Rafa Benitez has hit back at those who have labelled his Newcastle side boring.
The Magpies were criticised in some quarters in the wake of Monday’s 1-0 loss at Burnley, their third away defeat by the same scoreline this season.
But Benitez insists he is simply getting the best from the players available to him and, with Newcastle currently ninth in the table, he believes his tactics are justified.
‘I do not think we are a boring team, I don’t pay too much attention to those who say we are,’ said the Spaniard ahead of Saturday’s visit of Bournemouth.
‘I don’t agree with that. People used to say when I was at Liverpool, “Oh, he’s defensive”. No, we are not defensive, we are well-organised, that is different.
‘We attack and we create - we had 12 attempts versus Burnley. But we also defend well, we have good balance and organisation.
‘We don’t go away to think about a draw, we always want to win. But it depends on the players that you have.
‘Sometimes, with teams who play in the Champions League, you see players coming from the bench costing more than those on the pitch. That means they have different tools.
‘We have a team who work together very well and that's why we are able to achieve what we have. If you say, “You have to be more attractive”, maybe we’d be conceding goals all the time and losing games.
‘We are in a good position now and we are not as bad as people think. The strikers maybe do need to score more, but we are quite good when compared to others.
‘Just three teams have scored more goals (10) than us in the 14 teams at the bottom. No-one has conceded (nine) less than us. We have the balance.’