There was a need for perspective in the North East such was the level of disappointment felt at Newcastle United not winning for the seventh time in a row in the Premier League. What a thing that is to say. It came from one of the club’s owners and their star player, and it characterised the whirlwind of 2022 perfectly. “We were fighting against relegation and now we are fighting for the title,” Bruno Guimarães said. “We were 19th this time last year,” Mehrdad Ghodoussi added.
Eddie Howe could not hide his irritation — for the record, the last manager to preside over seven successive Premier League wins for Newcastle was Kevin Keegan — while the home crowd had become increasingly impatient as the game wore on. Leeds United were successful in breaking up the rhythm of a fractious match played in heavy rain. It meant that, for once this season, the Newcastle fans headed into a grey night in grey mood.
It felt, then, an important time to reflect upon the revolution that has taken place in the past 12 months, from a home draw with Manchester United on December 27, 2021, at St James’ Park to another one with Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United. “This place is unrecognisable,” said one fan for whom the Leeds game was their first at St James’ Park in 2022.
Newcastle were 19th in the Premier League after that point against what was then Ralf Rangick’s side. They had won only once all season and few here had heard of Guimarães or Sven Botman. They had 11 points; they have more than three times that amount now.
Guimarães, who wore a Brazil strip with “Pelé 10” on the back in the warm-up, said: “This can happen in football. It is a difficult game [against Leeds], the game we could win, but we still take one point for the run-in. It is important to take the point. I am upset but we need to keep positive.”
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The joint owners, Ghodoussi and Amanda Staveley, echoed that attempt at reflection and perspective.
Ghodoussi tweeted: “The last 12 months have been an incredible journey for all of us. Through hard work, persistence and determination we have finished the year third in the league.
“Our journey has only just started. We have an incredible future ahead of us as long as we stay united and fight as one.”
The point for Leeds felt far more appreciated, and they needed it, as they did the clean sheet, having conceded ten goals in their previous three league games. Marsch accused Newcastle of becoming direct in their style as they sought victory.
Twice from open play Sean Longstaff shot over and Chris Wood also missed two chances, but the opportunities for Fabian Schär and Dan Burn came from set pieces.
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Figuring out how to break sides down was not the main consideration for Newcastle 12 months ago, when keeping teams out at the other end was the biggest problem. Now, it is.
Guimarães echoed an often-held view of Pep Guardiola when discussing Manchester City’s games, speaking of how compact the opposition had made the game. “A goal was missing but we had many problems to find the space,” he said. “We were a bit anxious but the problem was space.”
Breaking down compact opponents is a new challenge for Howe and Newcastle looked more dangerous in that regard when Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin were brought on late in the game and Joelinton was restored to the midfield position that he has been a revelation in, in 2022. The grimness of the conditions cannot be understated but Newcastle’s passing accuracy of 77.3 per cent was low for a team with Champions League aspirations.
Leeds were more careless with the ball (63.6 per cent passing accuracy), and the second half became a war of attrition for them. Rodrigo’s 64th-minute shot was their only effort on target but there should be praise for a new-found resolution.
Football at the highest level is increasingly tactical and data led but the words of Marsch have been the cornerstone of teams conceding fewer goals for as long as anyone can remember. “We talk about tactics and mentality but it comes down to momentum and energy and bending but not breaking,” he said. Leeds did not break.
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For Nick Pope, it was a ninth clean sheet of the season, putting him two clear of Aaron Ramsdale and David de Gea. Newcastle, who have recalled their reserve goalkeeper Martin Dubravka from a loan spell at Manchester United, have conceded only two goals in their past ten games — another sign of their rapid progress.
