Alan Shearer has credited Eddie Howe’s tactical tweaks for helping Newcastle United hit on a better-rounded system that has helped them find a much more promising vein of pre-Christmas form.
After a run of just two wins in 11 Premier League games, Newcastle have looked a lot more convincing over the past couple of games, claiming back-to-back four-goal wins over newly-promoted duo Leicester City and Ipswich Town as well as earning passage to the League Cup semi-finals with a 3-1 win over Brentford.
Newcastle’s counter-attacking abilities have never been in doubt, but former Magpies goal machine and manager Shearer believes that Howe’s tweaks to their midfield shape has helped them to add a different dimension to their play.
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He explained on Match of the Day: “In recent games he’s put [Sandro] Tonali in the 6 role and moved Bruno Guimaraes a little bit further forward, given him a little bit more freedom to get into forward positions, and it’s certainly helped both of the players I think, and more importantly the team.
“Tonali will sit there, he’s very good at that, and I think he feels more important in that role, and he’s certainly a better player because he can do that. A lot of the time when he gets the ball, within one or two touches he likes and wants to play the ball forward, which for the forward players is much much better. He has to do his job defensively as well, and certainly has done that in recent games.
“Bruno feels part of it as well because that role is suiting him well … So it’s the little tweaks, but as I say, it’s helped both players but more importantly it’s helped the team. They were very very good, and Isak and Murphy had great games as well.”
Newcastle sit seventh in a very congested Premier League table ahead of Sunday afternoon’s games, and will face Aston Villa and Manchester United in their final games of the calendar year.
Ipswich will meanwhile spent Christmas in the relegation zone regardless how other results go on Sunday, and have been handed a daunting pair of festive fixtures as they visit Arsenal on Friday before hosting Chelsea the following Monday.
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