Jaissle begins with win in Valencia. Could Wissa thrive this season? Was there a captaincy clue?
Newcastle United fought back from a goal to overcome 10-man hosts Valencia and hand Matthias Jaissle a 2-1 win in his first friendly as their head coach.
The Spanish side took an early lead when Filip Ugrinic curled in from distance, but were reduced to 10 men when Jose Gaya went in dangerously on Anthony Elanga in the 35th minute. Elanga was worryingly taken off on a stretcher, much to Jaissle’s anger, though the early prognosis is that he has avoided serious injury.
In the 52nd minute, Yoane Wissa, on as a half-time substitute, capitalised on a defensive error to equalise. The DR Congo international also scored the winner with 20 minutes to go, tapping into an empty net after debutant Bazoumana Toure unselfishly squared to him, and, following a difficult first season on Tyneside, this was a really encouraging cameo for the former Brentford man.
Chris Waugh was there for The Athletic at the Mestalla, and these were the key takeaways…
A first glimpse of ‘Jaissle-ball’
“Energy” was the word on everyone’s lips inside Newcastle’s training camp this week and the high-intensity, high-pressing, “vertical” nature of ‘Jaissle-ball’ was evident against Valencia.
Newcastle started both halves at lightning-quick pace, with the double-pivot midfielders tasked with sending the forwards in behind Valencia’s high line.
As he often did at Al Ahli, Jaissle deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Nick Woltemade as the No 10.
It was not ‘heavy-metal football’ throughout, though. Newcastle did have spells where they were more patient in possession, when Jaissle encouraged his defenders to push high and squeeze.
On the touchline, Jaissle barked instructions and clapped encouragement throughout. Rarely did he remain in his technical area, literally following the ball up and down.
Having worn Newcastle’s grey training tracksuit for intense sessions during the week, when he was also sporting a whistle and a stopwatch and sprinted around after his players, leading some staff members to joke they should have attached a GPS tracker to the head coach as well, Jaissle emerged at the Mestalla in a stylish white shirt, dark trousers and white shoes. There was also a black armband, as Newcastle continue to pay their respects to the late Kevin Keegan.
Matthias Jaissle won his first friendly in charge of Newcastle (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
When a hydration break was called on the half-hour mark, Jaissle emerged with a tactics board and relayed clear messages.
“With a hard week behind us, the players did well in the camp and they did well in the heat,” Jaissle said. “It was a friendly — we will not smash the locker room and celebrate a lot. We are quite balanced and we still have a lot to work on.”
Almost 2,000 Newcastle fans (officially) were in attendance and they were dancing in the streets of Valencia and up high in the stadium, chanting, “Oh Jaissle, I can boogie”.
Jaissle’s Newcastle tenure is less than a week old, but already his ideas are discernible.
Injury fears eased after tempers flare
For a player to be shown a straight red card during a friendly, they must have done something serious.
Gaya was not necessarily off the ground when he lunged, but Elanga had already jinked beyond him and, as Jaissle immediately gestured to the assistant referee, the Spaniard appeared to go in with his studs up.
The challenge not only riled Jaissle, but also his players. Will Osula, who is close friends with Elanga, sprinted across and confronted Gaya, while Jacob Ramsey shoved the Valencia winger.
“I was in fear, definitely,” said Jaissle. “It’s just a bad challenge, especially in the context of a friendly. It was not expected. Fouls are part of the game, but that was really harsh.”
After a testing first season on Tyneside, there are high hopes Jaissle’s style can bring the best out of Elanga, and he started the match promisingly, having a goal disallowed for a marginal offside and regularly getting in behind.
Fortunately, the early prognosis is that Elanga only suffered a painful contusion to his shin.
“It seems to be not bad, so we are blessed,” Jaissle said. “I hope it’s true and he can start next week.”
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Thiaw’s birthday gift — or a permanent appointment?
Bruno Guimaraes’ £75million ($101.2m) move to Arsenal was confirmed earlier on Saturday, leaving Jaissle without arguably the most important player of the Eddie Howe era.
Critically, the new head coach is also without a skipper and leadership roles are very much up for grabs. There is a feeling within the club that certain individuals have already stepped up, looking to assume greater responsibility.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Jaissle selected a fellow German to wear the armband for his first match. Malick Thiaw was handed a 25th birthday gift by being named skipper.
“It was a small birthday gift,” Jaissle joked with a smile. “I still have time to make the final decision, but there is not only one captain, there (will be) a leadership group.”
It is a move which makes sense. Although Thiaw is hardly the most vocal, he is a consistent performer, level-headed and likely to start most matches.
The suggestion is further captaincy trials will follow — Jacob Murphy was given the armband when Thiaw was withdrawn — but bringing in more experience during the closing weeks of the window is also on the agenda. Marseille’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, the 31-year-old Denmark international, is among around half a dozen midfielders who are under consideration.
Trio make their bows — and Wissa thrives
Newcastle paid around £25m to bring Lukas Hornicek to Tyneside and the early indications are he will be Jaissle’s No 1.
Nick Pope has been out in Spain at the week-long training camp in La Manga, but he was not named in a matchday squad which featured three goalkeepers. Mark Gillespie and Aidan Harris, the 19-year-old, were selected instead.
Following Hornicek’s arrival, the expectation had been Pope would depart in search of first-team football. “We wanted to give the new signing 90 minutes,” Jaissle said. “I had a talk with Nick. I really appreciate what he did in his career so far and he knows exactly his situation right now, and we need to deal with it in the best possible way.”
There was no Ewen Jaouen, either, as he had a small injury issue.
For Hornicek, this was a decent introduction. He displayed reasonable distribution and made a few good saves, as well as showing sweeper-keeper skills.
There were early communication issues with his centre-backs, mind. Thiaw and Sven Botman tried to clear lofted balls forwards which Hornicek should have been claiming, with the latter almost heading into his own net.
Aladji Bamba, meanwhile, started as part of the double pivot, with the 20-year-old making his first appearance since joining last month for a fee rising to €40m (£34.2m, $46.2m). The defensive midfielder partnered Ramsey and the pair were tasked with getting the ball forward quickly.
Bamba has a languid style and his passing is sometimes erratic, yet he carries well and looks to be ideally suited to the Premier League from a physical perspective. He was withdrawn at half-time.
Toure came on at the interval for his debut, too. A direct, left-footed left-winger, he initiated the press which forced the mistake to allow Wissa, who was also a half-time substitute, to equalise.
The DR Congo international will thrive upon the service Toure is able to provide — the 20-year-old already has an assist to his name, albeit in a friendly — and, unlike the right-footed Harvey Barnes, the Ivorian offers a different threat.
Full-back priorities only grow
Jacob Murphy deputised as a right-back at Bristol City and 19-year-old Leo Shahar has started three of Newcastle’s four pre-season friendlies. Now, Miodrag Pivas, who is a midfielder or a centre-back by trade, is providing cover at left-back.
The primary reason why the 21-year-old was asked to switch across is because Newcastle are desperately short of full-backs in general — never mind fit ones.
Tino Livramento, the right-back, is still being nursed back from a groin problem and it may take the 23-year-old a matter of weeks to reach full match sharpness.
The loss of fellow England international Lewis Hall for this game due to a knock provided Jaissle with a headache. The 21-year-old flew back to Tyneside on Friday — alongside Fabian Schar and Lewis Miley — with a very minor injury, though he is due to train on Sunday and may feature against Everton at Murrayfield, in Edinburgh, on Wednesday.
Miley filled in at right-back last season, but he too is unavailable, though his 17-year-old brother Mason is also able to play there and has featured at full-back in recent weeks, and Dan Burn is yet to rejoin his team-mates following his World Cup exploits. Dylan Charlton, 20, came on at left-back.
Newcastle have needed to sign at least one full-back all summer and, although Jaissle is still assessing his squad, it is evident he requires a minimum of one wide defender, if not more, in the coming weeks. Full-backs are integral to the way he wants to play and Newcastle are still alarmingly short of senior options, with the season opener a fortnight away.
As Jaissle put it: “Our squad is not complete.”