Steve McClaren refused to point the finger of blame for Newcastle United's poor form at Fabricio Coloccini ahead of the midweek League Cup visit of Sheffield Wednesday.
McClaren's men have endured a torrid start to their season, taking just two points from their opening six Premier League fixtures – suffering a 2-1 home defeat to Watford last time out.
One player who has been singled out for criticism from some sections of the media and Newcastle support is Coloccini, but McClaren opted against naming individuals.
"Some players have been magnificent in games and others aren't playing up to their level, to their unusual standard, so you are always going to get indifference," he said.
"You lose football matches when individuals are settling in and we have a lot of that at the moment.
"When you lose matches, not everyone is going to play well, but it's a team and not about individuals – and [against Watford] we lost because we conceded two goals.
"That wasn't down to Fabricio or any one player. And we fought back in the second half and could have got something out of it."
Sheffield Wednesday have made a sluggish start to their campaign under new manager Carlos Carvalhal, but were impressive in last weekend's 3-2 win over Fulham.
And Ross Wallace, who provided the assists for all three Wednesday goals at Hillsborough on Saturday, is enjoying life under the Portuguese.
"He has been absolutely outstanding since he has come in. He is clever. Tactically he knows what the team needs," Wallace told The Star.
"I have loved training. It has been absolutely brilliant. Obviously, being a foreign manager, if he loses a few games, it's because he's not British and will come under a little pressure.
"But he's a good manager, a good coach and the lads are happy and right behind him."
