Four areas Newcastle are getting it wrong after poor start to the season

A disappointing start, inflamed by a late defeat at home by 10-man Liverpool, shifted into uncomfortable territory for Newcastle United and manager Eddie Howe with a drab and lethargic loss at Brighton this weekend.

Newcastle have lost three out of their four games this season and for all the excitement that greeted last week’s Champions League draw, the glitz and glamour of ties against Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund, the club has lost its mojo.

The performance at Brighton was the worst under Howe for months and there are several problems he has his coaching staff need to fix. Telegraph Sport looks at the problems and some potential solutions.

Midfield balance looks wrong

There was understandable excitement about the signing of Sandro Tonali for £56 million from AC Milan in the summer.

But Tonali’s arrival has disrupted Newcastle’s midfield balance and as good as he is, it is taking – understandably – the 23-year-old time to settle. He was not up to speed against Brighton and it was his poor clearance, followed by a lazy attempt to to close down Billy Gilmour’s shot, that led to the first goal. Tonali was hauled off in the second half as Brighton rang rings around him.

His arrival alongside Bruno Guimaraes – who has been nowhere near his best for a while – appears to have disrupted the Brazilian while his compatriot, Joelinton, is somehow still being picked every weekend even though he is unable to train during the week. When one of your best players has lost form and another has lost fitness, something needs to change.

Joelinton should be dropped and replaced by Sean Longstaff against Brentford. The academy graduate has the legs and endurance, as well as the tactical discipline, to protect a shaky defence and has become a far better player in the eyes of many supporters while he sits on the bench.

Tonali and Bruno also need to work on their understanding of each other’s games. Howe wanted a fluid midfield this season, with players constantly shifting roles and positions depending on situations. But that freedom is not being implemented correctly because the two most talented players are not working together properly yet.

Confidence has been hit and the players look rattled

Had Newcastle held on to their 1-0 lead in a game they had dominated against Liverpool, it is fair to assume the nervy, disjointed and strangely downbeat display at Brighton would not have occurred. Newcastle’s players looked unsure, nervous and clunky in their play. That is what a loss of confidence can do

The body language of several players was not good against Brighton and there were so many individual errors, including previously reliable performers like goalkeeper Nick Pope, captain Kieran Trippier, centre-back Dan Burn, as well as midfielders Joelinton and Bruno. Even Anthony Gordon, who has been Newcastle’s best player this season so far, was poor at the Amex Stadium while Alexander Isak missed two clear goalscoring opportunities inside the first three minutes.

Those missed chances further drained Newcastle of belief. Had they scored early, as they should have done, it would have been a very different game. They went through a similar period last season when they did not convert their chances and suffered then too.

Some time away to refresh minds during the international break and then more work on the training ground can put these problems right. We are four games into a long season and Newcastle have played four of last season’s top seven. In the corresponding fixtures last term, they took only four points. This season they have taken three. There is no need to panic or lose faith. They are merely a good team going through a bad spell.

Summer recruitment focused on future, not the present

The decision not to sign another centre-back in the summer looked like a risk, but the way Dan Burn and Fabian Schar played against Brighton made it seem reckless. The problem is, instead of signing a player to upgrade an obvious position of need, Howe and director of football, Dan Ashworth, decided to sign two young full backs in Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento instead. Neither has started a game yet and splurging £60 million on two full backs who cannot get in the team seems like an odd decision to say the least.

But Newcastle are planning for the future, not just the here and now. Livramento and Hall have the talent and the potential to be England’s first-choice right and left back in the not too distant future.

Howe always prefers to ease players into his system and it is telling that another high profile summer arrival, Harvey Barnes, has also been confined to a substitute’s role so far.

There were always going to be growing pains on Tyneside and everyone at boardroom level anticipated a drop off in terms of domestic form after last season’s wonderful, but freakishly successful campaign.

The plan, though, is to put together a young squad that will grow together rather than just worry about the first team immediately. Those players will need time and Howe needs to work with them on the training ground before they are ready to be unleashed. It might not help results now but it should have long term benefits.

Pope’s poor form further unsettling a leaky backline

Nick Pope was integral to Newcastle’s success last season but he has looked shaky this term, even before his howler against Brighton that set the tone for a terrible evening on the south coast.

Dropped from the England squad last week, Pope does not inspire the same confidence in his defenders and is not making the same sort of saves he did last season either. He has been beaten too easily from distance by both Brighton’s Evan Ferguson and Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez in his last two appearances.

Newcastle had the joint-best defensive record in the top flight alongside Manchester City last season but they have been conceding too many goals for a while and that is putting more pressure on them to score more at the other end.

Last season, at 1-0 down away from home, they would have stayed in the game and Callum Wilson’s late goal would have been an equaliser rather than a consolation.

Pope is not the only defensive player who looks vulnerable. Trippier has also been poor, Schar was always the weakest link and is getting exposed more regularly, while Burn’s limitations have been highlighted too.

Assistant manager Jason Tindall has a lot of work to do to get the team’s defensive shape and solidity back to what it used to be. It is time to go back to doing the basics right at the back and deploy a midfield that shields them better.