Newcastle United absolutely dominated the midfield battle against Manchester United on Sunday, much to the surprise of Gary Neville.
The Newcastle trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff were fantastic at St James’ Park, barely giving their opposite numbers a kick.
It was a resounding victory for Eddie Howe’s side, who probably could and should have won by more. The result sparked a reaction from Man United defender Luke Shaw, who did his best not to compliment the Magpies’ performance too much.
Now Neville has weighed in, and explained what he found interesting about Sunday’s game between Newcastle and his beloved Manchester United.
Neville shocked by how much Newcastle dominated Man United
Neville spoke about Newcastle’s win over Manchester United during Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football coverage.
“I thought the most interesting part of the game – and I thought it would be like this before the game – the way that Ten Hag plays he has a three v three in midfield, it’s man for man, so it’s a very easy comparison and simply way of measuring who wanted it more and who ran more,” he said.
“When you look at the stats of Longstaff, Willock and Guimaraes vs McTominay, Fernandes and Sabitzer. I look at that midfield and Guimaraes is a great player but Willock and Longstaff are good, solid lads – but it shouldn’t be this way.
“Should they have more passes than the Man United midfield? They probably shouldn’t. They won possession more than the Man United midfield by a lot, they won a lot more duels, they had nine shots on goal – that’s the surprising thing. They had nine shots vs Man United having one. They ran forward more, they won more duels, and they have won more touches. That was pretty representative of what Luke Shaw and Ten Hag were talking about when saying that Newcastle wanted it more.”
Magpies simply better than the mighty Man United
It probably isn’t intended this way, but it feels like a massively backhand compliment from Neville. He seems blown away by the fact that Newcastle were just better in every department than his former side.
The pundit said it ‘shouldn’t be this way’, but why not? This is not the Sir Alex Ferguson era anymore, Man United are not the best team in the land. They do not have a divine right to be the best.
This is always the reaction anytime Man United lose a game. It is always a travesty, highlighting how poor they were rather than focusing on the opposition.
Why shouldn’t our midfield dominate? Willock has been going under the radar in the Premier League all season, while Longstaff is enjoying the best campaign of his life.
Newcastle may have wanted it more, but it was backed up by real quality. It was not just a blood and guts performance filled it with passion. We showed that, but our efforts deserve a lot more respect.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
