It’s mental how good we’re all feeling after beating Wolves.
It’s been a rough month for us Toon supporters. We’ve seen three losses on the bounce, having only lost one in the six months prior, witnessed a devastating loss at Wembley and failed to score in those three games.
In the grand scheme of supporting Newcastle United, we’ve been through much worse (as we’re constantly reminded). But this difficult period has been intensified by the fact that it’s no longer the norm. We’d almost forgotten what losing felt like, and each of the losses was hard to swallow in its own way.
Our lack of goals and wins has been a pressing concern. We’ve created good opportunities in those games, but nobody’s had their shooting boots on. Sunday was an opportunity to rectify all that, and boy did we do it.
Alexander Isak finally started a game, and he was sensational. His positioning, movement and energy were second-to-none, and we really benefitted from his height for that towering header. At just 23, he’s got one of the most intelligent footballing brains I’ve seen at Newcastle United in a while.
I remember how far ahead of the rest of the team he was against Crystal Palace at home. The movements he made were smart and calculated, but it just so happened that the team weren’t quite as quick-thinking as he was. It ended up being disjointed through no fault of his own, but now the team has clearly caught up with him and it’s paying dividends.
It’s worth noting that he’s exhibited all of these qualities in his recent cameos – every time he’s come on, he’s livened up the game and had the best of our chances. Seeing him for the majority of a match instead of 20 minutes makes a huge, huge difference.
The other player who could have easily walked away with the player of the match trophy was Joe Willock. What an underrated gem we have in him. He was everywhere, doing everything, with endless energy. He set up so many attacks and played as a true lynchpin, putting in one of his best shifts in black and white to date – which is saying something considering his sensational but quiet form this season. I liken him to a forward-playing version of Isaac Hayden; he does a lot of the dirty work, isn’t necessarily flashy, but gets everything he needs to do done, and then some.
Almiron was scintillating when he came on. I was frustrated to see him dropped before the game, because I think he’s been unfairly singled out recently. I’d argue he hasn’t had his pre-World Cup impact because he’s been compensating for a struggling Wilson. But you can’t fault his attitude, and he came on raring to go. The set-up for his own goal and the Botman chance (how incredible would that goal have been?) were Miggy at his finest; untethered, lightning-quick and pin-perfect passing.
There isn’t a single player who had a bad game yesterday. Pope looked uncharacteristically nervy in the first half, but it didn’t creep into his performance – I get the feeling he’s still shaken from his red card against Liverpool, but I hope he uses it as a driving force. Wolves thought they’d identified a weak spot in Burn, switching the league’s apparent fastest player, Adama Traore, to his wing, but the winger didn’t get a sniff and was subbed after proving ineffective against the big lad from Blyth.
Trippier, who has looked off the boil in recent weeks, was once again everywhere – and props to him for his obvious concern over the supporter experiencing a medical emergency. The poor bloke couldn’t take his eyes off it when the referee was forcing him to take the corner. In an ideal world, I’d have liked to see him refuse to do so – but with the new (completely inhumane) rules that games can play on during these incidents, who knows what the punishment would be for him. What an appalling rule, but props to Trippier and both teams’ benches for their quick reactions to the situation.
Botman and Schär were just as assured as usual in the centre, effortlessly batting away any Wolves threat that came their way. Bruno, while arguably a little quiet, did what Bruno does and moved us forward while hoying himself into every tackle he could. Some boy.
Jacob Murphy gets a lot of stick, and while he’s not exactly a world-beater, some of it is harsh. But he created and drove forward plenty of attacks yesterday and did himself proud. Maxi’s decision-making has come on leaps and bounds from earlier in the season, although this was probably the slowest we’ve ever seen him play.
I expect Eddie Howe to have a selection headache on Friday – Miggy’s goal and overall play surely must see him start again, but it would be cruel to drop Murphy. I’d be inclined to drop Maxi and slot Murphy in on the left; Forest will struggle massively with their pace on both the wings.
Beyond the match, NUFC Twitter is back to its best. I’ve largely avoided it these past few weeks because it’s been all too easy for people to get at each other’s throats (something I wrote about in my last piece). Emotions run high on the platform – so it’s at its best when we win.
We’ve exorcised a lot of our demons from the past few weeks. We’ve scored, came back from an equaliser, created more exciting chances, started Isak and freshened up the team.
Once we become that little bit more clinical, we’ll be back to our best.
Bring on Forest on Friday.
