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Newcastle United won 4-0 at St. James’ Park as they continued their preparations for the new Premier League season against Girona in front of 31,958 fans.
In a game that was over by half-time, United took the lead in the 3rd minute through Sean Longstaff, before two goals in three minutes via Jacob Murphy, and the returning Anthony Gordon, made it 3-0 after just a quarter-of-an-hour. Longstaff added a fourth in the 38th minute and the second half was a complete non-event, aside from some moments of brilliance from Trevan Sanusi and Alexander Isak.
Here are our five key takeaways from the game:
The Return of the High Press
Through a combination of injuries and a manic schedule United often lost their relentless high pressing style last season, so it was marvellous to see that return here, especially with no new first team signings appearing to be imminent.
Joelinton is a huge part of the press, and he excelled here (see point 3), with support from Jamie Miley and Longstaff, it allowed the team to swarm over Girona in the first half with two of the four goals scored coming from the high press.
Lewis Hall continued to invert to pack the middle third of the pitch and possession was won back before it was fed to Isak, Murphy or Livramento to power forward with their direct running.
When this team gets the high press right it is a special, as it showed in 2022/23 when it finished with the joint best defensive record in the league, often hardly conceding shots, let alone goals.
If United could combine 22/23s defence with 23/24s attacking output… we would be in for a special season indeed.
Nick Pope: In the Middle of Our Goal
As a card-carrying member of the goalkeeper’s union, it was personally devastating when Nick Pope a) missed the Carabao Cup Final and b) when he got injured last season. If he stays fit this season Newcastle will be ultra-competitive at the top end of the Premier League.
He made some good saves during the game, including…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/08/10/five-takeaways-from-newcastle-4-0-girona-howes-press-pope-and-a-brazilian-colossus/
Author : Jonathan Young
Publish date : 2024-08-10 08:30:38
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