Yoane Wissa calls Matthias Jaissle Newcastle’s “best signing” after Spurs win
Yoane Wissa has called Matthias Jaissle Newcastle United’s “best signing” after the new head coach secured his first Premier League victory with Saturday’s 2-0 win at Tottenham.
Second-half goals from Anthony Elanga and Wissa sealed a deserved three points in North London, following the encouraging draw with Liverpool and Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over West Brom. As covered in our full Tottenham match report, it was not flawless, but Newcastle defended well, improved after the break and took their chances.
Jaissle sees his plan taking hold
Speaking to Sky Sports after full-time, Jaissle started simply: “Incredible. Really proud.”
The German was pleased by more than the result. He felt the players had carried out his match plan at a high level and shown complete commitment to what the coaching staff are trying to introduce. He described the performance as another step forward after Liverpool, when Newcastle were seconds away from opening the season with a victory.
There was also an interesting line about the connection between his ideas and the club itself.
“The DNA of Newcastle United is a good fit for the playing style I like to see,” Jaissle said.
That is already becoming visible. Newcastle were aggressive without the ball, attacked quickly once space appeared and became more assertive after half-time. Spurs had spells on top and Lukáš Horníček was needed, particularly in the first half, but this was another organised and committed display.
Jaissle also praised Nico González’s ability to pick the right moments to speed up or slow down play on an impressive debut. When asked about the apparent transformation of Elanga and Wissa, he refused to take much credit, saying his job was to encourage, motivate and support the whole squad.
The clean sheet mattered to him too. After the late frustration discussed in Jaissle’s reaction to the Liverpool draw, Newcastle finished this one properly.
The lads are buying in
Wissa produced the biggest line of the night.
“I think he’s the best signing of Newcastle so far,” the striker said of Jaissle.
Wissa was keen to respect the work Eddie Howe did, but believes the new manager has introduced a fresh identity and greater precision. He also acknowledged that players must step up after a summer of major departures, himself included.
The forward barely featured during an injury-hit first season on Tyneside, but now looks fit, confident and trusted. After an excellent display against Liverpool, he followed it with a superbly improvised goal at Spurs.
Wissa dedicated the win to the travelling support and declared that “with the fans behind us nobody can stop us”. Big words, but the connection between this team and the supporters already looks far healthier than many feared a few weeks ago.
Nico’s reaction offered an insight into the work behind Elanga’s opener. His long diagonal pass found Amar Dedić, whose header released the Swede inside the box.
“It is something I spoke a lot about with the coach,” Nico explained.
Jaissle had encouraged him to keep looking for those switches against Tottenham’s shape. Newcastle became more aggressive after the break, and the 24-year-old believes “this group has so much potential”. That follows Nico’s pre-match comments about the trust Jaissle immediately showed him.
Elanga’s verdict was just as positive.
“Since Day One I feel like we’ve clicked,” he said. Jaissle has been clear about what he expects, speaks to the whole squad and pushes the players every day.
After two goals in his first two league games of the season, Elanga said Newcastle must ignore the external noise and “let our football do the talking”. So far, that is exactly what they are doing.
It is only two league games. Newcastle still have plenty to improve on. But the manager and players are all speaking the same language. The ideas are clear, the new signings have settled quickly and two forwards who struggled last season look completely different.
Newcastle look United again.
