Newcastle 0-1 Mainz: Elliot Anderson stands out in pre-season defeat in Austria

Olly Hawkins

Our first pre-season defeat of the summer as Newcastle United lost 1-0 to Mainz at the Kufstein Arena.

The only goal of the game came in the second half, where Kieran Trippier’s intercepted free-kick led to the Bundesliga side breaking clear and scoring through Burgzorg, who fired past Dubravka from the angle.

We enjoyed decent spells of possession but ultimately lacked quality or cutting edge in the final third, with our first shot on target coming via a 54th minute effort from Joelinton.

Jacob Murphy should have scored after a clever cut-back from Emil Krafth and Callum Wilson also came close, smashing straight at the Mainz goalkeeper soon after a good bit of wing play from Allan Saint-Maximin set up a half-chance for Jonjo Shelvey.

Watch the only goal of the game below:

Ryan Fraser, Chris Wood and Jacob Murphy all looked rusty – a reminder that we are in desperate need of a new striker and right winger – however Elliot Anderson looked the best player on the pitch after coming on for the final 30 minutes.

He always showed for the ball, wasn’t afraid to get stuck in, got us on the front foot with a few driving runs and showed impressive balance when in possession. The 19-year-old looks fearless and ready to stake a claim for a first-team spot this season.

Sven Botman continued to look dominant in the air and tidy on the deck in what was his first start in a black and white shirt, however Fabian Schar suffered an injury scare in the opening stages of the second half, hobbling off with what appears to be a potential hamstring injury.

We looked fit and ended the game by far the better side, however the lack of quality on display in the final third may give us a timely nudge to get deals done in that area of the pitch over the coming weeks.

Here’s the players who featured – and those who missed out – following our third friendly of the summer out in Austria:

STARTING XI: Dubravka – Trippier, Schar, Botman, Dummett – S Longstaff, Guimaraes, Joelinton – Almiron, Wood, Fraser.

SUBS: Dummett on for Ritchie (31st minute) and Burn on for Schar (57th minute)

XI for final 30 minutes: Pope – Krafth, Lascelles, Burn, Targett – Willock, Shelvey, Anderson – Murphy, Wilson, Saint-Maximin.

UNUSED SUBS: M Longstaff, Turner-Cooke.

MISSING: Lewis (calf), Fernandez (calf), Manquillo (groin), Watts (knee), Darlow, Gillespie, Gayle.

Next up, a behind closed doors clash with Burnley on Saturday, followed by a meeting with Benfica next Tuesday.

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

View all posts by Olly Hawkins →

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106 thoughts on “Newcastle 0-1 Mainz: Elliot Anderson stands out in pre-season defeat in Austria”

  2. Came into this article & only showing Kims post & my details haven’t remained on the post.

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  3. I think today was a timely reminder of just how much the new recruits are needed.

    I think it’s good & right for Howe to be using these friendlies to look at the likes of Anderson & Kell (though I know Kell was missing with a slight knock).

    But to be looking at the likes of Lascelles, our midfielders and in particular Murph, Fraser & Almiron. It’s obvious with the fees being talked about, that we won’t be able to address all requirements.

    I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t take our young CFs to have a look at. Maybe Howe has already had a look and already feels confident they aren’t ready – hence why we are looking at Ekitike and Broja – both it looks like we’ve missed out on.

    Zapata is being heavily linked again – don’t know if he’s becoming the new Andy Carroll (linked every window) or there a genuine interest – but at 31 I’m not sure that’s what we need with Wilson & Wood 30 themselves. It’s not really building for the future.

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  4. Olly – at the moment I’m finding that once I’ve put the details in and ticked the box, they are staying.
    But there is a massive lag on new comments showing.

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  5. Nope, just came back into the article and the comments show 4 and the details have cleared – so still all the original issues unfortunately

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  6. And then having posted that it’s showing on 2 comments.

    Sorry, don’t mean to be a running commentary on this but Olly was asking & he’s gone to the trouble of getting the tech guys on it – cheers Olly 👍🏻.

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  10. Olly – I’m using Safari through my iPhone if that helps, just with Prem saying Brave seems to be working fine

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  11. It feels like we need to make a breakthrough with a new signing this week. I’m not saying finalise by the end of the week – but certainly have made good ground.

    It’s all gone very quiet since Botman signed. Lots of links & rumours, lots of enquiries made but nothing imminent.

    I know there’s a lot of the window left, so I’m not concerned in that respect, but Spurs & Arsenal are getting their work done early.
    We want new signings to have as much of the pre season as possible & we want to keep the momentum going.

    We need to get cracking.

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  12. So just to check guys…

    You have had comments disappear (or taking a long time to show), details not saving (when you come to make comments) and random names appearing as your own (StanHardy?)

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  13. I’m guessing the strikers we’ve been linked with just don’t want to come. They all know they’ll only get game time if Wilson is injured. Not exactly enticing if you’re young and wanting to make your mark.

    Anderson’s still impressing and the likes of Wood, Fraser and especially Murphy aren’t . Those three definitely aren’t good enough. I’ve seen enough.

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  14. Olly – yeah that’s certainly what I’m experiencing. But maybe that’s only on certain platforms coz Prem is using Brave and isn’t getting that

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  15. Olly Hawkins:
    So just to check guys…

    You have had comments disappear (or taking a long time to show), details not saving (when you come to make comments) and random names appearing as your own (StanHardy?)

    spot on Olly

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  18. Olly, I have just come here to find another posters details in place of mine, I can see their email !

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  19. And having refreshed,my comment and others have disappeared and now I have yet another posters details, this is crazy .

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  21. Nope, after posting it’s back to 13 comments again Georgio is the last comment and I have another posters details .

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  22. When I have watched Ivan Toney he has been a real handful. The problem is that he us really similar to Wilson so I am not sure they could play together. We’d be buying him with the expectation that Wilson will get injured.

    I think we should just bite the bullet, get Diaby and keep our fingers crossed on Wilson.

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  23. I wonder how the lads are going to handle the heat in Portugal? Looks like parts of the UK are almost as hot. There is also a heatwave in the US so this is happening in a lot of places.

    I had to run an errand in the middle of the day yesterday. I took an Uber there but wanted to pick up chicken on the way back so walked it, only about 2 1/2 miles. The heat and humidity were brutal man. I had to turn it into a mini pub crawl as I was overheating after only a few hundred yards.

    I keep telling Yanks that the weather has changed in the UK. They mainly go to London in the summer and I tell them to get air conditioning. You still might need an umbrella but it is just as likely to be hot.

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  24. My main concern for next season is that Wood just hasn’t looked good enough – he doesn’t do enough imo.

    He shows little aggression when competing for the ball, and doesn’t look enough of a goal threat – not in the way Wilson does.

    He’s not the forward to spearhead our attack from what I’ve seen at the end of last season & the pre season games so far.

    Because of that, and Wilson’s injury problems, the need for another CF is a priority.

    If Wood could be depended on then we could target a RF and CM first. But because of Wood it’s making the window tricky.

    I actually think Fraser, Murph and Miggy would be more reliable at RF than Wood as CF – and so would priorities CF for this window.

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  25. Sharpy
    Tend to agree re Wood
    I think our plan has been to get 1 big name signing, Diaby or Ekitike and a loan deal.
    I expect that to continue to deadline day as prices drop, hopefully.
    However they could buy two at £25m each instead
    Looking only at names we have been linked with speculated about then
    Sasa Kalajdzic and Dominic Berardi
    would be good shouts as both would strengthen the squad

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  26. Well now I have the signing on details of PremAndUp. Very odd. Luckily I think we are an honest bunch but to be getting others details like this is not good. This is three different peoples signing on details I’ve had, prem, Kim and whoever StanHardy is. Also experiencing all the issues the others have said. Comments missing then appearing again, etc.

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  27. Well fu.ck me… now I’ve got Georgio’s details. Olly this is getting a bit mental Bonny lad!

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  28. Olly, I really hope your tech team can sort this out. All of us know absolutely that’s it’s no fault of yours and not having a go at you personally mate. You put so much work into this, it would be a shame to lose it all

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  29. I am in 2 minds about Elliot Anderson. Should we give him a shot this year because if we get into Europe we will probably spend big in his position. Saka and Bellingham are playing for England at his age. On the other hand Spurs were still loaning Kane out at 21.

    The European heatwave is big news in the US. It is on CNN and in all the papers. Have The Sun written the headline “Phew What a Scorcher” yet?

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  30. I think it’s to do with our strategy around Paqueta.

    IF we decide that we cannot afford to let him go to Arsenal and we increase our budget to get him, the Anderson goes out on loan. If however we decide to ignore Paqueta then Anderson stays.

    Our Midfield is then
    Bruno, Big Joe, Little Joe, Shelvey, Longstaff, Anderson / Paqueta
    which ain’t shabby

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  31. Prem – my worry is that I think we got our pants pulled down having to pay £25m for Wood. I know that was his clause but the true is we were desperate with Wilson being out.

    If we risk it & hope Wilson stays fit – but come January he’s out again, you can just imagine the asking price from forwards then?!.

    I know it’s not as straightforward as meeting a fee. The player has to want to come as well – maybe that’s the issue with Broja. We could match or better anything WH is offering but if the player favours staying in London what can we do 🤷🏼‍♂️.

    The Barbosa one puzzles me. He’d seem like a good addition but we seem not to want him – or he’s down the list for some reason.

    I know I might be wrong here but it feels like we are worried about the backlash of paying a big fee, or feeling like we would be setting a precedence paying higher agent fees – it’s stopping, or slowing us down getting the players we really want/need.

    Whilst I agree that’s a longer term concern – it’s a bit of a needs must in our current position.

    There’s a lot of the window left, so they can play the long game for now – but Spurs have just made their 6th signing & Arsenal have done some great business so far. If we want to be up competing with those teams we have to get these players in.

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  32. The problem with Gabigoal is the he didn’t do too well at Inter and Benfica when he first came to Europe, so it’s a gambol as to whether he would succeed in the Premier League

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  33. The fact the top 5 appear to have done most of their business might be good for us if we are the only game in town. Lyon do not have CL and most French clubs are skint.

    The wild card is Man U as nobody knows what they will do.

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  34. Prem – surely no bigger gamble than Ekitike, and certainly less expensive.

    I get it’s all about scouting though & I’d hate for them to spend money on a player they aren’t sure on.

    I also get that when it comes to the likes of Diaby & Paqueta – important players to the selling clubs – that they will likely be looking for a replacement first.

    It’s just frustrating & feels like we are losing a bit of momentum.

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  35. PremAndUp:
    The problem with Gabigoal is the he didn’t do too well at Inter and Benfica when he first came to Europe, so it’s a gambol as to whether he would succeed in the Premier League

    Agreed – also read his pressing numbers are very poor, which is something Howe seems to insist on.

    Bet he’s someone offered our way more than someone we’re pursuing.

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  36. I know I’m a bit optimistic however, look at what we achieved with Wood and Miggy as striker & RW last season. Whilst I hope that this season we can start with better than that it does mean that we can play the whole transfer window. If that means waiting and getting one on TDD then so be it.

    Just had someone else’s details

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  38. Olly – I know that’s important to the way we play, but we desperately need goals in this team too. I’m not saying that’s guaranteed from Barbosa, I’m just saying that the most important stats of any forwards bring in has to be goals & assists first.

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  39. I think there is an element of squad places, age and homegrown. However, I don’t think harrisson and Gorden is the answer. Marcus Edwards might be. I want a topish striker though.

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  40. PREM ive tried to post five times wishing you and your family all the best
    lets hope try no 6

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  41. So now I have Prems details, had Georgio’s earlier too.

    So apparently fans asked Eddie at the friendly about Paqueta and he said that ones not happening.
    Diaby has given an interview to a German outlet saying he is staying put next season when asked about his future.

    NEXT

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  43. The so-called super-computer has us finishing 13th this year. I wonder who programmes these things? Our squad is much improved in the last 2 windows and I am pretty sure we will get another couple in.

    BTW it predicts the top 6 in the same order and the 3 promoted teams to go down. I probably would agree at this point in time but there are always surprises. The most likely are Everton and Leeds.

    I dont think there is anything SUPER about this computer. I watched predictions last year and they changed every 2 weeks. All they seemed to do was take into account the current place in the table and adjust slightly for form over the last few games.

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  47. I am not as pessimistic as Olly about Jack Harrison. Not for 18 million though, it would be more like 30. If this is true, we have probably bid to unsettle the player. Leeds have spent all of the money they got for Phillips and Rafinho and they are still looking for a striker.

    I think we could fit Harrison in. ASM likes to switch wings during a match.

    We could pay for it with selling Darlow, Miggy and Murphy. These are the only players that I think we can get money for and would probably only be 20 mil combined.

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  48. I dont think any of the current top 6 would bid for Harrison. And there is no prospect of Europe anytime soon at Leeds. Didnt he move from the Man City U23s so he cant be on that high wages and we could probably double these. Also, his Agent could probably get a fee of 2 million on a sale of 30 mil.

    I dont think this is as outlandish a move as it maybe first appeared, especially when other wingers are blowing us off because they want European football.

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  49. It will be interesting to see the terms of Gayle’s sale. I highly doubt we will be getting any money for him, and it might be the opposite in that we have to pay part of his contract as a signing off fee.

    Good luck to the lad. I reckon he was messed around by NUFC. It wouldnt be the first time by Bruce as there were also rumours he ignored the Longstaffs. Eddie gave him an award as best trainer but still hardly played him.

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  50. Harrison for me is a Dan Burn/Matt Targett type signing.
    I’m sure he’ll do us a decent enough job, but it’s not a signing that’s going to make ripples or strike fear that we are coming for those top places.

    It’s a Villa, Wolves, Leicester type signing.

    Decent enough, but anything over £25m is too much imo.

    I’d also question why Leeds are letting him go – they have just brought in around £100m selling Phillips & Raphina, so money wouldn’t be the reason you’d think.

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  51. Olly – my post showed straight away there & my details were still showing, so it looks like it might all be fixed.

    Thanks mate 👍🏻 and pass thanks on to the IT crew if you’re still in touch with them.

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  52. Would rather we kept Gayle in preference to Wood. I don’t think Wood, apart from not being god enough, suits our style of play.

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  54. Groucho – get rid of both!!. Gayle hasn’t been in the plans of Rafa, Bruce or Howe – but the wages he’s been on has meant no other club could afford him.

    Wood will stay because we spent £25m on him & we’d be hard pushed to find a team will to pay half that for the lad 😡🤷🏼‍♂️.

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  55. I reckon Harrison would be a massive improvement on Miggy and Murphy. You just have to look at his stats. He was Leeds’ 3rd best player and look where the other 2 they sold went – City and Barca.

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  56. So Gayles going on a free, I guessed that would happen. At least he’s off the books wages wise.
    He’ll probably do a good job for Stoke . Good luck to him anyway .

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  57. Looks like site is fixed then, well done the tech team.

    Watching Lionesses getting beat at the moment.

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  58. Sometimes you just have to admit defeat with a player and that is how I am with Miggy now. He scored 1 goal all last season. And remember when he first got to NUFC he went many games without scoring and there was a massive outpouring of relief when he got his 1st goal. Remember? The fans went mad for him because they saw him putting in so much effort.

    Sometimes the stats don’t though.

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  60. Eric – 6 signing and at least 2 are from his former club aren’t they?!.

    No disrespect meant but I’ve not heard of any of them 🤷🏼‍♂️.

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  61. Eric – I agree Harrison is better than Miggy & Murph. He probably has a similar workrate to Miggy but is far more creative & clinical than both.

    But what price would you say be a decent fee for the lad?.

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  62. opened new tab and comments back, at least my details are not going awol or getting swapped.

    Well Lionesses back level, now lets win it ladies

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  63. Olly, I keep having to open a fresh tab to see any comments I post , not sure if it’s just me or anyone else getting this issue ? It’s the same what ever browser i use too.

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  66. England game is on here. Hoping they go through so I can take another dig at PNev.

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  75. I know it’s dangerous but I YouTube scouted this young un we’ve been linked with today – Sesko

    I know it doesn’t give the full picture, but have to say, he looks to have good feet & strikes the ball clean – none of his goals are scuffs.

    I do wonder though, Leeds are buying up all the RB players but haven’t too this kid yet – despite Bamfords injuries 🤷🏼‍♂️.

    If he was bought for around £15m I think that’s pretty risk free for a 19yr old though.

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