'In some ways': Jamie Carragher defends Eddie Howe after many Newcastle United fans question manager's decisions
Eddie Howe's team selection to face Barcelona last night raised many eyebrows, as the goal hero from Saturday, Nick Woltemade, was left out of the Newcastle United starting lineup with Anthony Gordon starting in his stead.
Eddie Howe has started Anthony Gordon as a makeshift striker on several occasions, and it has never borne fruit. What was it that Albert Einstein said about the definition of insanity?
The general consensus was that had Newcastle started with a strike last night, the result would likely have been very different, especially given the embarrassing fourth-minute miss by Gordon.
Team selection aside, though, the tactics employed by Eddie Howe were fairly sound when you consider how close Newcastle came to breaking the deadlock.
Jamie Carragher says Eddie Howe got it right with the pace up front on Thuresday
Jamie Carragher certainly believes that Eddie Howe got a lot right on the night, as he told CBS Sport.
“I mean, in some ways, Eddie Howe got it spot on tactically.
“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.”
Anthony Elanga was electric against Barcelona
The pace up front, particularly that of Anthony Elanga, caused Barcelona a ton of problems, but what was missing was someone capable of applying that striker's instinct in the box.
Elanga was actually outstanding in the first 45, and although it was a Jacob Murphy cross yet again that set up Newcastle's goal, we think Elanga may have done enough on Thursday to put himself back in contention for a starting place, especially as Eddie Howe has since shared that Murphy is nursing an achilles issue.
Things are starting to come together for Newcastle. There was always going to be an adjustment period with so many new faces, but you can definitely see what Howe is aiming for.
