- Eddie Howe’s tactical tweaks that could save his Newcastle job
- Howe’s adaptations give positive signs for future
- Brighton and West Ham show progress
Eddie Howe’s tactics weren’t exactly a glimmering rendition of his ability as a manager last season. Instead, the tactical issues he failed to fix have been the catalyst for the majority of concerns about his suitability for the Newcastle job going forward.
His shortcomings will undoubtedly carry a hangover into next season, and it will take much more than just a good start to the campaign to haul the masses back in his favour.
But, whilst there is a decidedly negative feeling around what the setup may look like next season under Howe, there may be more reason to be hopeful than the media discourse would suggest.
That is largely because of some very specific changes, which may prove that Eddie Howe is a lot more capable of shifting the narrative on his managerial ability than many are giving him credit for at present.
The Brighton game
There were some serious problems across the season in getting played through too easily. In fact, those issues have stretched back to previous campaigns too. Yet, they had never been addressed in any sort of noticeable sense before the Brighton game.
Although the season was already long past salvageable, the game against Brighton and Hove Albion brought a spark. Something a little different which, interestingly, included a tactical nuance that the Geordie faithful had been asking for throughout the campaign.
It was actually very simple, something we saw against Arsenal at the Emirates but in a much more aggressive sense at St James’ Park. Howe removed the flat midfield five.
Willock played in a much more front-footed area, almost alongside Osula as a striker when out of possession. That made it a 4-4-2; the Brighton centre-backs had a lot less time on the ball with the extra pressure in forward areas, and the midfield four were able to be more dynamic in covering runners and blocking passing lanes with less rigidity needed.
The first line of press was bypassed much less; everybody behind that frontline looked much more comfortable, and the pressing triggers were adhered to much more closely across the team.
It also gave the Magpies some much-needed impetus and fear factor in forward areas, with Willock and Osula both posing willing runners who put Brighton on the back foot throughout.
It was, in many ways, a very minor tweak, but one which seemed to solve a great deal of the problems Newcastle has been dealing with out of possession across the season.
The West Ham game
This is where things really got good.
Howe has become synonymous with a high-intensity, often transitional, 4-3-3 during his Newcastle United tenure.
Last season, whilst the 4-3-3 was still used, the usual suffocating qualities that made it so dangerous almost entirely subsided, leaving a dismal shell of what the Magpies once were in its place.
A fluid 4-2-3-1, Nick Woltemade in the number 10, an inverted left-hand side in Jacob Ramsey and a buzzing William Osula who caused chaos for the Brighton backline.
It was a thing of beauty; perhaps that was just because of the drab football we had been used to watching, but it was beautiful nonetheless. But how exactly did it work?
It was largely a case of finally getting the right profile of players in the right positions, rather than the square pegs in round holes approach Howe had seemingly been taking for most of the season.
Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães made up a double pivot in midfield, with Tonali the one tasked with dropping deeper to pick up the ball and Bruno playing on a slightly higher line to create passing angles.
Nick Woltemade was deployed in the number 10/second striker role, which suited him perfectly and allowed him to slip into those tight, technical pockets undetected to pick up the ball.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the system was Jacob Ramsey on the left-hand side. Ramsey was tasked with inverting, often occupying a left-eight position and helping in midfield build-up.
This solved a massive problem Newcastle had been facing in breaking teams down through the middle, with both Ramsey and Woltemade picking up the ball and looking to play forward.
The midfield formed a box/diamond shape but was fluid in its movement, with different players dropping in to pick up the ball and progress play depending on the picture.
Ramsey inverting also allowed the unshackled Lewis Hall to get into forward areas and occupy the left-wing space in possession, giving the all-at-sea West Ham backline even more to think about.
William Osula was fluid in his movement, with runs in behind allowing Woltemade and Ramsey space to operate, but he also often drifted toward the areas left by Ramsey when attacks were developing.
On the right, Harvey Barnes was largely the most rigid of the forward players but did drift centrally on multiple occasions to provide a focal point when Osula drifted over.
Woltemade was also found occupying the frontman slot at times, sending the system back toward its more familiar 4-3-3 shape when Osula pulled out to the left wing.
It was like a beautiful, fluid interpretive dance, more so than watching a football team – at least in comparison to what had been endured previously.
Issues did sometimes arise in the structure of the recovering defensive shape, mainly because of the fluid nature of the attacks. But the signs were there that this could be something to utilise going forward, and it looked by far the best system for the current crop of players.
Why these tactical changes are important for Newcastle United
Now, you might be wondering why exactly these changes are such a big deal; every manager tweaks things here and there, right?
Well, that’s just it: Eddie Howe has been heavily criticised for his inability to adapt and playing the same system over and over, even when it isn’t working.
So these changes, ones that are working and offering new perspectives on how the team can set up, prove that Howe may be learning to be more adaptable in the tactics he employs.
Why it took him all season to see some of the things the fans had been crying about for months, who knows? But the positive is that the last few games (barring Fulham; we don’t talk about Fulham) showed a different side to Howe and one that suggests he may still have a lot more to offer at Newcastle United.
