What brilliant 48 hours it’s been for Newcastle United, who not only hammered Spurs at St James’ Park but saw a near-perfect set of results unfold after that.
Below I pick out some of the main positives (I could’ve named 20!) from Saturday’s huge win and one negative from the weekend of Premier League action that followed.
Positives
Eddie Howe masterclass – Some questioned Howe’s tactically flexibility a few weeks ago, claiming he only knew one way of playing and had made us too predictable. The man-to-man marking worked a treat and the set up was bold in both halves, as we stopped Spurs from playing out and pressed high so effectively. All that was done with our back-up goalkeeper, a winger at right-back, a £3m right-back at centre-back, a centre-back at left-back and two academy graduates in midfield.
Our best front three finally start – Injuries have often denied Eddie Howe the ability to start Barnes, Isak and Gordon in the same side, but they looked electric and could spearhead our push towards a top-six finish over the final month of the season. Barnes linked up nicely with Anderson and the two-footed Gordon looks equally good on the right. As for Isak, he’s just elite, isn’t he? What a player.
Clean sheets! – For all the goals we’ve scored this season, we have shipped far more than last term. However, this is now back-to-back clean sheets for Dubravka and it would’ve been three on the spin without Dummett’s moment of madness in the 1-1 draw with Everton. With 11 in total, we now have the second most clean sheets in the Premier League this season behind Arsenal. Hard to believe, but shows we can be solid on our day.
The Elliot Anderson effect – For me, he’s had a transformative impact on our midfield in recent weeks and really set the tone for improved performances of late. His intensity, pressing and aggression gives us something we’ve sorely missed in Joelinton’s absence, but his ability to drive forward and links…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/04/15/6-positives-1-negative-from-newcastle-4-0-spurs-and-a-huge-premier-league-weekend/
Author : Olly Hawkins
Publish date : 2024-04-15 10:40:45
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