"Jaissle has to do better" | What is behind Newcastle United's poor form? | Sunday Supplement
Craig Hope on Newcastle United's slump: Jaissle has to do better
The show discusses Newcastle United after a 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa and a run of 16 games without a clean sheet. Craig Hope says the slump was predictable, points to recruitment and squad-building problems, and argues Jaissle must improve; the conclusion is that both the club and the fans have a point, with the manager handicapped by recruitment but still needing a clearer style.
- Newcastle United's slump was predictable, and their unbeaten start was unsustainable. — His early-season analysis was cautious even after wins; underlying numbers such as xG, xGA and expected league position had them in the bottom three, so they were grinding out results.
- Throwing Dan Burn up front late was the best available tactic, but the real issue is that after Isak left and £150m was spent on forwards, Dan Burn is still the best striker option. — He understood the move given the available players; recruitment and squad structure have left problems all over the pitch.
- It is astonishing that Dan Burn is Newcastle's best attacking option, but if he is genuinely the best available, that is not poor management. — The host accepts Craig's point about limited options, so he puts more blame on the squad than on the in-game decision.
- The club's internal view that there is nothing to see and the fans' view that something is seriously wrong can both be true; the reality is somewhere in between. — The club stayed calm after the 4-1 defeat at Coventry, while supporters see the team heading towards the bottom three.
- Jaissle has to do better; there is no clear pattern of play or cohesive identity, though he deserves sympathy. — He inherited the job only two and a half weeks before the season and was not given the roles he needs to execute his plan; at 38, arriving from the Saudi league, he may face a rocky spell because Newcastle fans' patience can wear thin.
- Missing out on Manzambi and Victor was a sliding-doors moment; if Newcastle had signed them, Eddie Howe would probably still be manager, and Manzambi is exactly the midfielder they lack. — Manzambi can play both ways and has athleticism, skill and ingenuity; Newcastle's midfield is a major problem and he was the best player on the park.
- Newcastle's midfield is a major problem: too pedestrian and badly balanced in profile, leaving the team disjointed. — The midfielders want to pass but cannot really run, while the forwards want to run but cannot really pass; a player like Manzambi could plug those holes.
- Recruitment has left the manager clearly handicapped, so he would not yet go after the manager as a journalist. — The switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 depends on a No.10, but Newcastle did not sign one and have used a deeper midfielder or a striker there; after Isak left, they spent £175m on forwards and still lack a proper centre-forward.
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Transcript
Welcome back to Sunday supplement. We're going to talk Newcastle now after they uh they lost yesterday against Aston Villa, a 1-0il home defeat and it sets a new club record for Newcastle and a very unwanted one at that now 16 straight games across all competitions where they failed to keep a clean sheet. Matias Yisler called a reality check we needed and that was written up by Craig Hope who was uh at St. James's Park for the Mail yesterday. Delighted to say that Craig joins us now as well. Craig, good to see you. Thank you for jumping on. I mean, look, Newcastle, they were booed off at Halime and fulltime by their their home fans yesterday. I mean, it's been a strange season for them so far, hasn't it? Because if you look at after five games, they were unbeaten. Had some good results against Liverpool and Spurs. now three defeats from the last four games. So, so did you see this decline coming or has it been a bit sudden? >> I will say this and I dare say the guys in the sofa are going to laugh, but yes, I did see this coming and a lot of my analysis, postgame analysis earlier in the season, even after Newcastle victories was one of caution, one of concern for the club. Now, that's not always easy to do and you know the the guys in the in the studio, they'll will understand this. You know, a lot of reaction nowadays is framed exclusively through the prism of a result. But if you looked at the underlying numbers, and we've got an X for everything these days, XG4, XG against expected league position, Newcastle were in the bottom three in all of those, and it suggested that what they were doing while at the start of the season, they deserve credit for finding a way on the back of a turbulent summer. They were chiseling out those results. So it always suggested that it wasn't sustainable and that they would revert to seeing what we are seeing right now. And there was just a a little vignette yesterday and a lot of the the debate postmatch has been about the sight of 6'7 in Dan Burn being thrown up front in the closing stages and a lot of supporters weren't necessarily happy about that and I was asked questions in the postgame press conference. I'll tell you one thing guys in that instance in the isolation of what Newcastle had available to them that was absolutely the best tactic and I understood why he did it. The bigger question is why 12 13 months after Alexander Isak is being sold and why after 150 million pounds worth of investment in center forwards is Dan Burn the best option at striker? They've got problems all over the park right now. Yeah, I mean they they certainly have. Like you say, it's quite sensational really that that Dan Burn is your best attacking option, but like you say, if it's the best available, it's not exactly poor management. What's the sentiment like to towards Yeler at the moment? Because we know that given how the start of the season went, there was a lot of positivity. Has the sentiment already started to shift amongst Newcastle fans from what you're hearing and what you're sensing? >> Yeah. Well, there's two sides to this. There's the the club who you know in the wake of the 4-1 defeat down at Coventry last week as a journalist you go knocking on doors and you're asking is there a is there a message internally with regards to the manager and it was very much one of nothing to see here we're calm we're patient you know it was on the back of that that summer of transition then you've got the supporters who are screaming no there is absolutely something to see here please look at this the the team is heading towards the bottom three and both of those things can be true and as ever you know the the reality lies somewhere in the middle I've got sympathy with the situation he did inherit only two and a half weeks out from the start of the season. I think recruitment wise he hasn't really necessarily got the two loles available to him to exact the plan that he wants. But it can still also be true that you've got to perform better as manager and we're not really yet seeing that discernable pattern of play, you know, the the the cohesive unit at all. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, a team who's lacking in identity. So Matisa absolutely has to do better. He's a young manager. He's 38y old. I think he's a good manager. I think you know over the course of his career we'll be reflecting on somebody who is competent but I just I worry that at 38 coming from the Saudi league and being thrown into a club like Newcastle where as you touched on there you know that that supporter patience does wear thin pretty quickly that this could be a really rocky difficult spell for him. >> Does it add insult to injury perhaps that it was Manzambi that that scored the winner when Newcastle came pretty close to signing him in the summer before he chose to go to Aston Villa? It did. Yeah. And you know, missing out on Yuan Manzambi and Victor Munos within a a 10day period was a real sliding doors moment, not just in the summer if Newcastle, but perhaps in the recent history of the club because I believe if they had have landed those two players, then Eddie How would probably still be manager and Manzambi is exactly the type of midfield that that's a lot missing right now. He can go in one direction, he can go in the other direction. He's got athleticism, he's got skill, he's got ingenuity. Right now, Newcastle's midfield is a major problem for them. the the the too pedestrian. There's a real disparity of profile within the team. You've got the midfielders who just want to pass and can't really run and you've got the forwards who just want to run and can't really pass. So, at the minute it's all a little bit disjointed and there's holes all over the pitch. Someone like Manzambi, as we saw yesterday, he can plug those holes. He was everywhere. He was the best player on the park. >> Do you think that the club have have left the a little bit short on quality in terms of the departures they had over this? I mean you've already mentioned Alexander Isach leaving last summer but the fact that um Brigham Marich left, Sandra Chennai left, Anthony Gordon as well. Is is he sort of starting from a sort of handicapped position in terms of quality available? >> He is absolutely and that's why I've got a a degree of sympathy and I wouldn't necessarily yet be be going after the manager as a journalist. You look at the biggest change from last year to this. It's it's the shift in formation. Eddie how was you know wedded as a negative word. was wed because it worked to a 4-33. Yela has changed that to a 42-31. Now the biggest single change within those that evolution is the introduction of a number 10. Newcastle did not sign the number 10 in the summer. Quite unbelievable really that a manager who comes in that's got an entire system built around a 10 who is a playmaker and support the attack and come back into midfield and they still don't have one. They've played Joe Willick there yesterday who's a deeper midfielder. Ordinarily they've been playing Yuan Whistler there who was a striker. So recruitment wise to not bring in a 10 is is quite scandalous. Then further forward of that and I've already touched on this Alexander Isak went 14 months ago. Newcastle have spent 175 million pound on center forward since and I still don't think they've got a center forward. So when you're talking about two key positions in a team that a manager is working with you use the phrase they're handicapped. Well yes I don't think you can get away from that that recruitment wise I think the manager's been left short. >> Craig thank you very much indeed. Great to speak to you this morning. Really appreciate your time. >> Cheers, guys. Bye-bye. >> Cheers. >> Okay, that's it for the first hour of Sunday supplement. In the next [music] hour, we're going to talk to Manchester United after what's been a fairly turbulent week at Old Trafford, including this in the [music] mail this morning. We're going to be live to Ellen Rose where United head this afternoon after the [music] break.