The 2026-27 season has long promised to be historic, including from the moment Mathias Jaissle became the record-breaking ninth new manager ahead of the campaign.
His predecessor Eddie Howe had long been heralded as one of the next big managers in the global game, and had a successful time in helping Newcastle reach the Champions League and win a league cup.
Embed from Getty ImagesBut as all good things must come to an end, Howe’s progress eventually stalled. Last season, as Newcastle stumbled toward a 12th place finish, Howe told the media “I would resign if I wasn’t the right man for the job.” Months later, he resigned.
Embed from Getty ImagesJaissle has only been in charge for a month now, and evidently Newcastle are a work in progress. They’ve lost some of their most influential figureheads, and are rapidly changing their approach and identity. Instilling his philosophies across the pitch and integrating all the new faces will take time. But with so much in the Premier League also being new, Jaissle has started the campaign on an impressive unbeaten run. While it’s only three matches in, Newcastle fans can be optimistic that they’ve found a new spark to life in the league.
SYSTEM OF PLAY: 4-2-3-1
Matthias Jaissle has primarily focused on a 4-2-3-1 in his short time so far, building the base of his midfield around new man Nico Gonzalez and 20-year-old Lewis Miley. Ahead of them, the Austrian has opted for energy and firepower, focusing on explosive forward runs, quick counter attacking football, and direct forward passing.
Embed from Getty ImagesNewcastle managed to dovetail between both the pretty and the ugly under Eddie Howe. They played some nice press and possess football, and they were never afraid to get in the face of the opposition and utilize that non-stop running power to success. Under Jaissle, they’ve prioritized the ugly. For an underdog team like the Magpies, and one full of energy and intensity more than pure talent and class, this approach has worked seamlessly.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile it’s clear that the Magpies need greater organization in many phases of the game, I’m sure it hasn’t been all that difficult to instill a counter-attacking, vertical approach to football for players like Anthony Elanga, Yoane Wissa and Joe Willock, who thrive in those kinds of environments. In fact, this is how Jaissle has managed to get goal output out of the likes of those three, who contributed next to nothing on net in the entirety of last season.
Embed from Getty ImagesIf you can then build the team around a player like Nico Gonzalez, who can control their possession and dictate how they attack, you don’t need that many other lock pickers or game-breakers. You just need players who can work hard, attack quickly, and find the back of the net.
In the simplest form, that is what Newcastle have done in their opening five matches (including two cup wins) to start the campaign.
ATTACKING PRINCIPLES
Embed from Getty ImagesIn possession of the ball, Newcastle like to build out from the back in somewhat of a back-three. Nico Gonzalez will drop toward the centre-backs and even in between them, but he still prefers to position himself in front of the pair of them.
In earliest stages, they’ll form a bit of a diamond with the goalkeeper, as Lewis Miley shifts to the left or right, pushing the full-backs higher up the pitch.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe remaining players will then situate themselves in between the lines of the opposition, ready to attack long passes out from the back from Nico Gonzalez or Sven Botman.
Gonzalez has been almost Rodri esque with the accuracy of some of these looping long passes, most notably when switching the play over to the wide areas.
Newcastle’s first goal against Tottenham came from one of these glorious switches out from the back, where Amar Dedic was able to win the aerial duel and nod the ball onto Anthony Elanga’s left-boot.
Long diagonals suit Anthony Elanga’s running particularly well, but Harvey Barnes also has the close-control and skill to take his passes on down the left wing too.
Embed from Getty ImagesThis is how Newcastle will look to score many goals this season. You might not see them slowly working the ball through the thirds. Instead, you will be more likely to see Gonzalez spreading a long pass into the wide areas where the wingers can attack from there.
Eventually, this could become predictable and easier for full-backs to read. But the Spaniard’s passing quality is expansive enough to be used by Newcastle in a variety of ways.
One of those ways is in helping to kickstart those quick counter-attacks. Newcastle won’t be a team that has much of the ball in most of their matches. They’ve started the season on just 46% possession (11th), and have been on the back-foot in most of their matches. Conveniently, this is where they thrive.
Newcastle under Jaissle will attack quickly and vertically on the break, prioritizing the speed of players like Anthony Elanga, and the skill of Harvey Barnes.
This is where you will see players like Joe Willock, Yoane Wissa, William Osula and Jacob Ramsey all more likely to score goals and contribute in attacking phases more so than last season. They’re all great when it comes to sprinting up the pitch, playing direct football, and finishing chances off in the final third.
Embed from Getty ImagesElanga has been particularly impressive to start the campaign through his directness down the right wing. He’s made 22.2 sprints per 90 so far – the third highest number in the division. His ability to run in behind when Newcastle have possession is helpful, but it’ll be even more helpful to have him either carrying the ball up the field or sprinting past defenders on the break.
If he can continue his current run of greater goal-scoring than last campaign, this will be the ultimate version of what Newcastle fans would have been hoping for in signing Elanga last season.
DEFENSIVE CONCERNS
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite their unbeaten run, Newcastle haven’t been all that convincing on the defensive end. At times, they’ve been disorganized at the back, and there are a few particular principles still to be ironed out by Jaissle in the upcoming weeks.
One of the most obvious so far has been their susceptibly to switches of play. They will often play narrow in defense, giving the opposition the opportunity to change the point of attack. When the opposing team inevitably does, they’ve often struggled to react quickly enough.
This is how Bournemouth scored their opening goal against the Magpies last weekend. Newcastle narrowed their defense and then suffered through a Cherry overload when Bournemouth switched the play.
Rayan took Lewis Hall on and beat him, before planting the ball into the box. Eventually, the fumbling and mumbling in the box turned onto the feet of Marcus Tavernier for the goal.
Another way in which they’ve been susceptible to wide attacks is through their counter-press. The Magpies will counter-press in numbers, swarming the player around the ball. However, it hasn’t always been incredibly organized. They’ve left players open in the wide channels for players to quickly hit, thus easily escaping that counter-press and taking all of those players out of the game.
This is something Newcastle will need to nail down in the next few weeks, likely by encouraging certain players (whether that be central midfielders, full-backs or wingers) to fall back into positions more quickly, rather than joining the fight to win back the ball.
Finally, Newcastle are still working through the kinks of their own high block. They will press or block in a 4-4-2, with Joe Willock (or the ’10’) joining the striker up front.
Without any staggered positioning between the lines (like in a 4-1-4-1), this means that one of two things needs to happen. Either…
- The central midfielders need to be responsible for both blocking passes behind them AND simultaneously marking any potential receivers in front of them.
- The gaps between the lines of defense and midfield need to narrow, thus making them more susceptible to passes over the top.
So far, Newcastle have sometimes achieved neither of those two objectives, thus leaving them exposed to be carved open through the centre. Here is Jan-Paul Van Hecke doing exactly that when he finds his man through the gap in Newcastle’s midfield.
Spurs would go on the attack from this position, where Lukas Hornicek had to come up with a big save.
The 24-year-old has been fantastic so far to start this season, putting up the second most saves in the division (4.3 per 90) and preventing 0.96 goals so far in the opening three matches (top of the league).
Embed from Getty ImagesHe doesn’t appear to be the most comfortable on the ball nor the most commanding in his penalty area, but he has been a steady pair of hands in goal so far.
Embed from Getty ImagesSo with much to still work on and improve, Newcastle can celebrate the start to the season they’ve had, currently unbeaten in their opening five matches across all competitions. Mathias Jaissle has done a great job in quickly instilling his philosophies, garnering greater goal output from players who previously had none.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhere Newcastle go from here and just how high they can climb remains to be seen, but for the time being, the Magpies can certainly be optimistic about their chances of a good first season in the post Eddie Howe era. Thanks for reading and see you soon!
Discover more from TheMastermindSite
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
TheMastermindSite 