Newcastle United have gone from battling relegation to going toe-to-toe with the Premier League elite within 12 months. That is as a result of great coaching, pinpoint recruitment and a whole city behind them.
The club will continue to evolve over the next 12 months, albeit it is unlikely to be as meteoric, but what direction will the club decide to go? Newcastle United’s current system is a 433 and it will be presumed that we will stick with that for at least the 2023/24 season.
A new left-back
Dan Burn has been fantastic in that left back role this season. He was initially brought in as a left sided centre back, but he has always had the versatility to play as a full back, and even as a wing back despite his height. The big man deserves credit for the club only conceding 11 goals in the league this season and he has earned the right to not be replaced in January.
That being said his output in the final third is lacking, and we can appear very lopsided against a low block (Leeds, Bournemouth, Palace x2 etc). Additionally, Matt Targett’s signing has been somewhat underwhelming, which can be put down to injuries in part, but £12m for a Premier League proven full back was not easily turned down for a club in our position at the time.
Some fans do say that he is needed to balance the defence, and act as a third centre back to allow Kieran Trippier to push on and focus all our attacking efforts down the right hand side.
Whilst that is partially correct, Dan Burn’s average position is not that of a left sided centre back and he makes numerous overlapping runs, but these are rarely capitalised on. An attacking full back who has sufficient capabilities in 1 v 1 situations against the opposition winger would the ideal fit, but they can be difficult to come by.
One example that I believe would fit seamlessly into our side is Borna Sosa from Stuttgart who has impressive attacking metrics for a left sided full back.
Either way, an attacking full back would add another dimension to our attack and prevent our patterns of play becoming stale and predictable.
A new no.6
Newcastle United’s current midfield system consists of a no.6 and two no.8’s. It is important to note a new no.6 compliments the need for a new left back.
The incoming midfielder would allow Bruno Guimaraes to push further into that right sided no.8 spot (which he has publicly made clear he would like to play there) and it is the position that Sean Longstaff currently occupies. The new no.6 would slot in between the centre backs and allow both full backs to push on simultaneously.
It would also allow the side to benefit from Bruno’s creativity in the final third, as his defensive burden would not be so heavy.
Sticking with one example per position, I would like to see Kouadio Kone from Borussia Monchengladbach, who is young and could really make that role his own under the coaching of Eddie Howe.
A new no.8
An alternative to purchasing a no.6 would be to persevere with Bruno in that position and buy a right sided no.8 (as above, the position Longstaff currently occupies).
This is probably the most difficult position for the recruitment team to get right and there are lots of variables to consider. It will be important for the new no.8 to have a greater attacking output than Bruno would have in that role, otherwise it may prove to be a wasteful addition.
It is evident that the recruitment team have great admiration for Conor Gallagher and he is clearly a good player. His pressing metrics are consistently good but I would worry that he would put up a similar amount of goal contributions as Joe Willock or Sean Longstaff has/would in that role, and that is likely to be less than what Bruno would be capable of if he is pushed further forward.
One name mentioned vastly in the summer and in January is James Maddison. He is a fantastic player and he could also play as a right winger against the better sides, especially away from home. In that right sided no.8 role, he would offer an alternative, which we currently do not have in our squad, to break down a low block. He can shoot from distance, he can unlock defences with one pass and if his goal scoring numbers this season are anything to go off, it would be difficult for Bruno to better these.
Overall, that is just three potential positions that could be upgraded in the summer window to take Newcastle United to the next stage of our evolution. It would not surprise me if we purchased more than one of these in the same window. Either way this is definitely an exciting ride and there is plenty to look forward to!
Amazing article. Well worth the read! Thanks Dom 🙂
Faye Nichol(Quote)