A lot has happened to Newcastle United in 36 days.
From the nadir of Brighton, when Eddie Howe admitted standards were not being met at St James’ Park, to a memorable last week, the team look transformed.
They will return from the international break top of their supremely testing Champions League group, in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a winnable trip to Manchester United ahead and within sight of a top-five place that would guarantee a return to Europe’s elite. Here is what has changed.
Two words: Sean Longstaff
One player has done more than anyone to recalibrate Newcastle: Sean Longstaff.
When the controversial takeover was given the green light two years ago, who would have thought that would be the case?
But Longstaff’s improvement under Howe – his discipline, footballing intelligence and latterly his ability to bring the best out of others – means that he is approaching undroppable status at Newcastle. Since he returned to the team’s three-man midfield there has been more balance, drive has been added and they look altogether more resolute.
If his addition to the line-up hasn’t quite answered the Sandro Tonali question, as his role in Mohammed Kudus’ late equaliser was pinpointed after West Ham, it has certainly taken the sting out of the debate about whether he can function effectively with class act Bruno Guimaraes. The answer all along was fairly simple: add Longstaff to the mix and watch the pair operate with far less dysfunction.
Correcting the defensive basics
Here’s Dan Burn last week with some insight into what was going on behind closed doors: “Those three [losing] games at the start of the season we got ahead of ourselves.
“When you get a bit of success you think you haven’t got to do the things that got you there. I think the last month we have shown we are back to that and we are a team to be feared.
“We were not off the pace as much was made out. We played some top quality teams in Brighton, Man City, Liverpool.
“We had confidence we’d turn it around and no-one in the changing room was panicking. There was a lot of belief.”
Newcastle post-takeover represent a lot of things – not all of them with a Saudi Arabian connection are entirely comfortable. But on the field their identity is so far removed from moneyed prima donnas.
They are a team forged in Howe’s “no d***heads” mantra, with a fierce workload who rely as much on industry as they do on enterprise.
Reminding each of that in internal team meetings has been key. Rediscovering their honesty has given them the defensive foundation to build on.
Managing the emotional load well
Newcastle have employed a psychologist to help their players manage the emotional load of returning to the Champions League.
If rival fans might scoff at the idea or accuse them of “small-time” behaviour, it appears to be working. The idea has been to help the players cope with the mindset required to lurch from elite European football – with its emotional and physical requirements – back to the domestic programme.
Howe, too, has tailored training programmes to help his players adjust. After AC Milan, the players did “virtually nothing” until the day before their game at Sheffield United. Refreshed and renewed, their response was the 8-0 win which relaunched the season.
It proved harder for them on Sunday – the first half at West Ham was as bad as Brighton – but their second half performance proved this is a team and club not prepared to use European football as an excuse for underperforming in the league.
Two years after the takeover, Newcastle are one of the big boys
The eventual goal, as PIF and Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan made clear in this summer’s frothy Amazon documentary, is for Newcastle to be “number one”. It is a towering ambition for a club still very much at the beginning of a long-term project.
Internal targets are much more modest this season – European football through league placing, the last eight of both Cups and qualifying from the Champions League group would represent par this season – and what that tells you is that there was still some uncertainty at Newcastle about whether last season’s excellent campaign was the new normal or an anamoly.
The last five weeks have illustrated that Newcastle have enough – inside the squad and most importantly inside the head of their impressive head coach – to maintain another challenge for Champions League qualification. The win over Manchester City, inflicting a first defeat of the season on the Treble winners, felt significant. The defeat of Paris Saint-Germain, also achieved while important players were on the injury list, felt even more so.
Rather than upper mid-table it feels safe to say this is their new level.
Plenty to be excited about – but work to do
Newcastle’s improved form comes at a time when internal work on the next two transfer windows is beginning to gather pace. Further meetings are scheduled for this international break as the club consider both incoming and outgoings for the new year and beyond.
As it stands, the club’s intention is to concentrate funds and man power on the summer of 2024, when beefed up revenue streams give them room to flex their financial muscle. But there is an acknowledgement that while it is expected to be a quiet window, January can help the club issues or add impetus, as it was intended to do when they signed Anthony Gordon.
This is a team in a much happier place than it was a month ago but insiders say there is plenty of improvement still to come. The difficulties at West Ham are a reminder of that.
Insiders point to Joe Willock’s comeback before Christmas as a cause for optimism, while Sven Botman and Joelinton should be closer to returning by the time the international break ends.
Injuries have long been flagged up as the biggest concern this season and Alexander Isak’s withdrawal at West Ham came with fitness anxieties. As well as understudies have done this season, they cannot afford to lose too many of their best players.
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