Eddie Howe refused to get dragged into a row with Arne Slot after his comments about Newcastle being a ‘smaller club’ – but he defended the club’s care of their ‘elite players’.
The Liverpool boss has suggested that Newcastle’s treatment of Isak during his summer strike led to him being unconditioned when he arrived on Merseyside.
Isak suffered a groin injury at Frankfurt on Wednesday and now faces a period on the sidelines, having scored just one goal from eight appearances since his £125million move to Anfield.
Slot said: ‘I don’t think there’s a rule that every single player has the same (pre-season preparation). But it also depends on what he did when he didn’t train with the team, what the impact is if you go to a new club as a big signing.
‘So you cannot compare, maybe a player who hasn’t trained or played in pre-season at a smaller club than if you go to Liverpool.’
Howe would not rise to Slot’s accusations, but said: ‘The set-up is here is very good. It is not perfect, we’ve got things to improve and to grow. But the owners here have developed the facilities since I’ve been here very, very well.
Eddie Howe has refused to get dragged into a row with Arne Slot after his comments about Newcastle being a ‘smaller club’ after Alexander Isak arrived on Merseyside unconditioned
Isak suffered a groin injury at Frankfurt on Wednesday and now faces a period on the sidelines, having scored just one goal from eight appearances since his £125million move to Anfield
‘You can see there is building work going on currently to hopefully deliver even better in the future. But I have no complaints. We’ve got elite athletes here, many of them, and touch wood, we’re managing them pretty well at the moment.’
Howe was asked if he would go into bat for supporters and defend the size of his club, after the fanbase were irritated by Slot’s claims. It was put to Howe that Newcastle are currently eighth in the Champions League table, ahead of Liverpool, and beat them in last season’s Carabao Cup final.
‘I like the way you’ve worded that… encouraging me to go into bat!’ he laughed. ‘I don’t have to do that, I don’t feel. You’ve done it for me, reeling off all those things! But you obviously know what my answer would be.’
Earlier, when asked to respond to Slot, Howe said: ‘I don’t think that’s wise for me to get involved in those discussions. Alex is no longer at this football club, so I won’t comment on it.’
