Eddie Howe could unleash Newcastle United's new secret weapon v Liverpoolplaceholder image
Eddie Howe could unleash Newcastle United's new secret weapon v Liverpool | Getty Images
Newcastle United v Liverpool: Eddie Howe and Arne Slot’s sides square off against each other at St James’ Park in the Premier League on Monday night.
The build-up to Monday night’s game at St James’ Park has centered around Alexander Isak and the speculation surrounding his future at Newcastle United. Liverpool, of course, have been heavily-linked with a move for the striker but are yet to meet the Magpies’ valuation.
Isak remains a Magpies player, but won’t feature on Monday night. That will come as a huge blow to the hosts and lift the visitors.
Isak netted in their 3-3 draw at St James’ Park in December and, crucially, at Wembley during the last time these two sides met. Newcastle United ran-out 2-1 winners that day, securing their first major domestic trophy in 70 years in the process.
Having met less than three weeks previous in the league, Liverpool running out comfortable 2-0 winners on that day, Newcastle United fans headed to Wembley with hope, but very little expectation that their side could triumph. However, a tactical masterclass from Howe, one that Slot had no answers for, and some brilliant set-piece routines ensured that it would be the black-and-white half of Wembley that was celebrating come full-time.
Newcastle’s corner-kick routines that day largely involved them bypassing Ibrahima Konate and Virgil Van Dijk in the middle of the box and taking advantage of Liverpool’s zonal marking structure to give themselves the aerial victory. Dan Burn’s opening goal is the perfect example of that - as is Isak’s disallowed strike in the second half.
Eddie Howe can unleash Newcastle United’s newest secret weapon v Liverpool
Jason Tindall was the man responsible for set-pieces at that point in time and should take great credit for his work that ultimately delivered silverware back to Tyneside. Now though, Tindall has taken a step-back from set-piece coaching duties following the appointment of Martin Mark this summer.
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Mark joined Newcastle United from FC Midtjylland having helped the Danish side score 27 of 64 goals from set-pieces last season. Mark’s work was evident at Vila Park with a number of creative free-kick and corner-kick routines being used, although none led to a goal.
Newcastle United’s success on Monday night won’t solely be down to their set-piece work, but Wembley demonstrated it will certainly be a big help and Howe has already praised the work conducted by his new set-piece coach: “Yes, something we've been looking to fill now for probably two and a half years. But we needed to find the right person,” Howe told the club’s website.
“Jason's been doing a fantastic job covering a whole breadth of set plays. Such a demanding job now. And the detail that we have to go into to be successful is probably all-consuming.
“We really needed a specialist to solely focus on that area. So Martin will come in. I don't think he'll be able to cover everything.
“One man, you have to divide it up. But he'll have a key role. And we really trust him.
“We've had a lot of Zoom calls with him over the summer and a lot of in-depth conversations to find that he was not just the right person, but the right personality to fit in how we do things.
“[He’s] certainly made, again, an impressive start. He's got a real presence about him. And hopefully he can make a positive impact.”
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