Newcastle United are flying right now.
After disposing of Manchester United in the Carabao Cup despite making a raft of changes, Newcastle edged past Arsenal on Saturday evening thanks to Anthony Gordon’s controversial goal.
To have beaten a Premier League contender was billed as a massive moment for Eddie Howe by pundit Gary Neville.
While Newcastle have been strong at home since the takeover, their statement wins over Chelsea, Tottenham and Man United last season came at a time when none of those clubs were exactly convincing.
So, to have found a way to beat an in-form Gunners side who recently conquered Manchester City was perhaps the kind of result that can rival the thrashing of Paris Saint-Germain in terms of a marker laid down.
Neville, however, says PIF have a decision to make long-term if they want more nights like the one on Saturday.
Newcastle news: Gary Neville where PIF have to strengthen
Indeed, speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Neville said the owners needed to go out and strengthen the attacking line in order to truly challenge.
“The ownership here obviously have got wealth,” he said.
“But they’ve got a big decision to make at a certain point of when they try and transfer from what would be a really brilliant group of players with a fantastic manager with a great spirit that probably are never going to win the Premier League as they are now.
“They’re probably never going to win the Champions League and that’s the reality. So at what point do they try and go for it and support Eddie Howe in bringing the players that might make the difference so that they can go and win more big games like they’ve done today?”
He added: “The final bit, the final third. Defensively they’re good, in midfield they’re good but the front three – they’re good the front three players and all of them they have in the squad – but they just need that something else.
“That something just to light it up a bit.”
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Though not all of Newcastle’s attackers are particularly household names, they are still making a difference at the top level.
Only four players outscored Callum Wilson in the Premier League last season, while both he and Alexander Isak sit within the top six for goals this time around.
In Gordon, Newcastle have one of the rising young stars in English football. It’s also hard to think of a right winger who has been in better form than Miguel Almiron since the start of last season. We are yet to see the best of Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy is capable of deciding Premier League games, albeit not always against the big boys.
Perhaps a big ready-made superstar will one day be brought to the club but it hard to see why when things are going so well right now.
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