BOMBSHELL AT NEWCASTLE! Fan- Favorite Star REJECTS new Contract and is now Set to leave at the end of the season
Matthias Jaissle has only been in the job two months but already there are questions around how sustainable his style of play is at Newcastle United.
The German head coach has made a strong start to his time at St James’ Park, having been brought in midway through pre-season after Eddie Howe’s shock decision to quit the club two weeks after reporting back from the summer break.
It has meant Jaissle having to try to get to grips with the new-look squad, as well as embedding a glut of signings and a different tactical approach, within a few weeks. And while there have been teething problems, a return of eight points from the first five Premier League games and progression in the Carabao Cup represents a positive start to the campaign.
That’s not to say it has all been perfect. Jaissle himself admits that there are aspects of United’s play that haven’t pleased him and there is room for improvement.
One aspect is the number of efforts on goal Newcastle have been conceding – a Premier League high of 97 – with Lukas Hornicek enduring a baptism of fire in the Magpies goal. And Sky Sports pundit Tim Sherwood believes the open style of play implemented by the German is going to cause more problems, even when Jaissle welcomes back senior players like Joelinton and Dan Burn who will hopefully shore up the defensive structure.
“They need their top players back and they’ve sold too many of them. I’m not sure what’s in store,” Sherwood told MaxFreeBets. “I like the manager, but I’m not convinced, let’s put it that way.
“I wouldn’t be putting them in the Europa League bracket. I would fancy Leeds more than I would Newcastle.
“It’s all change at Newcastle. If you’re conceding that many shots at your goal, I mean the goalkeeper’s been outstanding at the moment, but it cannot continue.
“You can’t with so many efforts towards your own goal and the goalkeeper’s pulling off saves left, right, and centre. I thought he was man of the match against Leeds.
“They could’ve been dead and buried by half-time. So they’re gonna have to sort that out. They’re obviously a counter-attacking team. [Anthony] Elanga they miss, you know, he’s a real threat on the counter.”
Jaissle himself knows the standard of Newcastle’s play has been far from perfect. While he has been without a lot of players over the last fortnight due to international call-ups, he is hoping that extra work on the training ground can implement more of his ideas.
Looking back on the first handful of matches, Jaissle said: “There were elements in games where we saw a lot of the things we were looking for. There were also phases in games where we were not happy and satisfied. So there’s still a lot of potential that we can improve.
“We need to remind ourselves always, because we have these high demands, that we are not long here now and we haven’t had too much training time.
“So it was tough. It’s really tough, tougher than expected, to get the stuff and the principles implemented into the player’s head.”
