Howe made it easy for us. They actually dominated the midfield for long parts of the first half.
He then took a midfielder off at half time and allowed us to pass round them.
Cheers Eddie.
The 'like' is for the first sentence of your post. He never controlled, nevermind dominated, anything. Not a single thing...
In the prematch thread I wrote that it seems he's made permanent decisions regarding formation and strategy pretty early. Actually from the first match he sat on Newcastle's bench, vs Arsenal away. In comparison to that match, Joelington was positioned behind, in a 3 - man midfield (vs Arsenal the setup was 4-4-1-1). But Howe's game relies a lot on his presence, naturally he saw a lot of the ball. With a good hold up play, Joelington often received the ball deep, tried to link the lines and had an influence. Fact. He wasn't the problem. The problems lie elsewhere...
Is Howe sending a message to his bosses that he's playing to the team's strengths? That he is an ambitious manager? Matching the club's new profile? If there is a DoF with a football brain at Newcastle, I would expect questions. Like, how exactly are you dealing with the team's weaknesses? A totally unreliable defensive line, for one. Which is bound to be further exposed when you decide to press high, committing players forward, in an uncoordinated manner. Leaving acres of space between the lines against a team like City. The story of the second half tonight...
So, like you, my first comment would be, thank you Eddie Howe. Second comment, Howe's decisions have played perfectly into the hands of opposition so far, since the very first match vs Arsenal. Third comment, with or without reinforcements during the winter transfer window, there will be no excuses if he fails to keep Newcastle in the PL. Not from me. Other colleagues of his are in a much worse position in terms of roster. Newcastle should have already shown signs of improvement - and I know exactly what I am talking about...
City will win comfortably against an imbalanced team, with like 30% of the performance displayed vs Leeds. The difference was in terms of concentration, vs Leeds actions were decided before even touching the ball - Guardiola's team chemistry did the rest. Additionally, we were not determined to match their physicality. They could not possibly bully us, of course, even if they tried, but they did fight as much as they could. With zero effect, of course, as I said their problems remain unsolved...
People like Phil and Jack will stay fresh, Rodri and Ruben protected. Hopefully Kyle will also return stronger soon. I am truly sorry for what he's experiencing, but I expect everyone in the club will be fully behind him. It's a family. Take your time man...
Congratulations to everyone, get some well deserved rest. Merry Christmas to all!
