Newcastle United team spine untouchable so far – Time for Eddie Howe rethink? | OneFootball

The Newcastle United team has seen ten changes this season in the Premier League.

That is a fair few changes between matches, especially when you are talking about only the five PL games, so four lots of changes.

Only one of the ten changes to the Newcastle United team has been forced so far when it comes to Premier League matches, that was after Fabian Schar got red carded against Southampton on the opening day.

The other nine changes in Premier League games have been tactical, by choice, Eddie Howe choosing to make different selections.

All of these other nine changes saw the player who came out of the team, named on the bench, so nor forced out by injury or suspension.

Newcastle United team v Southampton

Pope; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Longstaff, Bruno, Joelinton; J Murphy, Isak, Gordon

Newcastle United team v Bournemouth

Pope; Livramento, Krafth, Burn, Kelly, Longstaff, Bruno, Joelinton; Jacob Murphy, Isak, Gordon

Two changes – Schar and Hall replaced by Krafth and Kelly.

Newcastle United team v Tottenham

Pope, Livramento, Krafth, Burn, Kelly, Joelinton, Bruno, Longstaff, Barnes, Isak, Gordon

One change – Jacob Murphy replaced by Barnes.

Newcastle United team v Wolves

Pope, Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall, Joelinton, Bruno, Longstaff, Jacob Murphy, Isak, Gordon

Three changes – Krafth, Kelly and Barnes replaced by Schar, Hall and Jacob Murphy.

Newcastle United team v Fulham

Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Kelly, Joelinton, Bruno, Willock, Barnes, Isak, Gordon

Four changes – Schar and Hall replaced by Krafth and Kelly.

Livramento, Hall, Longstaff and Jacob Murphy replaced by Trippier, Kelly, Willock and Barnes.

Conclusions – The Newcastle United spine

As you can see above, Eddie Howe has been constantly swapping and changing his team, looking for the right balance, the right answer, the best solution for any particular match.

What hasn’t happened though, is Eddie Howe willingly changing the spine of his Newcastle United team.

Apart from the Swiss defender suspension, Eddie Howe playing Pope, Schar, Burn, Bruno, Joelinton, Isak.

I don’t think it is massively uncommon for managers to more often chop and change wide areas than through the middle of the team, but this has been a real extreme, in terms of the number of times changing wingers and full-backs especially.

Anthony Gordon is the only other player to have been sure of his place in the Newcastle United team this season, though even he has been moved to play elsewhere, with Barnes on the left and Gordon on the right.

Interesting then to see what happens on Saturday, will the visit of the champions bring about a change (or changes…) when it comes to the spine of this Newcastle United team?

I am not saying that any of these things necessarily should happen but these appear the possibilities of changes to the Newcastle United spine for that Man City match…

Pope – Dubvravka

Schar – Krafth

Burn – Kelly

Joelinton/Bruno – Tonali

Isak – Gordon or Osula

Personally, I would be amazed if Pope, Schar and Isak didn’t start on Saturday.

The same with Joelinton and Bruno, although of course the possibility of Sandro Tonali playing as well as that pair, especially with this set to be a tough battle for whoever plays in midfield.

That leaves Dan Burn.

I think he has been a class act these past 32 months but I do wonder whether Eddie Howe might consider Lloyd Kelly to play alongside Fabian Schar, whether Saturday or whenever.

I see Kelly as more of a central defender than full-back and he would give us a bit more pace in the middle of defence and obviously he is far more comfortable on the ball than the big lad from Blyth.

Some big decisions ahead for Eddie Howe and interesting what he sees as the Newcastle United team to try and stop Haaland AND create big chances at the other end.

Newcastle United upcoming match schedule, confirmed to end of November:

Tuesday 24 September 2024 – AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle (7.45pm) Sky Sports+ – POSTPONED

Saturday 28 September 2024 – Newcastle v Man City (12.30 pm) TNT Sports

Saturday 5 October – Everton v Newcastle (5.30pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 19 October – Newcastle v Brighton (3pm)

Sunday 27 October – Chelsea v Newcastle (2pm) Sky Sports

***Carabao Cup last 16 matches to be played W/C Monday 28 October

Saturday 2 November – Newcastle v Arsenal (12.30pm) TNT Sports

Sunday 10 November – Forest v Newcastle (2pm) Sky Sports