Jamie Carragher has jumped to praise Eddie Howe for his tactical approach despite Newcastle losing 2-1 to Barcelona.
An electric St James’ Park was treated to an entertaining evening of football under the lights when Spanish giants Barcelona came to town.
It was the first meeting between the two sides since 2003, so there was a natural air of excitement which could be felt throughout the city in the build-up to kick-off. Unfortunately, the result was not what fans had hoped for, with Marcus Rashford putting in a brilliant performance, scoring twice to secure all three points for Barcelona.
Newcastle United should still be pleased with their performance for the most part. Anthony Elanga looked lively for the majority of the game, while Anthony Gordon scored his first goal since February.
Fans will remember the night for years to come despite the loss, with the crowd providing something special once again. While Howe did not get the win he was hoping for, he still received praise from Jamie Carragher after the game.
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In the days leading up to the game, fans were adamant that Nick Woltemade had to start against Barcelona after his debut goal against Wolves. However, Howe opted for pace over technique, with Gordon playing up front and Harvey Barnes on the wing.
Some may have seen it as the wrong decision before kick-off, but Newcastle were very unlucky not to take the lead with Elanga managing to find space on the right wing or breaking through the back line and square the ball to a teammate.
The decision to take the quick approach was praised by Carragher in his post-match analysis for CBS.
“I mean, in some ways Eddie Howe got it spot on tactically,” he said.
“He went with his real pace in his front three and caused Barcelona real problems. They should have found themselves 1-0 in front, really, and that comes a lot down to the team the manager picked early on, but they just didn’t quite have the finish.”
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Gordon praised Pedri and Frenkie de Jong’s performances for Barcelona, claiming that they were both ‘fantastic’. It is clear that the pair were two of the best midfielders in the world for the way they were able to glide through Newcastle’s defence and constantly cause them problems.
Newcastle fans and pundits tend to talk about how the likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali are some of the best midfielders in the world, but even on Thursday, it was clear that there is room for improvement.
Those who played against Barcelona were given a big lesson that they will surely remember for the rest of their careers. The goal for them should be to get to the same level as some of the likes of Pedri and de Jong.
Newcastle still have a lot of time to prove they belong in the Champions League, and will be aiming to get their first points on the board when they play Union Saint-Gilloise at the beginning of October.
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