It was a game of two halves - United were out-played in the first half against Arsenal - but sparked into life in the second.
The Spaniard, one of his side’s better players for the entirety of Saturday’s game, wants to see more of the exciting and attacking play, which earned Newcastle being applauded off the park after a defeat, that John Carver’s men delivered in an impressive second-half.
Newcastle’s form this year has been wretched, but their best 45 minutes in a long time at least hinted that a squad accused of already being on their holidays have some life left in them.
Perez said: “We must play all the games like we did in the second half against Arsenal, and we need to keep working and training hard for the derby.
“Arsenal have top players, but in the second half we were stronger. We had a lot of chances.
“We played better in the second half. I think we could have scored a goal and drawn the match. We had a good second half, and we now have a break before the derby.
“The manager said the truth - that we conceded two bad goals. We can’t gift them that. He told us that we needed to improve and be strong, and we did.”