Matthias Jaissle has come to English football with a clear identity for how he wants his Newcastle United team to play, which has thus far seen some mixed results.
His comments in today’s press conference once again reinforced his desire to play ‘vertical’ football, claiming that the style “will work anywhere”.
But, whilst it is positive to see the German with such a belief in his coaching and ideology, does his apparent stubbornness resurface some of the issues that have caused the Magpies problems in the past?
Jaissle’s loyalty to ‘vertical’ football
Whilst we have seen Jaissle’s style of football reap some benefits, with performances such as the one against Liverpool showing just how effective it can be going forwards, there have also been some question marks raised over just how viable it is all the time, highlighted by games such as Leeds away which ended in a 4-1 drubbing.
But Jaissle has always played this style and is clearly not planning to abandon his principles any time soon, despite the early questions posed about its suitability to the English game.
“The style will work anywhere. They questioned it in Saudi Arabia - can you play that style when it is 40 degrees outside?
“Can you play it when players are maybe not at the physical level that you have had before? We showed it is possible.
“Look at Barcelona now, and the way they are flying. I would not say that Hansi Flick is from the Red Bull dynasty, but there are a lot of elements in the way he works that can see are from there.
“The players there might have been more used to playing in a tiki-taka style, but they have adapted and you can see it is working. I was listening to Rodri, and he was saying a lot about the physicality and the way they train now. It shows that it can be done in every league, in my eyes.“
The German clearly has a strong belief in his players to adapt to how he wants them to play, which does have some strong backing when you take into account that some of these players have already shown they can do parts of it under previous boss Eddie Howe.
But does his clear certainty that his system will work no matter what raise some concerns for the club going forward?
Newcastle have been burnt by stubbornness before
Whilst there is nothing wrong with a manager being passionate about how they want to play, and we have seen Jaissle’s style play different variations of the same principles this season, Newcastle United fans will be all too aware of what can happen when a manager simply refuses to adapt.
For a large part of last season, the cries for Eddie Howe to try something different got louder and louder, eventually reaching fever pitch when the Magpies were on the brink of failing to qualify for Europe.
Yet, Howe didn’t change. He played the same football that clearly wasn’t working, the same personnel who weren’t impacting games, and ultimately saw his entire ideology countered with relative ease by opposition on a weekly basis.
The worry with Jaissle’s recent comments will be that we have seen this film play out before, and it quickly became a horror rather than a feel-good action movie.
Why Jaissle’s style may not work
It wouldn’t be enough to just claim he’s wrong, though. His comments raise concern because we have already seen some vulnerabilities, and simply don’t know if they will be corrected.
Newcastle have faced the most shots in the division so far this season and have looked incredibly shaky in defensive shape. In fact, if it wasn’t for Lucas Hornicek between the sticks, goodness knows where we’d actually be sitting in the league.
The Magpies have also faced a rather pertinent struggle to actually create chances and, despite having eight points on the board and sitting in the top half of the table, the xG table has Jaissle’s men sitting rock bottom of the Premier League.
Jaissle’s system appears at its most effective when provided with the chance to play in transition and also when afforded space to progress the ball vertically, which we saw well nullified by Bournemouth when they came to St James’ Park.
We are yet to see if the Magpies can find a way to make the style of football Jaissle wants to play work when the environment is different, for example when Newcastle have more control of the game or when put under relentless pressure while playing out from the back.
It wouldn’t be unfair, however, to suggest that Jaissle is destined to fail because of his system. In fact, that is the exact opposite of the outlook we want to portray here because there are plenty of reasons and examples that suggest it could really work once the German has the time to fully implement the style.
Why it can work
The Magpies have an abundance of players who thrive when the game becomes stretched and they have that aforementioned space to spring devastating attacks. Players like Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa have an excellent ability to attack at speed with unbelievable directness.
That was exactly what made the performance against Liverpool so encouraging. Newcastle weren’t simply launching the ball forward for the sake of it; they were winning the ball in dangerous areas, moving it quickly and then exploiting the space Liverpool left behind.
The Magpies also have players who can forge those sort of opportunities even when it doesn’t feel as though the picture is there to do so, case in point being Nico Gonzalez’s raking ball against Spurs that led to Elanga’s goal, which forced an attacking transition from absolutely nowhere.
So, while there have been difficulties in breaking from the low build-up phase at times, there is data there to show the Magpies can do it, alongside most of the other things Jaissle is looking for.
It’s just whether they can be done consistently enough for the system to be viable all the time because, as it stands, the German is showing no signs of changing how his side are playing.
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