Newcastle United faced a humbling 8-0 defeat against the A-League All Stars in a friendly held in Melbourne.
The All Stars took an early lead through Ben Old after just five minutes. Nicolas Milanovic and Adam Taggart extended the lead to 3-0 before half-time. The second half saw Apostolos Stamatelopoulos score twice, followed by goals from Jake Hollman, Jordan Courtney-Perkins, and Bozhidar Kraev, completing the rout and deepening Newcastle’s misery.
However, the defeat was suffered by a weak side as manager Eddie Howe made extensive changes to the squad that triumphed over Spurs on penalties just days earlier, fielding a youthful XI that struggled against the top players from Australia and New Zealand’s premier league.
Eddie Howe reflected on the match, acknowledging the challenges faced by his young squad.
“That was a tough one for our young lads. You can see probably the gap between experience and youth,” said Howe. “I don’t think we could have [played any of the first-team players], especially when you combine the traveling time that we’ve had and the quick time between games, it was too big of a risk of injuries and we couldn’t afford that.”
Despite the heavy defeat, Howe maintained that the experience was valuable for the young players. “I think just too many mistakes, forced by the All Stars playing well. A lot of our players need to reflect on that and see what they need to do to come back stronger.”
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With key players like Bruno Guimaraes and Miguel Almiron already departed to prepare for the Copa America, and many others rested, the experienced Kieran Trippier was one of the few first-team players included in the squad. However, Trippier, along with Lewis Hall and Elliot Anderson, remained on the bench throughout the match.
As Newcastle’s brief trip to Australia concludes, several players will now return home to prepare for this summer’s European Championship in Germany, starting on June 14. The Copa America will follow the next week in the United States.
Newcastle United finished seventh in the Premier League this season and could secure a spot in the UEFA Europa Conference League if Manchester City wins the FA Cup against Manchester United.
The recent friendly matches are part of their efforts to stay in shape for the upcoming season and to assess the team’s needs, potentially identifying areas where signings might be necessary to strengthen the squad.
Meanwhile former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer had previously labeled the timing of the tour as “madness.”
