For the past three Premier League games, Newcaslte United have used a 4-Diamond-2 instead of the familiar 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 set-ups. In doing so, Steve Bruce’s side have accumulated two wins, the second of which a close 3-2 against the out of form Southampton.
The switch to a 4-D-2 could be put partly down to the appointment of coach Graeme Jones, who left his role at Bournemouth and beforehand impressed as manager of Championship side Luton Town. And the new shape has offered a system which suits the profiles in Newcastle’s squad, more organisation when pressing out of possession, and enables attacks which utilise the centre-forwards movement.
Newcastle’s newly adopted system has overseen full-backs given licence to overlap, and a midfield quartet with Jeff Hendrick at the base, flanked by Joe Willock, making his debut whilst on loan from Arsenal, and Jonjo Shelvey, with Miguel Almiron the most advanced midfielder in behind a front two.
That front two of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin acted as two split centre-forwards. This meant that often either would drift into wider positions, to either receive the ball with space to dribble into, or to stretch the pitch and create space in the centre for midfielders to advance into.
And the highlighted features were notable in both of Newcastle’s first two goals.
Newcastle are perhaps not the most creative of sides, and sometimes the passes attempted to go through between the lines and final balls between midfielders and forwards were intercepted.
In the opening 15 minutes Newcastle were also relying on runs from the two forwards to create openings. But this proved an effective tactic.
A long ball straight down the left-side picked out Saint-Maximin who had drifted wide left, whilst Wilson remained central to run into the box if the chance arose, whilst being supported by two midfielders. Saint-Maximin was being occupied by centre-back Jan Bednarek who was doubling up with makeshift right-back Jack Stephens.
But Saint-Maximin was able to turn Bednarek, giving the winger-come-forward room to dribble towards the box. Willock continued his run into the box and slotted Saint-Maximin’s cut back into the bottom corner to give Newcastle the lead.
The forward and midfielder who combined for the opening goal benefited nicely from the 4-D-2. When drifting to the wing, Saint-Maximin had an array of opportunities to dribble into space and force defenders back.
There was one instance prior to the first goal where when dribbling inside from the left, Saint-Maximin could have set up a run from Almiron, but chose to continue moving inside. Although pressed and perhaps taking too much time on the ball, Saint-Maximin forced a switch of play to the right side, where Javi Manquillo’s cross tested the opposing defence.
And when either Saint-Maximin or Wilson drifted either left or right respectively, Almiron could move into space which meant more attackers facing Southampton’s defence in that moment.
Newcastle have at times been hindered by a lack of late runs from midfield, with Almiron usually deployed in more advanced positions. But Willock’s movements weren’t always tracked by Southampton’s defence and he gave Newcastle an extra option in the penalty-area.
With Willock, Newcastle could also be a threat on the counter, if they could break forward and release the ball into the on-running forwards quick enough, in situations like that below.
The second goal again showed the benefits of forwards’ movement. Both forwards were making runs in behind the Southampton defensive line as Hendrick played a long through ball into Saint-Maximin. But whereas Saint-Maximin was running into the box, this time it was Wilson pulling wide, which dragged centre-back Jannik Vestergaard with him.
Hendrick’s pass was hit too heavy for anything to be made of it close to goal, but Saint-Maximin was nevertheless first to the ball. Saint-Maximin quickly cut the ball back to Almiron who had made a supporting run, which was necessary as there were no options in the box, and Saint-Maximin was not in a position from which he could test the goalkeeper.
Almiron had enough time to open his body up to take a shot at goal. His shot deflected off of Bednarek and gave Newcastle a two-goal lead. Saint-Maximin had now assisted two goals, bringing his overall tally this season to three.
Though 30 minutes in, Southampton did pull a goal back through debutant Takumi Minamino. Starting on the left of Southampton’s midfield, Minamino latched onto a pass from left-back Ryan Bertrand. His first touch brought the ball away from the nearest defender and into the box, before Minamino’s left-foot strike crashed into the roof of the net.
As well as being a good finish, the goal arguably also shows an risk when playing a 4-D-2. Southampton’s full-backs had a lot of space to maraud forward. There is more space for the side midfielders in the diamond to cover when without the ball. Against sides that attack with width and/or regular switch play when one sides press shifts to the side where the ball is, the diamond may be exploited.
But in this case, Newcastle weren’t threatened by this too much outside of the goal when the diamond formation was intact. It was only later on in the second-half that Southampton created more and more chances.
Though until then, the diamond was working effectively, and Newcastle again scored to again double their lead. One of many poor clearances from the box by Newcastle was intercepted in their half. But instead of sending the ball back into the box, James Ward-Prowse recycled build-up, sending the ball backwards to goalkeeper Alex McCarthy. This encouraged Newcastle to press high, with the goalkeeper not having many short passing options.
Upon passing to Bertrand, the left-back was quickly closed down by Almiron,
Almiron raced forward with no time for Southampton’s defenders to re-group, and the ball was struck into the bottom right corner.
Newcastle went into half-time the better side, and began the second-half in similar vain, with a combination down their right-side nearly resulting in a fourth goal.
But a foul in Newcastle’s half awarded Southampton a free-kick which was duly struck by Ward-Prowse. It was a sensational free-kick, what you expect from the midfielder at this point, as this was his 10th scored in league football.
With the deficit brought back to just one goal, Hendrick was also sent off for a second bookable offence. This resulted in Newcastle defending deeper altering their shape. It firstly seemed like a lop-sided 4-3-2 or a 4-4-1 with Saint-Maximin furthest up field.
But after Saint-Maximin was replaced with defender Paul Dummett, Newcastle reverted to playing with a back five. Southampton were putting together more passes and crossing into the box more often, and Newcastle were seemingly playing to salvage the one goal difference.
Southampton were essentially camped in Newcastle’s half for the remainder of the game. And although you could argue the defensive approach, even after going downtown to nine men after all substitutions were made towards the end of the game paid off, Newcastle performed better when they were deploying a diamond shape. The games opening 45 minutes was perhaps the Magpies best performance all season.
The Conventional Playmaker 