Coaches bid to change Toon’s defensive play
NEWCASTLE’S new coaching staff have been looking to do more than merely remedy the team’s defensive frailties, even ahead of their trip to Arsenal today.
The Magpies conceded three goals last weekend at home to Brentford and are yet to keep a single clean sheet this season, with errors in the backline a regular occurrence.
Bottom of the table and yet to win a competitive game this season, Eddie Howe and his backroom team have a huge job to turn Newcastle around and the prospect of stopping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and co is a daunting one.
However, the new head coach has been keen to transform the way United play, looking to change the players’ mindset after years of defensive play under Rafa Benitez and Steve Bruce.
Though Howe has been in a hotel room all week battling Covid, he and his coaches have been working hard to overhaul the style of play.
Yesterday Tindall reiterated the new coaching team will not look to defend – and make sure the defence is alright – at all costs.
He said: “We work on different aspects of our game on the training ground.
“What we don’t want to do is prioritise defending and fully focus on that and then lose sight of our attacking play.
“We know we have to be better as a team defensively – we know that – but when we arrived here we knew we also had to be better from an attacking perspective as a team.
“It is all about getting that balance right, about doing the work on the training ground.
“Some things are going to take a little bit longer than others.
“There is no short-term fix in football but what you can do is work extremely hard every single day to try and become the best you can be.”
Finding the right combination to play along the backline has been tricky and various players have been used out of position in an effort to find a winning formula. One player who might now get more of a lookin under Howe and Tindall is former Argentina centre-back Federico Fernandez.
The veteran has not even made the bench since Steve Bruce’s final game in charge against Spurs last month, despite United having the luxury of naming nine substitutes.
Graeme Jones, who had a brief stint as interim boss, previously admitted he ‘did not see any value’ in putting Fernandez on the bench because the 32-year-old needed to start.
Howe opted not to name a recognised centre-back among the substitutes against Brentford last time out – Emil Krafth and Isaac Hayden instead provided cover – but Tindall is convinced Fernandez will eventually be given his chance.
He said: “Fede is in contention just like the rest of the squad.
“Everyone is always in contention for every game.
“The manager will always pick a team he believes is the best team to win the game.
“I can only speak on how Fede’s been since we have been here. He has trained extremely well.
“He is an outstanding professional, a fantastic guy and a real leader within the group.
“Every one of these players is going to be called upon at some point. As and when that happens? Who knows.”
What we don’t want to do is prioritise defending and fully focus on that and then lose sight of our attacking play