England: Steur and Botman under harsh criticism after 4-1 loss

Newcastle United manager Matthias Jaissle was hard on his players after the 4-1 defeat to Leeds United at Elland Road on Monday evening, with both Sean Steur and Sven Botman coming under harsh English media criticism. Jaissle had to replace Nico González early with Steur, after which defensive errors led to two quick goals.

Replacement of González and Steur's debut

After about half an hour of play, Jaissle had to forcefully substitute Nico González because the midfielder could no longer continue. Sean Steur came onto the pitch and played an unlucky match; at Leeds' 1-0, he and Lewis Miley changed the direction of the ball, and two minutes later he lost the ball clumsily, allowing Leeds to score twice.

Afterwards Jaissle said: “It feels absolutely terrible.” He continued: “The first half was disappointing, because we couldn’t deliver the basics. We couldn’t match our style of duelling and Leeds’ intensity.”

In England the media criticism was sharp. The Telegraph wrote that Steur was “just a little too late” to stop Tanaka and that his pass was “incomprehensible”, allowing Leeds to score two goals.

The local Newcastle Chronicle gave Steur a 6 and praised that he “kept his head up”. The BBC rated him a 4 and wrote: “Was thrown to the lions after González fell out. The eighteen‑year‑old will learn from this.”

Media criticism of Botman

Sven Botman also received low scores. The Newcastle Chronicle gave him a 2 and noted that he seemed “uncomfortable” and “not up to the physical strength”. The BBC gave Botman a 3 and recorded that he “had no answer to Calvert‑Lewin”.

After the defeat the team bus was ready for a quick departure; while fans walked along the 2960‑meter long route, Botman threw his shirt into the crowd. He was lucky that it was not thrown back on an evening that turned into a total nightmare.