Russell Martin has kept his strategies under wraps during pre-season friendlies, frequently rotating his starting XI throughout the games. Will he adjust his tactics for the upcoming match against La Liga side Getafe CF?
If Newcastle United have been scouting us during pre-season, they likely haven’t gained much insight. Each game has been characterized by numerous substitutions and mixed starting lineups. The manager has yet to field a consistent starting lineup in defense, midfield, or attack, let alone the entire team at once.
This raises questions about what his tactics will be on Saturday afternoon. Will he finally field a lineup that resembles a potential Premier League starting XI, or will he continue to mix and match? With just a week left before the season starts, it’s been difficult to gauge our team’s readiness. We haven’t seen who will partner up in key positions, making it hard to assess our strength in each area.
We don’t know which central defensive partnership the manager prefers, whether he will choose Charlie Taylor over Ryan Manning at left-back, or even opt for Jack Stephens. Up front, it’s unclear whether Ben Brereton Diaz or Adam Armstrong will play centrally, or if it will be someone else entirely.
If we’re unsure, it’s hard to imagine what Eddie Howe might be thinking. What is clear is that we cannot play the possession-based football we’ve been attempting in pre-season if Alex McCarthy is in goal. If McCarthy starts the season, we need to adjust our style to suit him, just as we did at the end of last season. This is one of the few concrete takeaways from the pre-season; we haven’t had the chance to gel as a team.
Presumably, Russell Martin knows his preferred lineup, but wouldn’t it be better to test it out before the trip to St James’ Park? Perhaps some of these questions will be answered at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon, though I doubt it.
Personally, I believe we have a decent squad assembled, though there’s always room for improvement. However, we can only truly judge the players when they are playing in something close to a first-choice side, not when we are experimenting all over the pitch, like playing Ryan Manning in midfield.
The big question is whether Kyle Walker-Peters will get a run-out. He hasn’t played so far, which suggests the manager might be resigned to losing him. But with only a week to go, if Walker-Peters is still at the club, he needs some pre-season minutes under his belt. As it stands, this feels like yet another “Meaningless Pre-Season Friendly” from the perspective of the fans hoping to gain some insight into the team’Newcastle United’s pre-season scouting of our team likely hasn’t revealed much, as the manager has yet to field a consistent lineup, experimenting with various combinations instead. With just a week until the Premier League season begins, questions remain about our squad’s readiness, especially in key positions like defense and attack. Fans are eager to see if Russell Martin will finally showcase his preferred lineup against Getafe, or if Saturday’s match will be another “Meaningless Pre-Season Friendly” with little insight into the team’s true forms readiness.