The plastic sheeting suddenly shuddered at the force of the frustrated fist that struck it. A stormy-faced Joelinton had just trudged around the battleground’s perimeter, an evening’s work about to bear no fruit. He made eye contact with no one as he took his seat. Bang. Clenched fingers smashed into the ceiling of the Newcastle United dugout.
But his midfield partner, his best-friend, his captain, Bruno Guimaraes was about to alter Joelinton’s mood. The clock had almost reached 90 but Newcastle had one more chance. Guimaraes stood over the dead ball, conversed with Lewis Hall and then turned to Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall as if to ask for managerial blessing.
Except Guimaraes is not that meek. Dramatically – an adjective that would likely be appropriate even if describing the Brazilian’s morning wake-up – he pointed to his chest with both hands. “Me” he mouthed. And then he swung in a far post cross from which Newcastle earned the point they deserved from a frantic contest with Liverpool.
Newcastle need more control in the middle
Joelinton and Guimaraes have patrolled Newcastle’s midfield together for almost three years now, but rarely as a pair of No.8s. Instead, Bruno has so often been Howe’s pseudo-No.6. While he lacks some of the qualities the role traditionally demands – recovery pace, strong in the tackle etc. – his ability to squirm out of tight spaces, to pass his way away from trouble with little fluster, has made him Howe’s preferred option.
But against Liverpool, as against Crystal Palace last Saturday, Sandro Tonali split the pair, with Guimaraes pushed further forward. And against Liverpool, as against Crystal Palace, Tonali showed precisely why Howe’s heart melted when he first saw him.
The Italian had his best game for Newcastle, zipping across the turf like a Scalextric car. He won duels. He constantly demanded the ball. He passed crisply, quickly, efficiently. But also knew when to hold onto it, to buy a little time.
Guimaraes enjoyed his freedom a little further forward, threading several incisive passes through the Alexander Isak. He got two assists and even won his first coin toss of the season at St James' Park. Joelinton bashed, bruised, harried and harangued, in the way only he can.
And, as a triptych, they outshone their counterparts Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, and Alexis Mac Allister, two of whom were booked before the break for being a tad behind the Newcastle midfield’s pace.
And so, the midfield dilemma Howe has been grappling with all season – how can he get Tonali and Guimaraes on the pitch together? – has surely found its resolution.
“I understand the debate about the midfield,” Howe said with a grin when asked in his post-match gathering with reporters. “It’s an interesting thing because you’ve got three outstanding players. For me, with our midfield, we’ve got six outstanding midfield players to pick from, and getting the balance right from those six is very difficult because they all have different skills.”
The other three midfielders Howe refers to are Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock and Lewis Miley. While Miley is just 18 and may well become a top Premier League player, there is, on talent and technical ability alone, a trio amongst the half-dozen that screams to be picked. But Howe hasn’t always done so.
“I’ve gone back to [Guimaraes, Joelinton and Tonali together] because I think the three of them together can work,” he continued. “We’ve obviously changed the dynamic of how it lines up, and there are strengths and weaknesses to that.
“But it’s three outstanding players we need to get the best of.”
Their best on Wednesday involved giving Liverpool comfortably their toughest examination in a week where they had faced both Real Madrid and Manchester City, and the night saw Arne Slot grow an increasingly frustrated touchline presence. He was initially an affable, smiling, arm-around the fourth official’s shoulder kind of guy. By the time a late penalty was not awarded when the ball struck Dan Burn’s arm next to his body, Slot threw his arms skyward and shouted “oh my God” in Anthony Backhouse’s direction. He knew Liverpool had been in a game.
History suggests even when times are a little harder, Howe is not a man to veer far from what he knows. In other words, his 4-3-3 will remain. Calls for a change, whether that be to a double pivot of some other set-up, will fall on deaf ears. He has found the way to make the three he wants in the middle work consistently. What he needs now is to consistency from his team.
Liverpool; Arsenal; Manchester City; Chelsea; Tottenham Hotspur. All visitors to Tyneside this season, and not a single winner among them. But games against teams competing for the top four are not where Newcastle’s frustrations lie. He needs his midfield trio to take control of games where they are expected to dominate the ball. Only then will they find themselves in European contention again.
