Magpies fit for purpose - but short up front
NEWCASTLE United suffered a 1-0 loss against Mainz 05 as the Magpies’ pre-season tour of Austria ended on a disappointing note.
Delano Burgzorg scored the only goal of the game at the Kufstein Arena just before the hour mark after Mainz took Eddie Howe’s side apart on the counter-attack.
Here are five things we learned from Newcastle’s latest friendly.
Fitness won’t be a problem this season.
This was Newcastle’s biggest preseason test yet as Howe’s side came up against a Mainz outfit who finished in eighth place in the Bundesliga last season, defeating Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig along the way.
Howe will have learned more from a defeat like this compared to a comfortable victory against inferior opposition.
Eager to get minutes into his players’ legs, he decided to retain the XI which cut loose in the second half and finished the 3-0 win against 1860 Munich.
Sven Botman, Fabian Schar, Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes, Miguel Almiron and Chris Wood were among those handed their first preseason starts as a result.
In contrast to Friday’s game, even fatigued, Newcastle started the match with the intensity lacking a few days previously.
You could see what Newcastle have been working on during their training camp, whether it was pressing high up the pitch to force Mainz into mistakes as even right-back Kieran Trippier did at one point, playing out from the back or trying to dominate possession.
Perhaps most importantly, Newcastle are getting fitter, which is the primary objective of pre-season, and match fitness and extensive work with the ball is what the players lacked a year ago going into the new season.
The need for firepower clear
Newcastle lacked an edge at times in the final third against Mainz and Wood had little to feed off during his hour on the field.
The Magpies only created one chance for the striker in the first half just before the half-hour mark when Sean Longstaff’s ball over the top found Almiron down the right.
Almiron went on to cut the ball back to Wood but the 30-year-old fired over.
Newcastle did not ultimately force the goalkeeper into a save of note until the 54th minute when Almiron again cut the ball back, this time to Joelinton, but Robert Zentner parried the midfielder’s effort.
It was only after going behind, and following a raft of changes on the hour, United looked a little more threatening with substitute Elliot Anderson at the heart of things.
Anderson started off one move just a few minutes after coming on with a driving run and picked out Emil Krafth out on the right, but Jacob Murphy was unable to convert the Sweden star’s cross.
The chance summed up that final touch, pass or finish United lacked.
Howe hopes to get a ‘couple’ of more deals done and after missing out on Hugo Ekitike and potentially Armando Broja too the need for firepower is clear.
Sven Botman catches the eye again
After an impressive cameo from the bench against 1860 Munich three days previously, Botman was given the chance to impress from the off alongside Fabian Schar.
Yes, it was only a friendly but this was another encouraging display from the summer signing, who was not only dominant in the air but also so composed in possession.
Although Botman is comfortable playing as a right-sided centre-back, too, there was a nice balance to Newcastle’s starting centre-back partnership, the naturally leftfooted Dutchman complementing the naturally right-footed Schar.
A hint at how captaincy could work
Howe has already confirmed Jamaal Lascelles will remain as the club’s captain this season and perhaps that decision should not come as a huge surprise.
Howe after all is keen not to disrupt the dressing room and wants to retain the togetherness and spirit which served Newcastle so well in the second half of last season.
Lascelles remained a crucial figure in Howe’s leadership group as a ‘very powerful presence’ who has helped keep the dressing room together for years during difficult moments. He will keep that role going forward, regardless of whether he is a regular starter or not, and it will fall to others like the vocal Trippier to wear the armband when the centre-back is not playing.
Monday’s friendly offered a little preview of that dynamic as Lascelles started on the bench and Trippier led Newcastle out.
ELLIOTT Anderson’s big week or so to come
That Anderson impressed against non-league Gateshead and thirdtier 1860 Munich was not a shock.
Ater all, he is more than comfortable at that level, having helped inspire Bristol Rovers to promotion from League Two last season.
What was striking about Anderson’s half-hour cameo against Mainz was how the 19-year-old again caught the eye against vastly superior opposition as one of Newcastle’s real bright sparks both with his drive on the ball and the way he pressed off it.
The attacking midfielder will be desperate to build on a strong start to pre-season against both Burnley and Benfica when the Magpies jet off to Portugal later this week.