LONDON:Eddie Howe is confident that goal-shy Newcastle will discover their “X factor” as they adapt to life without star striker Alexander Isak.
The 26-year-old Sweden international joined Premier League champions Liverpool for a British-record fee of £125 million ($169 million) on transfer deadline day, ending a protracted saga.
Howe plugged the huge gap in his front line with a club-record £69 million swoop for Germany international Nick Woltemade late in the transfer window while Yoane Wissa arrived from Brentford in a deal worth £55 million.
Woltemade, 23, is still finding his feet in the Premier League while a knee injury has prevented 29-year-old DR Congo forward Wissa from making his debut.
“In an ideal world you have a full pre-season to iron out any issues you have,” Newcastle manager Howe said on Tuesday. “You’re forming your partnerships and team relationships so they’re formed for the start of the season.
“We’re in the position where we’re going to have to do it as we play. I have no issue with doing that, I’ve done it before.”
Newcastle, who launch the defense of their League Cup crown on Wednesday, have won just one of their six games in all competitions, keeping four clean sheets but managing just four goals.
The Magpies are 13th in the Premier League table with just one win in five matches.
Former Stuttgart forward Woltemade scored on his debut in a 1-0 victory over Wolves on September 13 but drew a blank in Sunday’s tepid 0-0 draw at Bournemouth, when genuine chances were at a premium.
“I don’t think any comparison to Alex is favorable to any player,” said Howe. “I wouldn’t do that in other positions. Every player is unique and Nick is certainly that.
“The biggest thing is the foundation is solid. The team is playing with strength, it’s just missing that X factor that I think will come.”
Howe, who made seven changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Barcelona in the Champions League last week at Bournemouth, is likely to shuffle his pack once again for Wednesday’s League Cup third-round clash with third-tier Bradford.
Newcastle beat Liverpool in the League Cup final last year to end their 56-year wait for a major trophy.
Howe confident Newcastle will find ‘X factor’
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Howe confident Newcastle will find ‘X factor’
- Eddie Howe is confident that goal-shy Newcastle will discover their “X factor” as they adapt to life without star striker Alexander Isak
FIFA announces $60 World Cup tickets after pricing backlash
PARIS: World Cup organizers unveiled a new cut-price ticket category on Tuesday after a backlash by fans over pricing for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Football’s global governing body FIFA said in a statement that it had created a limited number of “Supporter Entry Tier” fixed at $60 for all 104 matches, including the final.
It said the plan was “designed to further support traveling fans following their national teams across the tournament.”
FIFA said that the $60 tickets would be reserved for fans of qualified teams and would make up 10 percent of each national federation’s allotment.
Fan group Football Supporters Europe , which last week called prices “extortionate” and “astronomical,” responded by saying the FIFA was offering too little.
“While we welcome FIFA’s seeming recognition of the damage its original plans were to cause, the revisions do not go far enough,” FSE said in a statement on Tuesday.
Last week, FSE said ticket prices were almost five times higher than in 2022 in Qatar, describing FIFA’s pricing for 2026 as a “monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup.”
“If a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final it would cost them a minimum of $6,900,” it said at the time, adding that World Cup organizers had promised tickets priced from $21 in a bid document released in 2018.
‘Appeasement tactic’
On Tuesday, FSE said FIFA’s partial ticketing U-turn exposed flaws in how prices for next year’s tournament had been set.
“For the moment we are looking at the FIFA announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash,” FSE said.
“This shows that FIFA’s ticketing policy is not set in stone, was decided in a rush, and without proper consultation — including with FIFA’s own member associations.
“Based on the allocations publicly available, this would mean that at best a few hundred fans per match and team would be lucky enough to take advantage of the 60 US dollar prices, while the vast majority would still have to pay extortionate prices, way higher than at any tournament before.”
The organization also criticized the failure to make provisions for supporters with disabilities or their companions.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed FSE, stating that FIFA’s cheaper ticket category did not go far enough.
“I welcome FIFA’s announcement of some lower priced supporters tickets,” Starmer wrote on X.
“But as someone who used to save up for England tickets, I encourage FIFA to do more to make tickets more affordable so that the World Cup doesn’t lose touch with the genuine supporters who make the game so special.”
Announcing the $60 tickets on Tuesday, FIFA said that national federations “are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely connected to their national teams.”
FIFA also said that if fans bought tickets for games in the knockout rounds only to find their team eliminated at an earlier stage, they “will have the administrative fee waived when refunds are processed.”
It added that it was making the announcement “amid extraordinary global demand for tickets” with 20 million requests already submitted.
The draw for tickets of all prices in the first round of sales will take place on Tuesday, January 13.
