Alan Shearer says what he loved about Newcastle’s performance vs Arsenal after Mikel Areta dig

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Alan Shearer thought Newcastle United rolled back the years against Arsenal on Saturday.

The Magpies beat Arsenal 1-0, as Eddie Howe’s side continued their resurgence after their Carabao Cup win over Chelsea.

Newcastle United appear to be back to their best, after an uncomfortable start to the season. The performances are now matching the results, and Alan Shearer loved what he saw from his beloved Newcastle.

Alexander Isak scored a brilliant header to win the game, but Newcastle’s performance was more about their work off the ball. They pressed and harried Arsenal, limiting Mikel Arteta’s side to just a couple of chances.

While the Gunners had a lot of the ball, Nick Pope did not have much to do. That is a testament to the Newcastle defence and midfield, who executed Eddie Howe’s gameplan perfectly.

Why Alan Shearer loved Newcastle’s performance against Arsenal

It was an outstanding performance from Newcastle, and Alan Shearer has shared what he loved about it on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast.

“It was more like when they were qualifying for the Champions League,” he said.

“Hard to play against. Great energy. A bit of nastiness. They were really good in their pressing. Made it really difficult for Arsenal. That was much more like it.

“Eddie had to make some big decisions in terms of his midfield. He left Tonali out, played Joelinton on the left-hand side of a front three and played Willock in the left-hand side of the midfield three. Great energy. I thought Longstaff was fantastic as well.”

• READ MORE: Who is Alan Shearer? Stats, Height, Wife, Daughter, Net Worth

What Mikel Arteta said about Newcastle after losing

Shearer says Newcastle were hard to play against, and you have to assume Mikel Arteta feels the same.

He was not too complimentary about Newcastle United, after his side lost yet again at St James’ Park. That is now three defeats in their last four visits to the North East.

“You know the game they want to play,” he told Football London.

“It’s clear. You get dragged into that kind of game too often and we weren’t good enough and didn’t have enough answers to get out of that constantly, especially to create the threat that we needed and discussed about.”

Arteta was then asked to clarify his comments on ‘the game’ Newcastle want to play.

He said: “They are really good at what they want to do. And we got dragged into that yeah.”

Newcastle are here to compete again

Arteta is kind of being complimentary, but it is also a bit insulting.

Fortunately, Eddie Howe was not interested, describing Arteta’s comments as ‘irrelevant’.

And that attitude is vital in Newcastle returning to the best version of themselves. As Howe previously said, Newcastle are not here to be popular, they are here to compete. That means ruffling some feathers and upsetting the status quo.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
8	BrightonBrighton	10	4	4	2	17	14	3	16
9	B’mouthBournemouth	10	4	3	3	13	12	1	15
10	NewcastleNewcastle	10	4	3	3	10	10	0	15
11	BrentfordBrentford	9	4	1	4	18	18	0	13

It was that attitude that got Newcastle into the Champions League, and Saturday’s performance was reminiscent of one from the 2022/23 season.

There was so much to admire about Newcastle against Arsenal, and the hope will be that they can deliver that type of performance on a consistent basis.