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Saturday’s win over Wolves felt so important. A massive boost to confidence levels that were visibly low at Blackburn last week, a much-improved performance and a win that saw us close the gap on Man Utd; who lost 3-1 to Man City on Sunday.
Here I pick some of the key positives to take from the game ahead of our trip to Chelsea next Monday:
1. Howe’s tactical tweak
I love Eddie Howe and have always maintained that he deserved patience and support through this tricky patch, but he has been guilty – in my view – of being too rigid with our style of play when it’s not been working for one reason or another.
On Saturday, it was a really smart move to have us sit a little deeper, which not only added protection to a previously leaky defence, but allowed us to hurt Wolves on the counter. Not only did we defend much better and keep our first clean sheet in 10, each of our three goals came thanks to devastating breaks, where we quickly bypassed Wolves’ midfield and had too much pace for their three centre-backs.
2. Joe Willock
He’s been a breath of fresh air in a midfield three that has previously looked disjointed and far too one-paced. His pace, drive, athleticism and goal threat was evident on Saturday, as was his ability to create partnerships with Burn and Gordon; two players who benefited from his movement and spark down our left side.
He was unlucky not to score and made a huge difference at both ends, with his recovery speed not only offering protection to Burn but allowing him to keep pace and create swift counter-attacks.
3. Unwanted run ends at St James’ Park
St James’ Park has been a fortress for the vast majority of Eddie Howe’s time on Tyneside, but Saturday was our first win since mid December on home turf.
In our previous four games, we failed to beat any of Nottingham Forest, Luton or Bournemouth, lost from a winning position against Man City and conceded an average of three goals across those games.
Getting back to winning ways…
Source link : https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2024/03/04/finally-feeling-positive-again-the-huge-boosts-from-newcastle-3-0-wolves/
Author : Olly Hawkins
Publish date : 2024-03-04 17:10:27
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