Claude Puel Rues Leicester's Lack of 'Tempo and Rhythm' in Defeat Against Newcastle

Claude Puel criticised his players for lacking any sort of 'tempo and rhythm' in their 2-1 defeat against Newcastle at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.

Leicester couldn't get a foothold in the first half and were made to pay after 18 minutes when Jonjo Shelvey coolly slotted the ball into the corner of the net. Ayoze Perez inflicted further misery on Puel's side when he took advantage of a defensive mix up from Leicester to lob Kasper Schmeichel, who was off his line.

Jamie Vardy pulled a goal back late in the game, but it proved to be too little to late for a side who have only picked up two wins in their last eight Premier League matches.

"Our performance was not good enough in the first half," Puel told Sky Sports. "There was no tempo, no rhythm.

"There was a good reaction in the second half like we did against Brighton [last week] but this time we cannot come back in the game.

"Last game we were lucky to come back in the second half. Today it was not enough. We have to work to correct this. We have to work together and to play the next game with a good feeling. We need to play from the beginning of the game.

"We have the quality to come back into the game in the second half, but we have to correct this and start games well."

This defeat for Leicester means that they stay in eighth place in the league, but are now six points behind seventh placed Burnley. 

They'll have the chance to close the gap on Burnley to three points when they travel to Turf Moor next weekend.