Newcastle United fans will be going into the unknown on Saturday afternoon.
It will be the first game of Eddie Howe’s tenure, and fans won’t know what to expect against Brentford.
Who will start? What formation will we use? Are we going to press higher? Will we try and keep possession? Will it be route one up to the big man? Is it going to be just as bad as before?
All these questions will be answered by Saturday afternoon.
Shape is the big one. Newcastle used a variety of different formations during Steve Bruce’s tenure. 3-5-2, 5-4-1, 4-4-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-1-2-1-2, 4-3-3, stand-around-and-try-not-to-concede-too-many, how’s-the-bacon…
We played 5-4-1, or 3-4-3, in the previous game against Brighton, but will Howe change things?
Change in formation on the horizon for Newcastle
According to the Chronicle, Howe worked on his favoured system with the players over the weekend. Throughout his time at Bournemouth, he used 4-4-2.
It looks like the Magpies could be going back to basics and playing Mike Bassett’s favourite formation.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed. While the players may have worked on 4-4-2 in training, Howe could always change his mind. He might not think the players are ready yet.
But if he does go for his favoured system then it could be the start of a new era where Newcastle play on the front foot.
Toon fans want to be entertained. If Howe can get us playing attacking football straight away then we certainly will be.
Bruce tried and failed to make Newcastle more expansive. Under Rafa Benitez, the football was conservative and relied on the counterattack.
Howe will quickly become even more popular than he already is if he can get this group of Toon players playing the attacking brand of football he and the fans want to see.
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