This Newcastle United midfield trio CAN be the best | OneFootball

When it comes to the Premier League, how do you know when your club has something special?

For me, it is when the fans of all the other clubs know all about it and have a strong (positive!) opinion.

Such as, this Newcastle United midfield trio.

Put it this way, whoever is facing United in the next match, if you asked the fans of that club to name the Newcastle United midfield, the first choice one, very few of them would be unable to name Bruno, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali.

Newcastle United played 48 matches in total last (2024/25) season and Bruno made 47 appearances, Tonali 45, Joelinton 37.

This Newcastle United midfield trio were key to Eddie Howe’s side qualifying for the Champions League once again, whilst arguably their finest ever match together came on 16 March 2025.

Newcastle United not only won the Carabao Cup, they completely dominated Liverpool and should have won by three of four. That performance and the winning of silverware was built on an outstanding display from the NUFC midfield trio, who combined to totally overwhelm the much heralded Liverpool midfield, that were carrying them towards a runaway Premier League title.

Anyway, back to the Newcastle United midfield

This season there has been a bit of a shift in what people are saying at times, opposition fans.

After matches, opposition fans and neutrals increasingly saying stuff along the lines of; “I thought this Newcastle United midfield was supposed to be the best in the Premier League…”

How I see it, is that last season, this Newcastle United midfield trio were excellent overall. On their day they were as good as any rival Premier League midfield, invariably better than the opposition midfield on any given day.

For me, this Newcastle United midfield three CAN still be as good as any other in the top tier, at times better than anything else out there. However, we have to accept that this isn’t going to be the case quite so regularly as it was last season.

A bit like the season generally (eight wins three draws, five defeats) so far, this first choice midfield trio have reflected those results. All a bit up and down, highs and lows, often somewhere in between great and not so great.

I think Tonali has certainly been the most consistent, whilst Bruno next best in the consistency ratings, whilst Joelinton the one most prone to be a bit in and out. He was excellent in midweek, adding a goal to a very good overall personal performance against Athletic Bilbao. However, at other times he just hasn’t looked at the races.

I would say that so far this season, it has been a case of one or two of the midfield trio reaching what we would see as something like their normal-ish levels in individual matches, but not all three together, not dominating an entire match like they are capable of. Maybe for periods of games all three have clicked together but not like we have seen in the past, when putting runs of games together where they effortlessly combined to win the midfield battle.

I think a lot of factors have combined and of course the sheer number of matches is a major thing that can’t be ignored.

Playing the same Newcastle United midfield trio every match just isn’t viable.

I would say that the injury to Jacob Ramsey has been a big blow, as I think he has been primarily brought in to take a lot of the pressure off playing this same midfield trio all the time, especially when it comes to allowing Eddie Howe the freedom not to feel obliged to pick Joelinton quite so often.

With Ramsey missing, Joelinton has ended up playing too much and both he and the team overall have been impacted by that.

I think Lewis Miley has done ok this season, whilst I really like the look of Jacob Ramsey. Having an extra player willing to carry the ball and also with a bit of pace, is a major plus. I thought Joe Willock was really good against Spurs in the cup, his best performance for a good while. Some Newcastle fans seem determined to not give him any credit, or another chance, but I think he can be an asset this season and indeed we need the likes of him to step up and help United cope with so many matches. Willock is also someone who can carry the ball and move at pace, if he can finally get over the injury, fitness and indeed form problems that have affected him for so long, he could be like the proverbial new signing.

Winning football matches breeds confidence all round and with six wins in the last eight matches, hopefully the players are getting a better collective feeling, that they can excel this season and potentially do great things.

Of course, nothing will be achieved with many more performances like that bizarre one at West Ham last weekend, when all of the players had an off day. It felt like contagious, as the whole team struggled to keep possession, repeatedly giving the ball away and second best. The Newcastle United midfield included in that, a major reason why NUFC never got going in that 3-1 defeat.

I think in any match, winning the midfield battle is so important, if you can do that then your chances of winning the match are seriously increased.

As I said earlier, this Newcastle United midfield CAN still be at least as good as anything else out there, but they have to start to click sooner rather than later, to ensure this is a successful season.

No better time than today, away at Brentford, for Eddie Howe’s team and especially the midfield to really gel together, a first away PL win of the season and making it seven wins from the last nine games in all competitions.