In 2021, Newcastle United transferred ownership to the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, the same majority stakeholders of Cristiano Ronaldo’s team, Al Nassr. Since then, the club has experienced some major changes in players and managerial squad, intending to conquer the English Premier League. For the 2023/24 season, the club made its ambitions quite clear on finishing in the top six. Since then, the team has put in quite an effort to meet this goal, as they currently sit at number six on the table.
In this article, we make a comprehensive analysis of Newcastle’s squad, managerial changes, and past performances to see their chances of seeing this goal through. Nothing is set in stone yet in this 2023/24 EPL season, and there might be a chance that Newcastle achieves its aim in the end.
Newcastle Squad Reinforcements and Managerial Changes
With the weight of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi behind its back, Newcastle has had some significant changes in its squad since 2021. These changes spurred the club into fast success, finishing 4th in the English Premier League 2022/23 season. This led them to qualify for the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League. With this momentum, it was only right for the team to want to strengthen its team and keep up its meteoric rise.
In 2021, after getting acquired by the PIF, Eddie Howe, a former player of AFC Bournemouth, replaced Steve Bruce as the manager of Newcastle. He signed a three-year contract with the team and has been in charge of the squad changes and reinforcements. In preparation for the 2023/24 season, he signed five new players to the team. The team saw the entry of Valentino Livramento from Southampton to replace the team’s former right-back, Kieran Trippier.
As he reinforced the right-back, he also made changes to the left-back, signing the 18-year-old Lewis Hall on loan from Chelsea. The defence was not the only thing he worked on, with the signing of a left-winger, Harvey Barnes. He signed him from Leicester at a whopping fee of £39.00M. However, the biggest signing was of Sandro Tonali from AC Milan, playing as a central midfielder for the Newcastle team. So far, these signings have worked for him, keeping the team in the top ten since the beginning of the league. They’ve managed to stay above EPL’s big names, such as Chelsea, Manchester United, and West Ham.
Challenges and Competition
With over nine weekends of the EPL 2023/24, it’s quite clear that this season is for surprises, suspense, and thrill. We’ve seen some outstanding and unexpected performances from even the underdogs of the EPL, opposing many football predictions. This competitive landscape has managers and teams on their toes, playing with everything they have to win games and secure points. The same narrative is true for Newcastle, as seen from their matches against the big teams and underdogs of the EPL.
Newcastle started strong at the beginning of the season, defeating Aston Villa five goals to one in their first match. It was the indication that they were going all out this season, driving towards the goal of finishing in the top six. The next week, they faced the reigning champions, Manchester City, who won by a narrow 1 – 0 goal margin. It seemed they were still building confidence towards the big teams when they lost 2 – 1 to a ten-man Liverpool team the following weekend.
It was defeat again in the following week against Brighton, losing 3 – 1 to the seagulls. However, Eddie Howe and his team went to work, picking morale and using a formidable squad to beat Brentford 1 – 0. From then on, it’s been wins and a draw, currently hoisting the team in the top six. However, as the season continues, Newcastle will meet against the big teams they’ve lost to already. This brings up a concern about whether the team will hold up in the rematches or crumble to the pressure of playing a bigger team.
If they hope to uphold their goal of finishing in the top six, Eddie Howe needs to re-evaluate the rivals’ strengths and weaknesses and come up with a winning strategy. Their last few match runs have been good, but they’ve been up against smaller teams like Sheffield United, Burnley, Brentford, and Crystal Palace. The team will definitely need to outperform stronger contenders over the next 20 weeks to be in the top six at the end of the season.
What Are The Critical Success Factors To Achieve Newcastle’s Goal?
As football betting tips experts, we’re only sure of Newcastle delivering outstanding performances when it’s against smaller teams. You can follow our predictions at https://tips.gg/football/predictions/. It’s quite clear that if the team wants to achieve the top six success, they need to re-assess some factors. These factors are highlighted and discussed in the following headings.
Player’s Performances
Compared to other teams in the EPL, the squad is not star-studded. The notable names in the team include Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Alexander Isak, and Callum Wilson. Eddie Howe needs to work with the talents he has and push them to the maximum of their abilities. If they’re to make the top six, each player of the team needs to outperform other team players in their positions.
Tactical Strategies
Tactics used before against big teams that caused defeat should be re-evaluated. The team should come up with better tactics and squad formation to correct mistakes and inactions of past defeats.
Consistency
Consistency with wins is important for Newcastle to uphold its aim of finishing in the top six. They should have the morale and motivation for this every time they play a match.
Conclusion
The season is still young, and we’re expecting big surprises from the big names and underdogs of the league. For Newcastle, their aim is feasible if they can maintain a winning streak for the remaining weeks of the season. However, this will take work and determination from the coach and team!
