Benitez knows how to ring the changes at Toon
THE possibility of a new owner at Newcastle United lifted the supporters at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.
Before the game, you could feel the excitement around the concourses of the famous old stadium with fans smiling at the idea of a new direction for the Magpies.
The noise levels went up a few notches too and it’s understandable that Geordie fans are now ready for a change.
If this is what the atmosphere is like now, the mind boggles at the prospect of the first game under new ownership.
By the end of the afternoon, however, Newcastle fans were appreciating the best thing about the club at the moment – their manager Rafa Benitez, whose name was belted out loudly just after this match was won.
We’re not at the takeover stage yet and in the meantime, Benitez has to guide his team through an important period of picking up points before the tough festive schedule arrives.
He did that superbly against Crystal Palace on a day that tested his managerial mettle against former England boss Roy Hodgson.
United have had some fine managers, such as Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson – both still revered on Tyneside because they both had a good eye for a player and were able to motivate supporters and players alike.
In Benitez, United currently have the match-day motivator, influential transfer-market operator, and a man who spends his life constantly working on tactics and ways to win football matches.
Newcastle fans are getting to see a tactical master at work these days.
As they waited and watched a rather abject game unfold, Benitez was calmly looking for a way to win as Hodgson sent his team out to frustrate the opposition.
By the 86th minute, Benitez had found a solution and while in days gone by Newcastle would have maybe lost this game by overcommitting bodies late on, the Spaniard transformed it by carefully calculating and plotting a route to victory.
Gone are the days of a monotonous selection of the players who are deemed the best at the club on paper – a situation that used to see the likes of Gini Wijnaldum or Moussa Sissoko guaranteed a game on reputation despite shocking form. Instead, Benitez is prepared to ring the changes – and no player is safe from the axe. Having kept things tight in the first half and allowing his side a platform to go on and win the game, Benitez then introduced some spark into his midfield engine room. Swapping Isaac Hayden for Mikel Merino offered United Lee Ryder something different in the middle of the park, and although the former Arsenal man had done nothing wrong and is steady enough, Merino just seems to give the Magpies that touch of finesse.
Merino managed just four fewer touches (33) than Hayden during a 35-minute appearance and seemed to give the Magpies more of an edge in that area.
And his winning goal fully justified the substitution for Benitez on a day when something different was needed to secure the win.
Only a week earlier at Southampton, Hayden’s freshness resulted in him scoring the opening goal at St Mary’s and the thoughtful figure of Benitez is getting his calls on a match day exactly right. But he is difficult to predict. Few fans would have thrown Mo Diame on as United’s second change of the day but Benitez is brave enough to make an unpopular decision.
As it turned out, Diame’s strength in the final third helped pave the way for victory as a tiring Palace team had to contend with him in the closing stages.
Just as the fans were starting to accept a goalless draw and one of those days, Benitez then introduced Aleksandar Mitrovic for the last 12 minutes and he admitted in his Press conference that the final substitution had been designed to lift the crowd.
All three changes set up a tense finale for Palace and they were unable to hold out as Merino headed home and resilient United secured the three points to make Saturday night an enjoyable one for supporters and players alike.
New owners and Benitez could be the perfect combination for days like these to continue at St James.’