Jamie Carragher has included two Newcastle United players in his Premier League team of the season.
As the Premier League campaign draws to a close, pundits are starting to dish out their end of season awards.
Eddie Howe and Alexander Isak are in contention for manager and player of the season, while Newcastle fans were surprised that Lewis Hall was not nominated for young player of the season.
On Sky Sports’ final edition of the season of Monday Night Football, pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville conducted their own awards ceremony before announcing their teams of the season.
Alexander Isak was in both pundits’ teams, while the ex-Liverpool defender also picked out one of Newcastle United’s midfielders.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Jamie Carragher names Sandro Tonali in his team of the season
Carragher named Sandro Tonali in his midfield alongside Declan Rice and Alexis Mac Allister.
He admitted that he could have gone for Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenberch, but explained why he opted for the Magpies’ midfield maestro instead.
“I went for Tonali because Newcastle look like they are going to finish third in the Premier League,” he said.
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“I don’t think many people would have predicted that. They’ve won a trophy for the first time in 70 years.
“But they actually made a poor start to the season. I don’t think their season turned around until Eddie Howe put him [Tonali] in the holding role.
“For a lot of the time he has been there, he has been the attacking midfielder and Bruno has been the holding. I think him going to the sitting midfield role has made a huge difference.
“I could easily have put Gravenberch in there. I was debating it. What swung it was how dominant Newcastle were in the cup final. How powerful they looked in midfield – they just ran over Liverpool.”
Eddie Howe’s tactical tweak changed Newcastle United’s season
Carragher’s assessment of Newcastle United is spot on. It was a challenging start to the campaign. There was absolutely no consistency when it came to results or performances.
But that began to change once Eddie Howe altered Tonali’s role.
Having previously used the Italian midfielder as an ‘eight’, Howe tested Tonali in the ‘six’ during the Carabao Cup win over Chelsea in October. After the game, Geordie Boot Boys described it as Tonali’s best Newcastle performance ever.
That was merely a taste of what was to come.
Howe waited until Tonali was fit enough to play the role, as he and Bruno Guimaraes eventually swapped positions. It got the best out of both players, with Bruno becoming much more influential after being given more freedom.
Since swapping positions, you could make a strong argument that Tonali has been Newcastle United’s best player. He is the orchestrator in front of the defence, while his running power off the ball is almost superhuman.
After missing the majority of his first season through suspension, Tonali has eventually proven to be an exceptional signing. He more than deserves his place in Jamie Carragher’s team.