- 2 days ago
After the departures of Eddie Howe, Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, Newcastle United are in need of a hero this season to stop their decline. Adam Clery looks at the appointment of Matthias Jaissle, and his style of play, to show he can evolve the magpies stagnant attack and leaky defence.
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00:00Right, hello there everybody, welcome to the Adam Cleary football channel and good news,
00:06daddy's home. Yes, sorry, had a little holiday there and when I asked what video should I do
00:11when I get back, about a million people said, Mateus Yaisel to Newcastle, WTF.
00:21And not even Newcastle fans, to be honest, like a lot of people want to watch this
00:25while recreating that sickos meme. So yes, Eddie Howe is gone, it is the end of an era
00:30and the club themselves are even calling this Newcastle 2.0. So is it, first of all,
00:37what does that actually mean and is this group of players capable of being a surprise package
00:44in the Premier League this season or are they actually in deep, deep trouble? Let's find out.
00:55Okay, so for me personally, I actually think this might be the most exciting summer Newcastle United
01:03have had in forever. But also at the same time, if this was the summer that made you give up
01:10on
01:10football forever, I would absolutely understand that. So real mixed bag for me. But to start,
01:17the problem Newcastle had last season that they needed to solve this summer was that this team
01:22had become very predictable and very stale. Eddie Howe's system, at its best, was about getting
01:29these players to press with intensity, to compete physically across the pitch, and then, with the
01:35ball, play from one end to the other as quickly as possible. And you know what I mean? Like, all
01:40of
01:40the best moments over the last five years have been built around those principles. Deny the opposition
01:47time, do not let them settle, be a total nightmare to play against, and then play both forward and
01:54decisively wherever you manage to get it back. But the problem was that that, no matter how effective
02:00it was, had become a little bit predictable. Doesn't matter how good you are at doing a thing,
02:06if other teams know you're going to do that thing, they can turn up prepared for it. And that's why
02:11the
02:11whole Newcastle project last season hit a bit of a wall. And don't get me wrong, there was loads wrong
02:16with Newcastle last season. There was the injuries, there was the fixture pile-up, there was the
02:21Isak saga, there was Eddie Howe's perceived coaching shortcomings, there was PSR, there was
02:26failures in the transfer market. But all of that stuff is just a symptom of this much bigger issue.
02:33They have become ineffective off the pitch, and all of that stuff I've just mentioned was a
02:39contributing factor to the manager being unable to change that. And I mean, you'll have seen the
02:45stats, like Newcastle dropped the most points from winning positions last season, and recovered the
02:51fewest from losing ones. And that is just what being figured out looks like statistically. And the
02:57reason I'm telling you that is because it meant that this summer, regardless of who stayed or who
03:03left or who arrived, it was here on the pitch that the biggest changes needed to be made. So that
03:10means
03:11that Gaisler coming in is considerably more significant than Gordon or Tonali or Bruno leaving.
03:19I'm not saying it makes up for that fact, I'm not saying it makes it good, but the manager is
03:24always
03:25the most important person at the club. So changing there, bringing in fresh ideas, is more significant
03:32than just losing players. And that leads us to the man himself, because as well as being an absolute
03:39slice, and somehow, literally, my age, Gaisler's reputation as one of the most exciting coaches
03:46in Europe comes from, yes, the fact he was seen as a generational star in the Red Bull system,
03:52but mostly from the way his teams play. And that way is just incredibly, incredibly direct.
03:59Without the ball, they're in your face from the back of the pitch to the very front. With the ball,
04:04they look to play through teams in as few passes as possible, sometimes with well-rehearsed,
04:10neat phases of interplay designed to release runners, but quite often just by going long,
04:15instead of worrying about holding onto the ball for too long. But last season, his Al-Ali side
04:20ranked first, or joint first, or whatever, for passes per defensive action. They are the lowest
04:26number for that, which is how we statistically measure how proactive teams are off the ball.
04:32What would they let you do before they try and smash into you? So that's really good. And they
04:38were also like third for the highest starting position, which means they don't sit in,
04:42they proactively push up the pitch to do all of that stuff, which tells you a lot. It tells you
04:48that they're intense, it tells you that they're incisive, it tells you they're a total nightmare to
04:53play against. His style is not unlike that of Eddie Howe, which even though I did just say this all
05:00had to change a bit over the summer, that is definitely a positive because you've not just
05:04got players who are used to playing like that, but a lot of them are very, very good at it.
05:10But
05:10the difference between this man here and this man here is that while they're playing philosophies
05:16might be similar, this one has a reputation for being very adaptable within that philosophy.
05:23Last season with Al-Ali, he used a 4-2-3-1, which is a very good way of profiling
05:28a lot of the
05:29bigger players that the team had available, but he also wasn't adverse to go into a more classic
05:344-4-2 or 4-4-1-1. But while he was at Salzburg, they actually had an incredibly fun,
05:41incredibly
05:41narrow 4-3-1-2, where the fullbacks would do all of the width for them. So my point is,
05:49the formation does not really matter at all for him. What he is trying to do is in all phases
05:56of
05:56play, find a way to create a spare man. But this is late on in the Valencia game, and yes,
06:03pre-season does not matter one bit. Valencia were literally down to 10 minutes, the last couple of
06:08minutes of the game. You cannot possibly infer fuck all from stuff in this kind of situation,
06:14but also, it's all we've got. Charlton here is a lot narrower than you would expect from a left-back
06:19in this situation. Ideally, you want to be here on the touchline to maximise the width of the pitch
06:25and make you hard to press, but he's not. He's right on top of Joe Linton. He is facing the
06:30wrong
06:30way. He is a juicy worm dangling from a hook if you are a team trying to press. But look
06:37at Yeisler.
06:38Look where he's standing. Look where he's pointing, right? Charlton takes it, makes no attempt to turn,
06:44and if anything, moves infield, which is the last thing he should be doing. But just as the press is
06:49closing in, and he can smell the paella Valenciana and the nice little things they've got in Valencia,
06:56Joratas, they're lovely. Just as he can start to smell those on the back of his neck, he drops it
07:03off to Botman, who hits it immediately through the space that Charlton has left, and then to Torre,
07:09who is now 2v1 with this defender. Here he then promptly blazes past and puts a cross in for Murphy,
07:15who should score. And I've just remembered, yes, you're right. It's Jorchatas, not Jortatas.
07:21That's what I was thinking of. And you'll see clever little things like that across the season
07:26with his Newcastle side. Like, don't be surprised if they start using the goalkeeper as like a third
07:31centre-back when they push the full-backs on with two midfielders sitting in front to basically give
07:36them five players in the build-up against any team who press them with four. Hence why signing
07:43Hornacek was so important for Newcastle because he is so much more comfortable in these sorts of
07:48situations and using his feet than Nick Pope is. And while we're on the full-back, you will see them
07:54push all the way up the pitch and be this great attacking wide threat. But just as often, they'll
07:59sit really deep and they'll sit really narrow if the objective is to get even more players in that
08:04part of the pitch. He sees those two specifically as being very versatile. But also, you're going to see
08:10them leave the goalkeeper in the six-yard box so that the six can drop in between the two centre
08:15-backs
08:15to drag a midfielder with him and create a little bit of space in behind for a full-back moving
08:19across
08:20or another midfielder dropping deep. The point is the formation will never usually matter. What he likes
08:26to do is to use the way that the opposition presses you or doesn't press you to find the quickest
08:33way
08:33up the field possible. How can you arrange these players against the opposition to give you two or three
08:40passes to go from back to front? That's how he plays. Like, direct speed is Opta's measure of how a
08:48team
08:48does that. How quickly do they go from back to front? And they were like the second decimal place away
08:55from being top of the league for that last season as well. So, yeah, he can coach that.
09:01And again, all of this is in the Valencia game if you're looking out for it. Like, they press high
09:06here. They win the ball back. And the only passes are forwards. They're not thinking about retaining
09:12possession. They're trying to make a chance out of it. And like, this is the very opening seconds.
09:16Like, they go long. They lose the ball. But look at the amount of bodies who then lock on man
09:21for man
09:22and try to win it back. Like, at the point Ramsey gets a toe on the ball, that is nine
09:27outfield
09:28players to have committed to jumping up the field. So, yes, you get my point. Now, the formation does
09:35not matter. His principles of play do. And one principle that he has that, God bless Eddie Howe,
09:42I never thought that he did, was a commitment to a real direct running in behind threat. And by using
09:51that, that is how he can set himself apart. That's how he can evolve this Newcastle side
09:56to fix the problems it had last season. Like you saw before, when Torre is found with the ball after
10:02this little move, he drives straight at the defender. He doesn't come in field and look to link up
10:07the way Anthony Gordon would have. He just goes. And don't get me wrong, I would say that is a
10:13characteristic of him as a player, personally. But when you watch that Valencia game, you see more of
10:19those sorts of runs, more attempts at making those sorts of runs than you've ever really seen from
10:25Newcastle under Howe. Like, as soon as Sean Sturt, and try saying that 10 times fast, right, gets on
10:30the ball here, he turns, and all four of these forwards just turn and go. They don't wait to see
10:37what happens. They just break in to try and get in behind. And that was maybe the one consistent thing
10:43in his attacking coaching at both Al Alli and at Salzburg. Upon winning the ball back high up or
10:49getting a bit of space slightly deeper, either all or some of the attackers make those runs in behind
10:56to either exploit the space or to create some for others. And when you have different players making
11:02different movements, it can be really, really effective. Like here for Mahrez, Vega is coming
11:07back towards the ball, but Tony is standing still. So he goes and neither the fullback nor the center
11:14back know what to do. So he's in and he scores. Like you can see here, Firmino starts really deep
11:20as Powell is moving away from the goal to draw out the defender. So he steals in to score. It's
11:26a great
11:26pass, yes, but it's a great bit of movement as well. And I think that rotational idea could be
11:32absolutely massive for Newcastle this season because you've got both Visser, who is very good
11:39at dropping deep to link up the play, but also very comfortable running in behind. And Valtemada,
11:45whose entire game is receiving the ball to beat with his back to goal. But if he does go in
11:50behind,
11:50is absolutely massive. So you've got two center forwards who can both do both parts of that role
11:58very differently. And you combine that with Barnes, Torre, Ramsey, Asula, Alanga, all being really
12:04willing runners to attack the box, either with or behind those forwards. And that's really dangerous
12:11for Newcastle this season. And as well as that, the way he likes his fullbacks to be really versatile
12:16is so perfect for Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, provided they both stay fit slash at the football
12:26club. Because they're great, aren't they? They're pushing up down the line. They can be a really
12:29good wide threat, but they're also comfortable moving into the middle of the pitch. They're
12:33good defensively. They're good on the ball. They're good off the ball. You throw all these
12:37elements together. The way Giesler likes to coach his teams and the players, he still has his ability
12:43to coach. And it does all feel like it marries up really, really well, which is nice. He's potentially
12:51got a fantastic team with which to implement his ideas. They presumably got more than a little bit
12:56of cash to go add a few extra players that will really make all of this thing. So like I
13:01said at
13:01the start of the video, it is, on the face of it, one of the most exciting summers in Newcastle's
13:07history. But you're right. I did also say if this was the summer that made you give up on football,
13:13I would understand. So I'm going to explain that.
13:16This is the Newcastle team from last season, right? If you're running a football club and you
13:22were able to move on three of your really big players who don't want to be there anymore,
13:27but are on massive wages and you get really good money for all three of them and then replace them
13:34with three players who, while not being there yet, have got a similar sort of ceiling that you can
13:39develop. You've made an enormous profit on all of them. Your wage bills come right down. At the same
13:44time, you can make a couple of upgrades like Nick Pope for Hornacek, stuff like that.
13:48That is really, really smart player trading. That is the Brighton model at its absolute best.
13:55And obviously, Bamber, Sturr and Torre are not going to replace everything you're losing
14:01with Tonali, Bruno and Gordon this season. But the hope is that as you develop them as players,
14:09not only will they start to take you back up the league in the coming years,
14:12but you'll be increasing their value as they do so. So you can move them on for a massive profit
14:18and just keep doing the cycle over and over. That is exactly what really good, really smart
14:25player trading looks like. But the thing is, right? Not one single person gets on a coach at three o
14:35'clock
14:35in the morning for a seven hour drive down to Bournemouth away because of effective player
14:42trading, right? Nobody gets really excited going to a home game on a random Saturday afternoon
14:49because they can't wait to see a player increase their future value. Because when you think about
14:55it, it was a mistake for them to hang on to Anthony Gordon when Liverpool came in the other year.
15:00They could have
15:00cashed in on him. It was a really big mistake to try and hang on to Bruno when Man City
15:05came in the
15:06other year. They could have got a little bit more money for him if they'd done that. But those mistakes
15:13weirdly gave Newcastle United fans probably the single greatest afternoon certainly I've ever had
15:18as a football fan. It literally wrote a page in the history of the football club. So honestly,
15:26this is a really exciting summer. I can't wait to see what these players do. I'm really excited to see
15:30how they develop under a new and exciting manager. But if this is as exciting as it's allowed to get
15:38for Newcastle, for Aston Villa, for Brighton, for Bournemouth, for Brentford, for every club that is doing
15:44quite well, then yeah, I get why some people are like, what's the point? But don't worry,
15:52I'm not going to get into all of that right now. I'm on Sky later this week, so I'm just
15:57going to
15:57do it then. Let me know what you make of Newcastle United's upcoming prospects this season. Is the
16:02new manager someone who's filling you with confidence? Or do you just want him to drop the
16:06arm routine, bro? I would certainly like to know what he's been eating.
16:12Right, sorry, I actually hated that outro I did, so I'm going to bend it off and just record this
16:15instead. Because I forgot to mention something very important. Obviously, that's the end of the
16:19video. I hope you like it. Please comment down below and you're definitely going to have a nice
16:22season. Or are they not? Thoughts, feelings, all that welcome me on social media. You know all this,
16:27right? But we are now like a month away from me doing the Great North Run. Hence why I'm out
16:32here
16:32looking like this, absolutely drenched in like 28 degree heat. Now, if you remember, my plan this year
16:38was to raise 10 grand for various good causes by doing loads of running. We're at about half that
16:43now with the Great North Run and the Rome Half Marathon and loads of like 10Ks across Europe
16:49still to do. So the link will be in the description if you'd like to donate. It would be absolutely
16:53amazing if we got anywhere near that target. The remainder of the money is going towards Mind,
16:58who are a mental health charity here in the UK. And if you have mental health, you will know that
17:03the services in this country are absolutely diabolically on their heart. So charities
17:08like mine do like an unbelievably important job in picking up the slack, providing support
17:13for people, all that stuff. So the link's down there. If you'd like to sponsor, that would
17:16be amazing. I still have two and a half kilometres to do. So I'm going to do that. See ya.
17:24See ya.
17:24See ya.
17:25See ya.
17:25See ya.
17:28See ya.
17:29See ya.
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