Work to do for Jaissle’s Mags - Newcastle 1-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Matthias Jaissle’s first game at St James’ Park ended in defeat, as a new-look Newcastle in dire need of signings were beaten by Bayer Leverkusen.
Put bluntly, we looked like a side seriously lacking leadership, quality or cohesion, raising real concerns about our readiness for the new Premier League season.
A team missing Bruno, missing strong senior voices, missing that piece of magic in the final third and still getting to grips with a new manager’s system and style after so much change late in the summer.
New signings must come and they will, but we need much more beyond full-back Amar Dedic, who will complete a £30m move from Benfica in the coming days. We need leader and a natural number 10, and the right wing also requires an injection of quality, ensuring we aren’t overly reliant on an improving but goal-shy Elanga.
Match report: Newcastle 1-2 Leverkusen
Newcastle XI: Hornicek; M Miley, Thiaw (c), Botman, Hall; Steur, L Miley; Elanga, Woltemade, Barnes; Wissa.
Subs: Gillespie, Harris, Charlton, Pivas, Sanusi, Johnson, Finneran, Neave.
Leverkusen XI: Flekken, Gutierrez, Bade, Fernandez, Moreira, Tillman, Tapsoba, Arthur, Garcia, Maza, Kofane
Jaissle was given a Geordie welcome as he came out into his new dugout for the first time, but it wasn’t long until his team were behind. Another long-range strike and poor closing down as a rasping effort from Ibrahim Maza flew in past a helpless Hornicek just 45 seconds in.
After that, our first real moment saw Wissa burst forward with the ball, find Miley junior and get on the end of his lobbed ball into the box. Our first fast break where pace met precision, although Wissa’s eventual effort was stopped by Flekken.
The Gallowgate corner then sang “there’s only one Kevin Keegan”, paying tribute to a Newcastle great on our first game back on home turf since King Kev’s passing.
Back to the game itself, we were struggling to get going. Crosses were coming in too easily from wide areas, Steur wasn’t seeing enough of the ball and Miley senior looked rusty; understandably so on his first game back after a leg fracture in May.
A lost and languid Woltemade wasn’t making an impact whatsoever, on or off the ball. We looked disjointed, struggled to retain possession or build patterns of play, despite Hall and Wissa’s best efforts to drive forward. But that soon changed after a drinks break which saw us switch to the new lilac third kit.
Jaissle got in the players' ears during the drinks interval, and we regrouped, picking up the tempo of our play and pushing Leverkusen back. And we were soon rewarded. Elanga’s corner from the left was hung up to the back post and captain Thiaw climbed highest, making it 1-1 before the break.
A seriously flat second half
A half time change saw Lewis Miley come off after a 45-minute run out, with Irish talent Rory Finneran replacing him in midfield. The youngster, signed from Blackburn, has shone at Academy level and received a call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad earlier this year, although his first action saw him robbed of possession on the edge of our box before recovering well.
It was a flat start to the second half and it rarely picked up from a Newcastle perspective, having shades of that nondescript final 45 against Everton on Wednesday.
One positive was Mason Miley, however, who stuck to his task well, showed snap in the tackle and made a few strong blocks from right-back, but he was one of few standouts, aside from Wissa looking sharper and Thiaw being solid.
The warning signs were there after Moreira skipped past Steur too easily a fired just wide, but Boniface made no mistake when his chance came, firing past Hornicek to make it 2-1 with just over 10 minutes left to play.
Barnes saw a late chance fly over after lashing onto Wissa’s strike, before Hornicek’s stoppage-time save kept the score at 2-1. And that was that, as Geordie referee Michael Oliver blew the final whistle in front of 39,000 Mags.
Next up, Ligue 1 side Strasbourg tomorrow and hopefully a flurry of much-needed signings as we build up to big kick off against Liverpool next Sunday.
Keep the faith. HWTL.
