Exciting Newcastle playing style prediction made as…

Exciting Newcastle playing style prediction made as Eddie Howe finally gets what he wanted

Newcastle United could look a different outfit in possession this season as Eddie Howe really 'puts a stamp' on his side in the coming weeks.

That is according to former Bournemouth captain Tommy Elphick, who has kept a close on eye on how the head coach has transformed Newcastle's fortunes after working with Howe for several years down on the South Coast.

Rather than merely copying what he previously did at Bournemouth, Howe was conscious of the need to evolve and adapt to the players at his disposal after taking charge of a winless group who were low on confidence last November. There was also the small matter of the intense pressure Newcastle were under down at the bottom as the black-and-whites scrapped for every point.

Instead of making radical changes, Howe focused on fundamentals like set-pieces, his side's fitness and making the Magpies a more streetwise outfit out of possession. It was only once safety was effectively assured that the shackles came off a little bit.

Indeed, Howe hoped the 3-0 win at Norwich City back in April was a 'glimpse of the future' after Newcastle's 'confidence on the ball was high'. Newcastle went on to produce their best performance of the season, a 2-0 victory against Arsenal, a few weeks later, which will serve as the benchmark moving forward.

With the players now back in for pre-season, Howe has spoken about how 'we want to see the team play in hopefully a good way so this training now is about trying to develop the team and how we want to play the game'. Howe has long wanted an extended period of time to work with the group and this will be the first time the majority of these players have experienced a pre-season under Howe. Elphick, who remains in contact with his former manager, has no doubt that it will be a crucial five weeks for all concerned.

"Last season actually took me back to when he first came in here at Bournemouth," the former Cherries' skipper told ChronicleLive. "He started off on his strong principles and he's just built on them as we went along and layering on them week on week and when it went wrong, he would strip it back.

"I feel like he's done that at Newcastle. He's gone in there and just given them a clear way of playing that's quite simple and got them working hard and together. There's been a slight improvement every week and he will take that on through the summer and really put a stamp on it going into next season.

"When he came in at Bournemouth, it was built around that hard work and togetherness. Out of possession, we just worked really hard at it and it was not until we got good at it that we started layering on the in possession stuff, which you will see early next season."

Exciting Newcastle playing style prediction made as Eddie Howe finally gets what he wanted

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