The Tactical Tweaks That Helped Howe Finally Beat Pep.

Newcastle 2-1 Man City Analysed

Going into yesterday’s 5:30 kick off: Pep Guardiola was 16-0 against Eddie Howe, the Geordies had lost their last two games against Brentford and West Ham, whilst City had only lost once in their last 14 games. Even with all of this added context, a floodlit St James Park brimmed with a quiet optimism.

With all due respect a full-back pairing of Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier is far from inspiring, the combination of Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall however is something I’d happily pay a match ticket for. The two former Chelsea graduates can ultimately do it all; I’ve had the pleasure of watching Hall play a number of games for England youth sides and each time he’s played in a different position, left-back, centre-half and midfield. This footballing education is apparent; his game intelligence is phenomenal.

On the ball his use of body to receive and evade pressure allowed Newcastle to be ambitious and play through Man City’s (half hearted, more on that later) press. Newcastle’s plan was quite simple when building up the pitch and they were heavily reliant on both Fabian Schar and Lewis Hall, with both having the most touches for Newcastle. Once Hall received the ball, he was able to either move with the ball up the pitch, completing two of his three dribbles, or play an intelligent line-breaking pass into the feet of Woltemade or the inverting Barnes. I don’t want to take anything away from the young man, but this was made a lot easier due to Cherki’s central position when out of possession.

Alternatively, on the right-hand side, Livramento’s physicality stretched Man City’s back line. Thanks to smart movement from Murphy to open up the byline, he was often threatening; however, defensively, he was excellent. No player would be comfortable up against Jeremy Doku especially in the form the Belgian’s been in this season, however Livramento marshalled him well, following him across the pitch, and limited the Man City player to just 40 touches, 16 less than his average. Ultimately, having two full-backs who are able to play any role, defend well and flourish on the ball is an absolute game changer.

A further, but less obvious change that Howe made was the tweaking of his midfield three, the illustrious trio have often brought success to Newcastle, especially in big games, however after successive underwhelming performances changes were necessary. Swapping Bruno G into the 6 pushing Tonali into higher areas, worked well. The Brazilian often received the ball deep and spread play into wide areas, playing nine passes into the final third. Whereas the Italian was everywhere, a powerful and willing runner resulted in a match high four tackles and interceptions.

With Newcastle’s want to press high and play through Man City’s press, this tweak made sense. With the further involvement of their impressive full-backs, I’d imagine Howe will look to build on this performance and increase the control they hold in games and continue this new slightly altered system.

From a City perspective, Arsenal go six points clear, so are they out of the title race? No, probably not. Is this still a blow? Yes. I’d imagine Guardiola and his players will be disappointed in both performance and result. Yes both Erling Haaland and Phil Foden missed big chances, but so did Newcastle. After seemingly fixing their defensive issues with some much needed consistency in both players and performances, cracks began to appear again on Saturday as Newcastle often cut through their back-line. They were often stretched and looked outnumbered when defending, especially on transition, which seems surprising. Yet, you look at who plays key roles in their out-of-possession structure and you’re no longer surprised.

Cherki’s role is peculiar, when in possession he either floats around Haaland looking to pick up on second balls and combine, or sits on the touchline in deeper areas. Because of this significant movement, he is constantly travelling large distances. To then ask him to combine tracking the elusive Lewis Hall and block Bruno G’s passing lane, is almost impossible. And as mentioned before, Newcastle were able to progress down their left-hand side far too often. Pep got this wrong. Furthermore, Nico Gonzalez has been a revelation in midfield and often provides the defensive output of two players this season. However, with the verticality of both Joelinton and Tonali, with Woltemade also often looking to drop in to deeper areas, partnering the Spaniard with an ageing Bernardo Silva and a non-combative Phil Foden, he was fundamentally overwhelmed when out of possession.

After 16 unsuccessful attempts, Howe finally got a win vs Guardiola and beat him tactically. Small tweaks to alter both their in and out of possession tactics, highlighted City’s weaknesses. Howe has definitely reminded the league that he and Newcastle are here to stay and compete.