Newcastle United’s lack of consistency this term can be blamed on a number of issues – but a lack of stability in the middle of the park is near the top of that list. The trio of choice in Eddie Howe’s midfield has been anyone’s guess at various stages of the season and that was no different on Wednesday as Joe Willock dropped out of the team to allow Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali to play alongside one another once again.
On paper, you could argue the aforementioned trio is Newcastle‘s strongest available to Howe. £132m worth of talent, all extremely popular on Tyneside. However, the midfield fans have been calling for for months on end is yet to really work on a consistent basis.
There have been flashes of the system flourishing, notably at home to Manchester City earlier this season. However, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock have barged their way into Howe’s starting XI at stages of the campaign when results and performances were suffering.
Wednesday’s enthralling 1-1 draw with Liverpool brought the best out of Newcastle’s midfield, with Tonali pulling the strings from a central role that he looks at home in, while Guimaraes picked up two assists on an evening where he looked equally comfortable as the Magpies’ right-sided No 8.
“I understand the debate about the midfield,” Howe said after the St James’ Park draw. “I’ve gone back to (the midfield three) because I think the three of them together can work. We’ve obviously changed the dynamic of how it lines up, and there are strengths and weaknesses to that.”
Naturally, the calls from outside are for Howe to persist with his three top talents, allowing them to build on their impressive display under the St James’ Park lights this week. Provided all three came through Wednesday’s exhausting encounter unscathed, you suspect Howe will opt for the same midfield against Brentford this weekend.
“I thought the midfield three worked really well,” the Newcastle boss said on Friday morning. “I think they had to in that game. Liverpool are very good in midfield. They have a lot of movement and rotations in there themselves.
“So I think we have to find a way to trying to control that midfield area and I think the biggest compliment I can give is the opponents – I thought we were very good in that department, especially in the first 45 minutes.
“As I said, I thought their positioning on the pitch was really good. There was a lot of fluid movements, a lot of rotations, but still the structure was what I wanted it to be. So, yeah, great signs for the future.”
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