Newcastle United Reset | OneFootball

Sitting in the Leazes end watching Danny Welbeck score Brighton’s winner against Newcastle United felt remarkably familiar.

Possibly and most obviously because it’s the second time it’s happened this season.

Maybe it was because it was yet another defeat at home, something that is becoming a bit of a regular occurrence of late.

Maybe it was because once again Newcastle were dumped out of a cup competition due to their inexplicable tendency to self-destruct.

Either way, watching it unfold gave me the unwelcome familiar feeling of watching Newcastle United go FULL Newcastle United. You can never go full Newcastle United man.

The club needs a reset, a change, a fresh impetuous, or whatever you want to call it.

Sunday’s FA cup exit felt like the culmination of long-term stagnation both on and off the pitch. Eddie Howe himself has previously described the situation as stale and it’s hard to disagree.

Some fans have rightly pointed to the upcoming summer transfer window as a much-needed chance to pump new blood into the club. However, for me it can’t wait until the end of the season, it needs to happen now.

There are 12 games left in the season. With the club aiming for a return to Champions League football and more importantly, aiming to end it’s 70 year wait for a domestic trophy, there isn’t time to wait.

With 12 games left, 12 cup finals (11 figurative and 1 literal) for the Newcastle United squad, coaching staff and senior leadership need to grab this season by the scruff of the neck and make it a successful one. There are four changes I think need to happen to help the club wrestle some momentum ahead the run in.

Change 1: Martin Dubravka for Nick Pope

Let’s start with some positivity in the form of Martin Dubravka, one of the few who came away from Sunday’s game with any sort of credit, I would even go as far to say he played well.

Of course, this wouldn’t be necessarily a change considering he did start on Sunday. However, given it was cup game, I have no clue if this was a temporary change or not. It’s of course very common for clubs to have a cup keeper.

Regardless, for me Dubravka has to be the number one. I felt he was slightly harshly done by to be dropped in the first place and I’ve seen little from Nick Pope to justify his selection. If you were to compare the two at their pomp, Nick Pope is the superior keeper, however, since returning from injury his confidence looks shot to bits. A cup final is not the place to be scratching around trying to find form. Change or not, Martin Dubravka needs to start.

Change 2: Emil Krafth for Fabian Schar

Fabian Schar has been a victim of his own success.

In one aspect, the level he’s played at for the last few seasons has been incredible, but that level has dropped significantly. His deft passes forward and cross-field pings which once routinely found a black and white shirt, have been misplaced too often. Too often he’s displayed poor defensive judgement and although it’s not his fault, he’s lost a yard of pace that he didn’t really have in the first place.

There is still a quality player there, his finish for the disallowed late winner on Sunday was exactly that, quality. Yet, something needs to change in that back four. We’ve conceded 11 in the last four games, it’s not good enough. It’s not sustainable.

There’s isn’t much or any competition for places at the heart of Newcastle’s defence at the moment. The fact Schar has been so good for so long has meant the club has continued to gamble by not signing any form of right sided centre back (despite best efforts to break the bank for Marc Guehi), it’s no longer paying off. Not only that, it’s affecting how we defend from the front. We can’t press high because our two centre backs don’t have the pace to cope with balls over the top. As a result, we’re often too passive while defending and give up too much of the ball. It needs to be rectified, both now and in the summer.

The ideal immediate solution would be the return of Sven Botman, however, if he’s not fit, I’d opt for Krafth. He’s a better player than he gets credit for.

When Howe has called upon his services, he’s been solid both defensively and on the ball. He’s not that quick but he’s quicker than Schar. It’s not ideal but I think it needs to happen. Saying all this, it would be strange not to mention Dan Burn. He’s also slow and is suspect to the occasional misplaced pass, however, generally I think he’s been decent this season. Arguably our best performer in the early stages of the season and generally he’s been better than Schar. Oddly, in a similar vain to the Dubravka/Pope debate, at their best Schar is the better player, but he’s not at his best, far from it.

Change 3: Resurrect the left sided pivot

Anthony Gordon. I’m not sure where to start.

I don’t want to pile into the lad, I really don’t, but it’s hard not to. He certainly doesn’t deserve the sympathy I’ve seen generously dished out to him by some.

I’ve seen some kindly compare it to Nick Pope’s red card against Liverpool before the last cup final. It’s not the same. It’s much worse.

Since signing he has deservedly earned adoration from fans for his work on and off the pitch. Yet in one shove of Van Hecke’s head, he’s thrown it all away. For a footballer who is apparently so cerebral and emotionally intelligent, it was an incredibly feckless thing to do. When he does come back, I do think he’ll get the support of fans, it’s just what Newcastle fans do, but that adoration could be gone for good. He’s going to have to work incredibly hard to earn it back.

So how do you replace him? On his day he’s a cracking footballer but he’s not the level of Isak, he can be replaced. His self-inflicted absence will be a big miss, but I don’t think it’s a forgone conclusion that we will lose the final without him in the side.

There are two options to replace him.

One is a straight swap for Harvey Barnes, who now has the opportunity to really kick start his stuttering Newcastle United career. I thought following his late winner versus West Ham last season he would be a regular feature in the first 11 but for whatever reason it just hasn’t worked out for him so far. There’s still a chance of legacy, a chance to be remembered as a cup winner at Newcastle United.

The second choice and my personal preference would be to play Joelinton on the left wing, with Joe Willock on the left-hand side of midfield. The double Jo Pivot. It worked brilliantly in the season we qualified for the Champions League and more recently in the league cup win against Chelsea earlier this season. Joelinton’s overall physicality is desperately needed in this team. Defensively, the prospect of him doubling up against Salah in the final with whoever is playing LB (Has to be Tino if Hall isn’t fit) is a welcome one. Offensively, pressing from the front and providing extra intent I think will set the tone for the whole team.

Willock in this scenario is the potential sticking point. The variation in his performances is stark. As a great Italian midfielder once said, “sometime maybe good, sometimes maybe”…you know the rest. When he’s on song he can change any game. Hopefully resurrecting the pivot can give him the chance to find form and a bit of magic at the perfect time.

Change 4: Will Osula for Callum Wilson

The final change I would like to see is more cameos for Will Osula at the cost to Callum Wilson. Wilson has been a good servant for the club, a shining light in the dark days of Bruce. However, his injuries have clearly caught up with him.

You can see glimmers of the past, a semblance of a clever run or the pinning of a centre back to hold the ball. It’s too few and far between. He’s offered very little in his two games against Premier League opposition. He wouldn’t start for most Premier League clubs; he wouldn’t even be a second choice striker for most Premier League clubs. I think and with all due respect to Callum, it’s time to move on.

Will Osula in his limited cameos has shown good signs. There’s been some good touches versus Chelsea, he ran Birmingham’s defence ragged and there was the fantastic goal against Bromley. He eats the ground up as he runs, he’s strong and has a good touch. You can see the makings of a promising forward but you can also see that he’s extremely raw and he’s yet to do it at the highest level.

It looks and feels like a similar situation to the one Lewis Hall found himself last year. Even in the midst of a disastrous injury crisis Hall couldn’t buy game time, this season he’s shone. The current state of the squad isn’t quite as bad as last year but the centre forward position is a particularly precarious one.

Any success Newcastle have this season is dependent on Alexander Isak staying fit, he’s the one player in this squad who is irreplaceable (now and in the summer). Given his injury record he’s unlikely to play every minute and not pick up an injury. He has to have some sort of rest, whether 30, 20, 15 or 10 minutes in some games. The striker coming on to replace him has to offer something, an outlet if we’re sitting back and a threat if we need a goal. In both regards Osula offers more than Wilson.

So, those are my suggested changes.

I’m not a tactician, I never played professionally, it’s unlikely my management career will ever expand beyond the virtual to the real world. There’s a reason I’m sat in the stands and Eddie Howe is in the dugout.

Whoever reads this may agree or disagree with my thoughts and that’s okay, it’s just my opinion, it’s no more important or right then the next fans.

However, I’m sure everyone associated with Newcastle United football club can agree that Sunday’s performance was unacceptable. The wheels well and truly came off.

Not all hope is lost though. There’s still time to put things right.

For better or worse, I think Sunday’s game will be a crossroads moment for the season. There’s little time to dwell, as a useless manger once said, “it’s time to dust ourselves down”.