Bruno Guimaraes admitted Newcastle were “a mess” in their 4-2 defeat to Brentford at the Gtech Stadium on Saturday that left them 12th in the Premier League.
Eddie Howe’s team were guilty of an error-strewn display as they gifted Brentford their second and third goals to leave them with 10 conceded in their last four games.
The visitors twice fell behind in the first half and each time hit back quickly to equalise, but after hesitant defending allowed defender Nathan Collins to sneak in to put Brentford 3-2 up after the interval they were unable to recover, slipping to their fifth league defeat of the season.
“In the first half, we had some good moments, but in the second half, we became a mess,” said Guimaraes, whose side drew 3-3 with leaders Liverpool in midweek.
“After the third goal, we lost our way, we lost control. We became a mess on the pitch, and we were very disappointed.
“After the last game against Liverpool, we arrived (at Brentford) expecting to play our best football.
“In the first half, I think we did some good stuff, but we have to stop conceding.
“We have conceded a lot this season and we can’t keep conceding as much as we have been. This is not a problem just for the defenders, it is a problem for the midfield and attack too.
“It is a team problem, and we have to stop this. To be honest, our season has been very disappointing.”
Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring for Brentford after eight minutes in west London before Alexander Isak hit back with his seventh goal of the season.
A dreadful error from Harvey Barnes, gifting the ball to Yoane Wissa in midfield, allowed the Brentford forward to restore his team’s lead before Barnes briefly made amends with a well-taken finish to make it 2-2.
Howe was particularly unhappy with the nature of Brentford’s third, a long free-kick from goalkeeper Mark Flekken eluding everybody inside the box and finding Collins who finished into the corner.
Kevin Schade scored his fourth goal in a week in stoppage time to complete Newcastle’s misery.
“We have not been consistent and we have to find that consistency,” said Guimaraes.
“We have done well against teams in the top six, but, then when it has gone the other way, we have not been the same.
“We have to fix it. We cannot keep playing in the way we have been playing. You have to be consistent if you want to be in European football again.
“After the third goal, we gave the ball away many, many times and lost second balls a lot.
“We conceded another goal, but I think the third goal was the key moment because after that, we lost our control and our shape. Everything was a mess from my point of view.”