Newcastle fans celebrate at Ipswich
Eddie Howe hailed "magnificent" Sandro Tonali after another champagne performance from the Italian at Ipswich Town.
Once more the talking points after the game centred around the success of Tonali in the number 6 role and Bruno Guimaraes further up in the number 8 position. Yet Howe hinted why he had been reluctant on playing Bruno in a more advanced job despite things looking like they'd worked like clockwork on Saturday in the 4-0 win at Portman Road.
Has Howe been concerned about his midfield holding their shape? There has certainly been a lot of consideration and conversation around whether Tonali and Bruno can or should play together.
After the game, Howe told journalists: "The big challenge, for any player that goes forward to press, is that they have to go the other way too. That’s a challenge for anybody, but considering it was the third game in a week, I thought that all of our attacking players did really well."
Bruno had a massive hand in the all-important third goal at Portman Road with Howe beaming at a moment which suggested the intensity is back for Newcastle. The Magpies had made a name of themselves in 2022/23 when finishing fourth by chasing down lost causes.
Howe reflected: "Bruno very good at nicking balls off people and breaking up play, and that was key for the goal that Alex Isak scored. I think Bruno’s always been tactically very good. He’s also always been very good at the long-distance runs that he does, and he had to do many in his other position as well.
"They got back behind the ball and made it difficult for Ipswich to penetrate us. Full credit to Bruno, it was another good performance from him."
When asked about Tonali's contribution, Howe said: "I thought Sandro was magnificent again at the heart of the team, he gave us a real stability and control.
"I could pick several players out who performed really well (against Ipswich), and that’s when you know you’ve given a really good account of yourself."
For all the debate about Newcastle's midfield, it feels like the only question is who joins Tonali and Bruno in the middle between Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock. Lewis Miley demonstrated yesterday he is capable of forcing his way into that argument.
It's a nice problem for Howe to have, not least after enduring the injury woe that seemed to be a recurring theme in 2024.
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