We know exactly what he's going to do. It's just a question of whether our approach out performs theirs.
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Match Newcastle Away 1.30pm Sunday Sept 1
- Thread starter Top Corner10
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We know exactly what he's going to do. It's just a question of whether our approach out performs theirs.
Last time Howe got a lot of praise from how he set them up tactically to beat us. Surely because of that Ange will go up there and either build up or play a slightly different way.
He cant line us up to play in the same way. Howe will just do the above. Ange has to change it to keep them guessing.
The Eddie Howe tactical masterclass that overpowered Spurs
By Ahmed Walid
Apr 14, 2024
18
On paper, all plans and ideas are viable. Executing them against a high-level opponent is a totally different task, however.
Whether that’s using a back five, a back four, or a player playing different roles in and out of possession, the tactical strategies introduced by any coaching staff need to be well executed by the players.
“You can plan a game plan — how you are going to go against any team — (but) it’s irrelevant really,” said Eddie Howe, Newcastle United’s head coach, after the 4-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur. “It’s down to the players and how they deliver that.”
That’s why Howe was full of praise for his players after the final whistle.
Despite preparing the match with a “ridiculously small” number of players, Newcastle’s delivery of their game plan was on a different level.
Against Tottenham, the most obvious change from Howe’s side was the switch to a back five, with Jacob Murphy and Elliot Anderson operating as wing-backs in a 5-4-1 when Newcastle were defending in their own half.
The switch in shape meant that Newcastle were in position to defend against Tottenham’s wide combinations without stretching their own defensive line.
Higher up the field, Newcastle’s man-oriented pressing prevented Tottenham from building up through the central areas and finding their narrow full-backs, Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, who were man-marked by Anderson and Murphy. Meanwhile, Alexander Isak’s role was to drop and mark Yves Bissouma or block the passing lane into the Tottenham midfielder…
… as Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff picked up Rodrigo Bentancur and James Maddison.
Newcastle’s organisation without the ball stifled Tottenham’s attack, and their pressing led to one of their four goals. The remaining three came from a corner kick and on the transition.
The pace of Isak, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes makes them a threat when attacking space on the transition, but where they attacked and their positioning when Newcastle had just won the ball was as important.
When Newcastle were defending in their 5-4-1 block, Gordon and Barnes were constantly positioned ahead of Udogie and Porro, blocking the passing lanes into the Tottenham full-backs…
… or handing them over to Newcastle’s wide centre-backs.
That approach provided Gordon and Barnes with a positional advantage once Newcastle won the ball back and were ready to attack on the transition. Here, Newcastle’s wide forwards are slightly ahead of Tottenham’s full-backs when Murphy wins the ball back…
… and starts the transition by playing it forward to Gordon. At the same time, Barnes starts moving forward…
… and accelerates to provide Gordon with a passing option, but Timo Werner and Micky van de Ven foul the England forward to halt the counter-attack.
In addition, Gordon and Barnes’ pressing roles on Van de Ven and Cristian Romero positioned them higher than Udogie and Porro, who were man-marked by Murphy and Anderson during the pressing phase. Therefore, whenever Tottenham went long, Newcastle won the ball back and started the transition, Gordon and Barnes were further up the field than Tottenham’s full-backs.
In this example, Tottenham go direct and win the ball in Newcastle’s half, but Barnes and Gordon drop, and the latter recovers possession to start the transition. Due to Gordon and Barnes’ pressing duties, they have a positional advantage over Udogie and Porro…
… which allows them to beat Tottenham’s full-backs and attack the wide open spaces when Longstaff plays the ball into Isak…
… who squares it to Gordon, with Barnes sprinting forward down the other side.
Gordon spots Barnes’ run and plays it across, but the forward’s first touch allows Porro to clear the ball for a corner.
The final element of Newcastle’s transitional blueprint was Isak, who regularly positioned himself in wider positions to attack the space Tottenham’s full-backs had vacated. In this example, he maintains a wider position as Tottenham try to play through Newcastle’s midfield.
Seconds later, Udogie’s pass into Son Heung-min is intercepted by Dan Burn, and with Gordon in an advanced position…
… he is ready to attack the space Udogie has vacated when Newcastle start their transition. Down the left side, Isak is providing a similar passing option because of his positioning in the space Porro vacated. Guimaraes tries to find Isak, but the pass is overhit.
Eventually, Newcastle’s attacking threat on the transitions proved fruitful. In the lead-up to the first goal, Isak positions himself in the space vacated by Porro as Guimaraes finds Gordon behind Tottenham’s other full-back.
While Gordon battles with Udogie to win the ball, Isak makes an inside run in the blindside of Romero…
… before Gordon finds him in space, and Isak dribbles past Van de Ven to make it 1-0.
In the second half, Isak scored again from a similar situation. Here, Emerson Royal, who replaced Porro, is in an attacking position when Longstaff and Guimaraes win the ball in front of Newcastle’s penalty area to start the attacking transition.
Further up the pitch, Isak is in the centre circle with Romero in a wide position to cover for his right-back.
After Guimaraes wins possession, Isak fakes a movement towards Tottenham’s left side and smartly attacks their right side…
… with Romero and Royal in advanced positions. Guimaraes finds his run into space…
… and Isak duly scores his second of the game.
Attacking the space vacated by Udogie and Porro is trivial, but Newcastle’s setup out of possession provided them with an advantage on the attacking transitions, while neutralising Tottenham’s attack and the threat of their full-backs in narrow positions.
In the post-match press conference, Howe rightly lauded the performance of his players, but this was very much a victory for the manager and his coaching staff too.
Of course he'll change it up. There's about 3 positions up for grabs in the lineup for this one.
This is why actually starting a striker would be a step in the right direction.
We couldn't knock it long when we were getting pressed because Vicario was aiming for Son, Johnson or Werner. It just kept coming straight back.
Doesn't matter what form Newcastle are in. They're a bad match up for us because the way they defend, the physicality in midfield and the blistering pace of their attack.
Luckily, our squad is much better this season and much better suited. So we won't be needing to start Bentancur or bring the likes of Emerson, Hojbjerg or Lo Celso on.
It's whether you decide to play Kulusevski, who is physical and can keep hold of the ball in midfield or Sarr, who's alot better in what's likely to be a more transitional game where he can eat up more ground back And forth.
I really hope Solanke is fit
If we want to do something this season beating this lot at their shithole will be a nice start
Fact is the best teams often win their.
First test for Ange this season, let’s see if he has learnt anything from last seasons abysmal display up there!
Do they?
They beat Woolwich, Spurs, Villa, Chelsea and Man Utd there last season... As well as City in the cup.
The mere fact that Ange mentions he might miss this one if he doesnt recover and he has the international break to get right makes me think he wont be.
Then we have Richarlison.
Signicantly better than starting Son central against Newcastle.
I agree. They played Emil Krafth and Dan Burn at centre back yesterday. If we play like Bournemouth did yesterday we will cause them problems.
Window will be shut by the time we play them, wouldn't be surprised to see a new centre back in there by the time that game kicks off.
Let's not forget they had an injury "crisis" at the St James Park game last season too. Jacob Murphy at RB, Krafth at LB, Andersen and Longstaff both starting in midfield.. It didn't matter.
They're a bad match up for us regardless of the personnel. We just need to make sure the chances we get we score.
I remember we could have been 1 or 2 up in the game last season but we missed a few good chances.
I didnt watch it until switching it on the second half for 10 minutes. Couldnt face what I knew would be certain defeat. I think it will be different this time......trouble is, I'm usually wrong!
Odobert can allegedly play on the right (and also in the middle). I suspect he will start there and Son on the left is Solanke is fit and/or Richarlison is back to 100%
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Romero does this and the pitchforks would have been out immediately.
The double standards with VAR & the refereeing in the PL is an absolute joke.
I am annoying myself by starting to feel confident after watching that Bournemouth game.
The caveat being that I know how tough at home Iraola teams can be in small, intense stadiums with smaller pitches.
It's going to be a tough game no matter how sneaky that little feeling of confidence is sliding into our dm's.
Son and Odobert starting on the wing, Solanke or Richarlison starting at CF is what I'm expecting Ange to do most of the season.
Johnson and Werner will pick up starts in Europa/cups and we might even get Mike Moore minutes in the cups early doors as well.
Then it will be about fitness and form second half of the season.
Sidebar: What a man Sonny is.
Ermmmm - Cucurella?
I think they actually said (as ludicrous as it sounds) that what Romero did wasn't actually covered in the rules or something.
