MARTIN KEOWN: Will masters of game-management Newcastle still time-waste in light of new rules as they face early season test against treble-winners Manchester City
- How will Newcastle approach game against Man City will be very interesting
- The Magpies were the masters of game management in the league last season
Manchester City versus Newcastle has the makings of a mouthwatering fixture and the way Eddie Howe’s visitors approach this game tactically will be very interesting.
Newcastle showed they can turn on the style last Saturday. They took the game to Aston Villa with a high-energy, fast-paced performance that fired up St James’ Park and they won 5-1 to go top of the Premier League for the first time since 2007.
Howe’s Newcastle were the masters of game-management last season, slowing down matches when it suited them. Time-wasting was a feature, particularly away and against teams who play possession-based football. Newcastle averaged the least ‘ball in play’ time of any Premier League club last season (51min, 15sec) whereas City had the most (60min, 32sec).
Referees boss Howard Webb has given a clear directive to crack down on slow play. So we have to assume that today’s referee Robert Jones will have limited patience with time-wasting and particularly Nick Pope taking too long at goal-kicks.
The Newcastle keeper took an average of 36 seconds to restart play last season — by far the longest time in the League. When I played in a possession-based Arsenal team under Arsene Wenger, I would be in the ear of the referee early in the match, telling him it was pointless to wait until the 85th minute to book the opposition’s goalkeeper.
Will an early booking prevent Pope — or any other goalkeeper — from wasting time this season? Don’t underestimate the lengths to which teams will go! So extreme was Newcastle’s game-management last season that Jamaal Lascelles received two separate yellow cards for obstructing the opposition from taking quick throw-ins and he was an unused substitute!
City against Newcastle will be the best test of the new rules. Newcastle could follow the lead of Sevilla, who frustrated City in the Super Cup on Wednesday with their compactness. Their full backs stayed close to the centre backs, meaning the only space available to City was out wide.
Newcastle have made smart signings, including Sandro Tonali who enjoyed a dream debut in last weekend’s stylish win, and have blistering pace that they could apply to counter-attacks with Miguel Almiron, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.
They are capable of frustrating City by staying compact and springing forward on the counter, and that may be their winning game plan.
City opened the season with a bang away at Burnley, with Erling Haaland scoring his first of two goals within four minutes. You could see Haaland’s passion at Turf Moor.
Despite scoring twice, he was angry that he had not been receiving balls in behind from his team-mates. Guardiola got stuck into Haaland as they left the pitch at half-time and he was within his rights to do so. Guardiola is trying to teach his players to stick to his tried-and-trusted script and if that takes a little public humiliation, so be it.
It was in the final few seconds of the first half when Haaland demanded Bernardo Silva give him something to chase. But Guardiola did not want to lose possession cheaply before the break and risk conceding a goal.
Although City returned late from their Super Cup trip to Greece, Guardiola will believe his team have more than enough to win today, even if Newcastle are allowed to continue with their game-management plan.