Former Newcastle defender John Anderson says there is a "lack of belief" in the current side as they continue to endure a poor run of results.
Saturday's home defeat by Eddie Howe's former side Bournemouth was their third in a row and continued a run of eight Premier League defeats in 11 games.
"Little bits of the performance were better than they have been," Anderson told BBC Radio Newcastle.
"I thought we started well, for 15 minutes the tempo of the game was good, but then we lost our way a bit again.
"We started getting sloppy and didn't keep the ball well enough. From starting the game well, we then lost our way for whatever reason. We know Bournemouth are a good side, they have got players who keep the ball well, they have good movement and energy.
"But, yet again, we didn't create enough, work the goalkeeper enough. You could count on one hand the number of saves the goalkeeper had to make and that's been a problem in recent games.
"We just haven't been working goalkeepers enough and there's a lack of belief there.
"There were just players who weren't at it against Bournemouth. They now need to win five out of five to have any chance of Europe."
Listen to the full chat below or on BBC Sounds
