Steve Bruce accepts Newcastle limitations and focuses on defence
It was at a similar time on the same afternoon in late July that Steve Bruce and Boris Johnson addressed their new audiences for the first time.
Newcastle’s manager and the prime minister were freshly installed and, albeit embracing slightly different topics, the respective introductory messages from St James’ Park and Downing Street could have been drafted by the same speechwriter.
Change and courage proved central themes as more than a hint of revolution pervaded the warm summer air and, little more than two months on, Johnson is sticking, determinedly, to the script. Bruce, though, seems to have belatedly remembered the art of compromise.
In the introspection following last week’s 5-0 defeat – or in his words “surrender” – at Leicester, Bruce resolved to shred the bold manifesto studded with references to possession, progressive passing and high pressing he had been so proud of.
A realisation that his squad is worryingly short of both defensive and midfield pace saw him dusting down the old, deep-sitting, possession-light, repetitively drilled, counterattacking blueprint left by his predecessor, Rafael Benítez.
After deploying four formations – including, disastrously, a back four at Leicester – in seven league games, Newcastle’s manager knows it is no coincidence his team’s only win came when he road-tested Benítez’s version of 3-4-3 at Tottenham.
In the second half of last season that formation camouflaged individual weakness while creating collective strength and Bruce now privately accepts his initial impression that it lacked ambition was misplaced. A screeching U-turn has been implemented before Manchester United’s visit on Sunday.
“For the foreseeable future the team will play, unfortunately, the way we have to set up,” Bruce said. “That’s to defend deep and hopefully play on the counterattack. That’s going to be our identity because that’s the only way we can play. The times I’ve tried to change us it hasn’t really worked.
“I quickly worked out that we didn’t have the players with the capability to play the way I’d envisaged. We get statistics from every game and they tell the story. Compared to other teams and, especially in midfield and defence, we register in a certain way.”
Those stats highlight a lack of explosive sprinting, severely limiting the side’s scope for potentially devastating changes of pace.
Benítez’s solution was endless repetition; he had no qualms about putting Newcastle’s players through the same, seemingly interminable, daily training ground drills. At times the squad probably felt like schoolchildren from past generations reciting their maths tables but the respect for the serial trophywinning Spaniard was such that they fully bought into a regime many now appear to be pining for.
Although Bruce is widely liked, some senior professionals are said to miss Benítez’s clarity, micro-management and solid, carefully structured, tactical framework. “The players are with me,” said the current manager, firmly. “There’s no dispute about that.”
Even so, they had clearly become a little demotivated, if not bewildered. “I understand the coach was trying to explain some kind of style he wanted us to do at Leicester,” said Martin Dubravka, the goalkeeper. “But unfortunately it didn’t work. It was embarrassing. Nobody spoke on the flight home. The plane was silent. It was horrible.”
It would be naive to suggest that, by flicking a switch and reverting to Benítez’s philosophy, all will be well. Bruce always maintains teams are only as good as their strikers but during the summer Newcastle lost Salomón Rondón – whose ability to hold the ball up offered an important outlet – and Ayoze Pérez. With the £40m Brazilian forward Joelinton still acclimatising, they are the Premier League’s jointlowest scorers and, damningly, have had the fewest shots and least amount of possession – a median 33%.
This ball-shy, playing-on-the-break mindset has long been Newcastle’s default mode. Alan Pardew joked about his side often looking “more dangerous without the ball than with it”, and Steve McClaren’s attempts to introduce a patient passing style led to the sack and relegation.
Bruce’s challenge is to avoid both but his chances of staying in office longer than the current prime minister remain opaque.
“Mud’s been thrown my way since I walked through the door,” said a man who looked close to tears at Leicester. “You wouldn’t be human if it didn’t affect youbut I’m a resilient so and so. I’m determined to turn it round.”