This is a very different Newcastle United.
It is not the toxic Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce one.
This might seem like stating the obvious but apparently needs to be said.
Newcastle United are very good.
Losing at Bournemouth is not suddenly proof that everything is falling apart. Indeed, you could even argue that the incredible over the top reaction of many to that 2-0 defeat, was the best possible proof of just how good Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United are now.
Honestly, judging by some of the reactions (‘Is Eddie Howe’s job now under threat?’) you would think this had been a full strength Newcastle United side losing to non-league opposition, not a fatigued NUFC team missing an unprecedented number of players, losing away to a Premier League rival who clearly shouldn’t be in relegation trouble.
As a previous article on The Mag pointed out, the players who were actually available to both clubs on the day, there was next to nothing in it when it came to what each of the clubs had paid out for their 20 matchday squad players. Bournemouth £190m and Newcastle United £204m, so when £20m signing Miguel Almiron was forced off after 31 minutes, the players left available to the Cherries had actually cost more than those Eddie Howe could still call on.
When I hear many people talking, a lot of them journalists, pundits and rival fans, though a fair few Newcastle United fans as well, I can’t comprehend the reasoning for such negativity, the writing off of NUFC.
For example, apparently there is absolutely zero chance of Newcastle United now qualifying for the Champion League knockout stages. This is despite two wins would guarantee Eddie Howe’s side ending up in the top two of the group, whilst four points would give NUFC every chance of doing the same, depending on what happened in the other two matches.
Newcastle United humbled PSG 4-1 and drew 0-0 away at AC Milan, so why should it be impossible for Eddie Howe and his team to get another couple of positive results against the same clubs?
I’m not saying it will be easy BUT it won’t be impossible.
Our enemies, critics, the doom-mongers, will point to losing at Bournemouth and a double defeat to Borussia Dortmund as ‘proof’ that Newcastle United won’t make the last 16 of the Champions League.
I would point to the brilliant win over Arsenal (two weeks ago today) and (despite having made eight changes) the thrashing of Man Utd at Old Trafford (17 days ago) as ‘proof’ that Newcastle United can get positive results against PSG and AC Milan, as well as of course the likes of Chelsea, Everton and Tottenham who NUFC also have coming up. Less than two months ago Eddie Howe changed all ten outfield players and yet Newcastle United still beat Manchester City and kept a clean sheet.
So many matches and missing players do make things tougher, especially with the sheer number of games in a short space of time and sheer number of missing NUFC players, particularly when you look at the quality of those who have been unavailable.
Against Chelsea we could / should see the return of Bruno, Isak and probably Almiron. We hardly saw anything of the excellent Harvey Barnes before he got a freak injury but he is another Eddie Howe who has been positively speaking about as ahead of schedule in his recovery, the big summer signing could be back shortly as well.
All of these upcoming games are difficult for Newcastle United BUT they are also difficult for any and all of the oppositions.
Newcastle United are a tough nut to crack these days and they certainly never go down without a fight. Even with so many players out on their feet in the later stages of that Bournemouth defeat, they never stopped trying.
This is a club AND a football team who most certainly tries now AND with quality flowing throughout that team and squad.
All things are possible for Newcastle United in the weeks and months to come.
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