Are you watching this Alexander Isak? | OneFootball

How does one describe a night like this?

Better to describe oneself. Pumped (not drained), ecstatic, hoarse, unable to sleep, going mad with delight at a (checks result again) loss!

The swelling of pride (and concern) watching Tonali play on for 12 min with a possible dislocated shoulder, running while holding it close as if in a virtual sling.

Bruno not only scoring but continuing to tackle on the edge (without going over it). The NUFC Captain not happy at all at no second yellow (and red) card when the referee bottled it and refused to give a foul when Konate clearly pushed Harvey Barnes to the ground just outside the box.

Losing Gordon, Joelinton, Tonali, Schar (dare I mention Alexander Isak?) and still putting the champions first XI barring Frimpong to the sword consistently while being a man down.

Being made to play an extra 11 minutes (!) when already dead tired and still playing most of it near Liverpool’s penalty area.

When the euphoria settles, there will be worries about the line up we can put on the field for what should’ve been a banker away at a similarly raucous Elland Road, but for now this hangover is good, the hurt comes later – Rocky style!

There are a number of points I needed to make, thus the article while still floating on imaginary clouds:

1 – Alexander Isak would have surely watched the game.

If after seeing this he still wants to play for the other team, then something’s seriously wrong with him. Matter of fact, Wissa and Strand Larsen should be uprooting trees trying to get a move to this team TODAY!

Its not just what the team did when a man short. Not even the number of chances going begging which would’ve put one of those mentioned above at the front of the Golden Boot queue ahead of Ekitike (does he feel today he chose the right club?) already. The heart that the team poured out, the body parts torn and even the blood flowing (I really worry for Schar’s brain function post his retirement with a dozen serious hits every year), this is football romance at its peak. Alexander Isak should stop worrying about his ego or his bank balance, swallow whatever needs to be – pride/otherwise and come back and fire Newcastle to the top.

2 – Mentally our team’s ready to make a title challenge and go up against ANYONE, even with one hand tied behind its back. The full squad is likely not good enough yet to go there and losing Isak would set it back a year or two. But this kind of resolve, running and courage to go for a win for 50+57= 117 min – most of it a man down against the PL champions and dominating them, shows where the team is now.

Most big team squads are stacked with big players, they’re unable to reach the mental level required to go there (like Liverpool for three decades till 2020) for many years, often until the title winning squad gets dismantled (may start happening to Arsenal if they don’t win this season). The difficult/later part has been achieved first by Eddie Howe’s squad. Which means once the squad of 25 reaches where Eddie wants it to be (and PSR means it may not ever, at least without a big sale, which itself would break the dynamic), regular title chases should be the norm in the future. Fearlessness is in the DNA now.

3 – This match was the perfect advertisement for both youth players and elite level players about why they should come to Newcastle United over any other club right now. I imagine Pedro/Delap/Sesko the likes would’ve watched and felt a tinge of regret despite their burgeoning bank balance. This game needs to be shown in full to any prospects the world over. I imagine the ‘Super League 6’ especially Liverpool and their broadcaster friends, would do their best to hide it (like putting the season’s best game two seasons ago – Newcastle Utd 4-4 Luton – LAST on the global highlights of that round of fixtures put out by Sky, at least MoTD put it 2nd of five games on the day iirc) but given the team at the other end was Liverpool, they might fail in doing so.

4 – The St James’ Park crowd played a big part but how could it have been any other way – taking Gordon’s place as the 11th player inside the stadium. These 117 min should now instil belief in the doubting section of our fans that a minor hiccup or two in the transfer market – played up so unabashedly by EVERYONE in the media – including and especially BBC (how the channel which was a relatively credible voice of the people many decades back has fallen so far) even yesterday, doesn’t lower the abilities of where our club is now. Their collective weight is not enough to push us down.

We’ve done this multiple times now over the last three seasons against the best. Its not a one-off. We’ll go places now. With or without Alexander Isak or even any ‘elite’ striker if need be in the short term. Solutions will be found. Brick walls run through. The victories will be sweeter. All those pulling us down will be forced to stand by the side and applaud, like five months back. It’ll take some more time. But its inevitable. Stay the course and believe.