Mikel Arteta said it once, twice, three times, a half-compliment delivered like an insult or perhaps the other way round. “They are really good at what they do,” the Arsenal manager repeatedly said of Newcastle United and the scoreline told the world that he was not wrong. What they did: beat Arsenal 1-0, again.
Twelve months on from that controversial victory at St James’ Park — those multiple, interminable VAR checks, Arteta’s all-consuming fury — Newcastle turned back the clock in a slightly different sense. They defended like warriors, they gave no quarter, they irked and niggled and prospered.
“There were a lot of similarities to our Champions League qualification season,” Eddie Howe said afterwards, retreating back to that golden period when Newcastle were really good at being good, when they played hard and fast.
Arteta referred to Newcastle’s physicality and how “they dragged us into that too often.” Howe’s response? “It’s irrelevant to me what anyone says, really”. This exchange was rudimentary and also poetic.
First Chelsea in midweek and now against Arsenal; it is almost as if Newcastle have rediscovered themselves. For much of the last six months, the club has felt like a series of insoluble problems, a difficult battle with profit and sustainability rules, too much change, a hesitant team that either played badly and ground out results or the opposite.
As Alexander Isak groped for form and Newcastle’s midfield looked disjointed, people talked about a stale first XI which had not been strengthened over consecutive windows. There were murmurings about Howe and whether he was too wedded to the same old formation. Before this match, they were 12th.
And now? Solutions and options are tumbling towards them, from sticking Joelinton out left, bringing in Joe Willock behind him (sort of), switching Anthony Gordon right, choosing one from Bruno Guimaraes or Sandro Tonali, restoring Sean Longstaff’s running to the side. Suddenly there is impetus and surging confidence.
It feels good; really good.
In a belated search for balance, Howe passed over the obvious and reached for bespoke solutions.
Debate has raged: Gordon or Harvey Barnes on the left-wing?
Howe’s solution? Play neither in their natural position, with Barnes a substitute and Gordon shifted right. From there, Gordon’s relentless pressing has revived Newcastle’s identity being intensity, while as a conventional right winger he delivered the game’s defining moment, with a sublime cross from which Isak headed the winner. “It was a high-level match and one moment of quality wins it,” Howe said.
Instead, Howe fielded Joelinton on the left. The Brazilian offered presence — nominally operating as a winger, but rampaging around as a hybrid midfield-cum-wing-back-cum-forward. It allowed Newcastle to float passes forward, disrupting Arsenal by smothering second balls. “They are very big and very physical, especially Joelinton, and play direct,” Arteta remarked, almost begrudgingly.
When the starting midfield is also considered, it was almost a case of back to the future.
Despite Tonali excelling as a No 6 in midweek, Howe did not opt for the populist move. Rather, Guimaraes was back, accompanied by Longstaff and Willock.
Internal club analysis in 2022-23 identified Newcastle’s best-balanced team as featuring that midfield trio and Joelinton as a left-sided forward.
The statistics support that, with that quartet starting 11 Premier League matches, registering eight wins, three draws and no defeats.
Primarily because of Willock’s fitness problems, they did not start a single Premier League game together last season. This was the first occasion since April 2023, and the first on Tyneside since the 6-1 demolition of Tottenham that same month.
Their record together now stretches to nine wins, while Newcastle score more (2.0 goals per game, up from 1.9), concede fewer (0.3, from 1.4) and collect more points (2.5 per match, from 1.6) when they feature.
Even then, this was a tweaked incarnation. Rather than a standard 4-3-3, Willock operated almost as a No 10 out of possession, finding space behind Arsenal’s midfield.
Longstaff, meanwhile, enhanced his reputation as the midfielder who makes Newcastle click. Under Howe, Newcastle’s top-flight win ratio is 54.2 per cent when Longstaff starts and 37.2 per cent when he does not. This season, Newcastle are unbeaten in the five games Longstaff has started and have failed to win any of the five he has not.
“His technical ability was really high and his defensive understanding is always very strong,” Howe said. “He knows how I want to play in every situation.”
Longstaff is not Newcastle’s most gifted midfielder, but moulding a successful team is not about merely naming the best players, it takes a special type of alchemy. Guimaraes and Tonali may be Newcastle’s star midfielders, but their talents are yet to blend together successfully — for now, it may be a case of one or the other from the start.
“We’ve got very good players competing for a limited number of places,” Howe said. “For me, the team overrides any individual.”
Rather than perceived shortcomings being spotlighted, genuine positives are now emerging across the field.
Take full-back, where Tino Livramento and, in particular, Lewis Hall excelled. Throughout last season, supporters questioned why almost £70million ($90.6m) was spent on two youngsters, yet Livramento has two England call-ups, and Hall is improving with every match. Hall is a contender for Newcastle’s player of the season.
“We grabbed an opportunity to take him when we did,” Howe said. “We knew we would possibly regret it in a year’s time and not find a player of similar potential.” The hope is that William Osula follows a similar development path.
Crucially, goals are (gradually) starting to return. Newcastle have still not reached their free-flowing, scoring best, but Isak, who had only one goal before last weekend, has added three to his tally inside seven days. When Isak is at his prolific peak, Newcastle are a dangerous proposition.
“He’ll feel totally different to how he felt before Chelsea last week,” Howe said.
It is not only Isak who feels that way. Everyone associated with Newcastle does. Arteta’s praise may have felt resentful, but he is right. When Newcastle do what they do well, they are extremely effective.
(Top photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
