Matthias Jaissle: Newcastle's best signing of the summer

"Eddie Howe did a top job and the new manager [Matthias Jaissle] came with a new identity and that [first goal] is something we have been working on. Every part of the game we are really precise.

“He is a really dynamic manager, so we have to give everything and I think he is the best signing of Newcastle so far."

Those words from Yoane Wissa, when he was immediately interviewed after the 2-0 win at Spurs, felt like a real statement.

It hinted at something some fans had suspected for a while; things had gone stale at Newcastle and we needed change and a new sense of direction.

Not a household name

Mathias Jaissle may not have been a household name, and there are still probably fans of the Premier League who only watch the “big six” who still don’t know who he is. But to Newcastle United fans, the German has breathed new life into the club, the city and its supporters.

He’s done this through an unbeaten start to competitive life at the club of course, but he’s also done it through his aura, his attitude and persona with the media, and with his clear tactical abilities from the touchline.

I wrote in another piece that he’s the perfect tonic for a stale and predictable Premier League, whose Champions seem more interested in playing six at the back and mugging off Stoke’s tactics from the mid-2000’s. His quick, vertical football, which has a heavy emphasis on high pressing and counterattacking, has also been more than enough to beat two of those “big six” at the start of this season – no matter what the result was against Liverpool.

His confidence seems to be infectious and he’s clearly an adept and adaptive man manager, as an anecdote from his time at Al-Ahli proves.

In the defensive of the Saudi sides Asian Champions League Elite title, he dropped Roberto Firmino out of the Saudi Pro League squad and only played him in the continental competitions (giving him time to rest and be effective in those games) because he wanted his teams to go and press high which was something the Brazilian, at his age, couldn't deliver across multiple competitions.

At United this adaptability and clear understanding of what is system needs is probably indicative of why Nick Woltemade now finds himself a Juventus player too.

Identifying their man

The hierarchy deserve huge credit for identifying their man in double quick time and, once things were sorted from the Saudi side, appointing him and his team in a matter of days. 

The under-the-radar approach also owes something to Eddie Howe staying in post, whilst a replacement was sorted, considering Howe indicated two weeks prior to stepping down that he wanted to do so.

This whole summer just goes to prove the value of having a proper executive team in place, transfer business overseen by a slick sporting director, a new manager appointed, the training ground finally being announced and all the additional sponsors who have come on board.

Just the beginning

You never want to go too early on these things, but the simple fact that we sit on four points out of six from Liverpool and Spurs, key signings of Gonzalez, Fernandez-Pardo and Dedic have been secured with safe passage to the third round of the Carabao Cup thrown in, if feels like Jaissle’s given us all something back that felt like it was slipping away a little; the right to dream that your football club can achieve something every time it steps out onto the pitch.

Players too appreciate this attitude and feeling as Al-Ahli defender Merih Demiral said about Jaissle:

“Looking forward to going to training every day was so important, they [Jaissle & his coaches] paid great attention to every detail and always made sure we were fully prepared.

Matthias has built a really strong team around him, and they played a huge role in our success.”

Jaissle’s tactical set up in a 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 or 4-2-2-2 (or variation of) system, also suits so many of the players already on our books, meaning the transition between Head Coaches has been smoother than we could’ve hoped for, and we’ve seen in a small sample size, that the players are looking to win the ball in the oppositions final third, and then transition to attack effectively. Or identify opposition weakness and exploit it ruthlessly, as Andy Robertson experienced on Saturday, with the repeated targeting of him via a long pass over him to an attacking fullback as the LB was isolated by Wissa and Elanga on the inside.

I’m sure the German would be keen to express that this is just the beginning, but for a man who has won five major trophies in five years of top flight management, including winning back-to-back AFC Elite titles (a feat that had never been done before), he will be hungry for success.

At this moment, he looks like the perfect man to lead “Newcastle United 2.0.”