free-kick in the first half at St James’s Park, but his cool finish restored hope as he ran onto Billy Gilmour’s through ball to reduce the 2-0 deficit. Albion eventually lost 4-1 as Newcastle scored two late goals.
Undav felt he “let the team down” and told The Argus: “The first goal was unlucky, just headed into the own goal. And the second one it wasn’t necessary for me to go down and give them the free-kick. I scored a goal, but I think the game is on me. I take responsibility and I should be smarter.”
Albion were still in the game until conceding to Dan Bin following Undav’s foul seconds from the break. Going in at 1-0 down would have left them well in the contest, despite 45 torrid minutes. Undav said: “Even with 2-0 we knew if we scored a goal anything can happen. I think we were going for the second goal and in the end they had good transition and they scored. They pressed really well, we knew that they were a strong team, a physical team and they were running a lot and they showed us in the first half. I think we are way better than what we showed.”
Head coach Roberto De Zerbi has told Undav he needs more self-belief and his finish, as at Arsenal on Sunday, showed that. He said: “It was a good ball from Billy, but it’s tough when you scored the own goal and then because of my foul on the side they basically scored the second goal.”
Undav was asked whether he had said anything along those lines to the team. He replied: “The gaffer was speaking about it. I will tell the team later on, on the bus, because I feel I let the team down. It’s my fault. I will try and give a reaction on Sunday. We have two home games and we need to show a reaction and take the three points. We can build on the second-half performance, we have to play more like that.”
Newcastle were roared on by a noisy support and Albion fans have their part to play at the Amex. Undav said: “The fans are always a big part. You could see today the fans were cheering like crazy. We need our fans to be like this on Sunday, on Wednesday and then away at Aston villa. We need to make sure we are ready, we will have the support from our fans I hope and we will give everything.”
Deniz Undav's self-critical assessment of his night at Newcastle shows that even in defeat, he is determined to learn from his mistakes and fight for a better result in the next game. With the support of the Albion fans, Undav is confident that his team can show a reaction and take the three points in their next two home games.
