The Geordies must be in dreamland with this start. Newcastle United have climbed into the Top-4 in the Premier League for the first time in what feels like forever with their 4-0 thrashing of Aston Villa.
Well, it seems the Saudi-led turnaround of Newcastle United has finally arrived as the Geordies are truly one of the most dangerous teams in the Premier League again (for now). I can still remember when a team would cross off a win on their calendars whenever they saw that they were playing Newcastle under the stewardship of Mike Ashley and former manager Steve Bruce.
Those Newcastle teams would have been lucky to score four goals across a four-game span, let alone rifling four past a Premier League side in a single match.
But, under new manager Eddie Howe, that’s exactly what Newcastle has become as they are not only in the Top-4, but they also have the best defense (10 GA) in the league and the joint second-best goal deferential (14 GD) out of the twenty teams. I can’t even believe I’m saying that.
Players like Miguel Almiron, who scored a beautiful curling shot into the far corner in this game today, Joelinton, Calum Wilson, Nick Pope, Joe Willock, etc. have all been transformed from Championship-level players into serious Top-4 stars that can win matches on their own.
Plus, the additions of Sven Botman, Dan Burns, and Bruno Guimarães (who’s quickly becoming one of the best midfielders in the world) have taken this team to a whole new level.
Now, we can debate about the ethics of the Saudi regime (which certainly have dark, unfavorable characteristics that I’m not a fan of), but one can’t deny the fact that they kept their word to the Newcastle faithful: they brought this team back from the dead.
Under Mike Ashley, Newcastle was teetering around the relegation zone like a man would while walking on lava, with the team even dropping into the Championship in the 2016/17 season.
Nevertheless, I don’t see Newcastle ever having issues avoiding the relegation zone again as the billions of dollars/euros/pounds/whatever currencies used of Saudi oil money will ensure that fact.
As for the game today, Aston Villa never stood a chance. The new manager bounce that the Villa players got from Steven Gerrard’s sacking was dried up by the Newcastle attack as the Geordies torched the Villains time and again. After two lengthy delays for the injured Emiliano Martinez, Newcastle struck in first half stoppage time through Callum Wilson as he bagged in a penalty from a foolish Ashley Young tackle.
Then, in the second half, Villa’s woes became even worse as Wilson scored another from a corner, Joelinton added a third off a rebound, and Almiron had the fourth through his wondergoal to cap off a wonderful day for the Geordie faithful.
To be honest, I’m not sure that Newcastle will be able to stay in the Top-4 race this season as the squad depth that Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham (their three main rivals for the final two spots) have far more and better quality in key positions.
Plus, managers like Antonio Conte and Erik ten Hag know how to win titles and lead teams to Top-4 finishes, while Eddie Howe has only ever managed AFC Bournemouth to a 9th place finish in the Premier League.
Nonetheless, it will still be nice to see if Newcastle can be the first team since Leicester City’s miraculous title win to break up the ‘traditional Top-6’ and make it into the Champions League places come May.
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