We must do better – Jonás

Mar 11 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

JONÁS Gutiérrez has admitted it is time Newcastle United’s players stopped letting people down as the Magpies go in search of a vital win at Hull City on Saturday.

Gutiérrez has had an impressive first season in English football and the Argentinian has settled well on Tyneside following his summer move from La Liga.

However, the former Real Mallorca wide man also revealed he is not happy because of the team’s poor league position and that dissatisfaction may alert rival Premier League clubs.

United will resist any attempts to lure the 26-year-old away from St James’s Park as long as they remain in the top flight, but Gutiérrez wants to see some rapid improvements after he admitted the team’s poor campaign had made things difficult for him.

He said: “It is very frustrating to be in this position and we have let ourselves down too many times this season. The Bolton game was like that, we didn’t play well enough and we ended up losing a game we should have won.

“It is much easier to enjoy your football when results are good. I think the players are uncomfortable.

“We are worried about relegation even though we believed we would be much higher up the table. We have started to fall backwards again and it isn’t a nice situation to be in.

“I’m still happy at Newcastle, but it has been a difficult first season for me and the club.

“My family are happy living here, but the big problem is we are not doing as well as I thought we would in the league. We should not be fighting to stay out of the bottom three.

“It’s very difficult for me and my team-mates. We have to concentrate on putting it right between now and the end of the season because Newcastle must stay in the Premier League, that is the most important thing.” Despite a number of near-misses, Gutiérrez is still waiting to score his first goal for Newcastle and he knows the perfect time to break his duck would be against Hull. But the tricky midfielder, who has won plenty of admirers among United fans this season, claimed he has other priorities than personal glory.

He added: “I scored for my country recently (against France last month), but I am a little upset I have not scored for Newcastle yet. I would definitely like to score at least one before the end of the season, hopefully a winning goal for the team.

“Of course, the most important thing is the team winning, not me scoring. Points are all that matter and we have to get them any way we can, with whoever scoring the goals, it doesn’t matter.”

Meanwhile, Newcastle’s promising centre-back Sébastien Bassong has admitted he would struggle to resist a move to Arsenal if the Gunners make a bid for him in the summer.

Bassong claims his agent has already told him that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is an admirer and, although Newcastle are set to offer him a new contract at the end of the season, that is unlikely to dissuade him from the view that a move to the Emirates would be too good to turn down.

He said: “Newcastle want me to sign a contract extension. I’m waiting to see what they’re going to offer me. My agent told me about Arsenal’s interest. But I don’t think now is the moment to speak about it.

“I must be focused on my football and at the end of the season we will see what happens then. At the moment, I’m 100% focused on Newcastle and I don’t see any reason why this would change.

“I would lie if I said Arsenal are not a club I’m interested in (playing for). But many things can happen before we can speak about a transfer.”