Jamie on Rafa, tactics, and beating Red Devils
SKY Sports’ lead pundit Jamie Carragher said Newcastle ‘deserved everything they got’ as they pulled off the result of the weekend with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.
The Magpies earned their first win against a top-half-of-the-table side at St James’ Park on Sunday courtesy of Matt Ritchie’s precise finish, which was enough to lift the team into 13th.
Carragher - who joked he would be “safe on the Quayside” now he had praised United on Sky’s flagship Monday Night Football show – felt it was a reversion to more aggressive, attacking tactics which brought the result which has lifted the whole of Tyneside.
Appearing on the show alongside Thierry Henry, he dedicated a segment of the post-match discussion to Newcastle and how they managed to pull off their best victory of the Rafa Benitez era.
On Newcastle’s tactics It was my performance of the weekend and I promised them all of Monday I would talk about it. They would have killed me if I had not done it!
I just want to look at the first eight minutes of the game - this is how Newcastle have to play, certainly in big games. Engage with people, be aggressive. When people are going to Newcastle they are expecting a tough game – or they have done historically - because of the crowd and the players playing on the front foot. So don’t disappoint them.
That is exactly what they did. It is not what they did with the ball, it is how difficult they made it for Man United so it was not comfortable for them. Yes, they still rode their luck but getting to the second ball lifted the crowd.
People mention the crowd at Newcastle as a hindrance (to the home side) at times when you go there. The crowd will be on their backs after 20 minutes. If you are a Newcastle player use it.
Use it to your benefit, you can influence referees, they can lift performances also.
When they see aggression, being on the front foot, playing completely differently to how they did against Manchester City, they deserve everything they get.
On Dwight Gayle
The centre forward has had a lot of criticism and he is not quite up to standard. They brought in Islam Slimani and I think what we see here – the touch for the goal – is one of the assists of the weekend. It is similar to Olivier Giroud’s (for Chelsea against West Brom).
That is a brilliant touch, round the corner and Ritchie finishes. It is a great finish.
On Rafa Benitez
It is what I have been saying all along about Rafa Benitez. That win is why I think they will not go down – because of the manager. He has an ability to get a result where you would never have expected it.
They go into the bottom three, Man United at home, you think they have no chance of winning and they could be marooned at the bottom. They get that victory and that is what they will do between now and the end of the season. They will get wins other teams maybe will not – because of the belief that crowd and that group of players have in the manager.