Newcastle United Eddie Howe has denied that he tried a different system in a bid to bamboozle Liverpool ahead of the Carabao Cup final last month.
In his post-game Press conference, Howe was asked if he’d withheld his plans for Wembley by toying with his attack and opting not to risk Alexander Isak. The Sweden international travelled with the squad, but a lunchtime decision was made, and a groin injury was deemed too dangerous for the striker to star on Merseyside.
And while Liverpool just got on with the job of taking three points, Howe insisted he’s simply been trying to do the same. Howe said: “It was all about trying to win this game, there was no withholding of cards to try to play games.
“It was trying to win on the night. We felt we had to do something different with the team we had available – let’s see what we do in the final.”
Isak should be back for the final showpiece at Wembley and whether he ever tries the same system as he did last night in attack remains to be seen. The head coach used Anthony Gordon as a 10 just behind Callum Wilson but Newcastle failed to manage a shot on target.
Howe reflected: “Without going into too many details, it was difficult to ask Callum to play on his own. We wanted to try to get him some support and help, and also to try to be competitive in the game.
“We wanted to ask Liverpool some questions, so to try to play with two players up there didn’t harm us defensively, and I thought it gave us a twin attack. There were some really dangerous counter-attack moments in the game, but they were situations that we didn’t make the most of.”
It is the second time in a matter of weeks that Howe has opted to alter formation from his tried and trusted 4-3-3. The other occasion was against Arsenal in the second leg of the Carabao Cup final, when he selected a back five with Sven Botman coming in alongside Dan Burn and Fabian Schar.
That system and tactical shift worked a treat, and there was some suggestion that Howe would try to replicate it at Anfield. However, Botman wasn’t included in the matchday squad and Emil Frafth was left on the bench.
Be the first to comment