The Newcastle comeback against Bournemouth on Saturday told you more about this squad than any of the three wins that preceded it. Coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at St. James’ Park, Matthias Jaissle’s side passed the kind of gut check that smooth opening runs cannot prepare you for.
Before Saturday, it had been a near-perfect start: a spirited draw at Liverpool, wins over West Brom and Tottenham, and the high-profile arrivals of Nico Gonzalez and Matias Fernandez-Pardo. Rosy in the garden, as they say. But Jaissle has repeatedly warned that a squad built on young, high-potential players will have its bumps, and Bournemouth delivered one.
Bournemouth exposed the gaps
Marco Rose’s side pressed with real intensity and suffocated Newcastle for long stretches. The Cherries raced into a two-goal lead, and in truth it could have been more. Newcastle struggled to keep the ball and were repeatedly caught in possession. With Jaissle’s aggressive, possession-based system, turnovers left them exposed both wide and through the middle. Captain Dan Burn and vice-captain Joelinton were absent through injury, and the question of whether this young squad’s lack of experience would become a problem was being asked loudly.
Newcastle United goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek, signed from Braga for £25.7m according to The Athletic, had to stay sharp throughout the first half to prevent AFC Bournemouth from extending their lead further. He did his job. The comeback, though, needed others to step forward.
Barnes, Ramsey and the Newcastle comeback against Bournemouth
Harvey Barnes did it first. Just 25 seconds after the second Bournemouth goal went in, he cut inside from the left and unleashed a right-footed strike beyond Djordje Petrovic. Stunning, and precisely what Barnes does when it matters most.
Then came the substitutions. Aaron Ramsey brought the midfield control that had been missing, steadying things and giving Newcastle a platform. Fernandez-Pardo came on and showed glimpses of explosive quality, winning fans on the terraces with his pressing off the ball. Between them they shifted the game’s momentum.
But arguably the most eye-catching contribution came from Sean Steur. The 18-year-old, signed from Ajax for £20.1m according to The Athletic, was demanding the ball and trying to affect things from the moment he came on. Newcastle insiders had seen that character in a difficult environment at Ajax last season. He showed it again here, and the Tyneside crowd noticed.
Steur was not the only major outlay of the summer window. Bazoumana Toure arrived from Hoffenheim for £43m, according to The Athletic’s review of Newcastle’s transfer business. The scale of that investment underlines how seriously the club is building for the long term, a point reinforced by their announced intention to construct a new £190m training ground.
That long-term thinking was on Sebastien Bassong’s mind when he spoke before the match. The former Magpies defender told Premier Bet he had initial concerns when Newcastle lost key players, but that the new arrivals had changed his view. ‘With the players they’ve brought in, I see some fresh legs and renewed energy,’ he said. ‘I think it’s the right approach to embrace that change fully, rather than just trying to adapt on the fly.’
Bassong was equally direct about why the new signings fit this club. ‘The new signings bring a lot of passion that really suits the club. Newcastle is a special place, and once you get the fans behind you, which they almost always are, it makes a massive difference.’ He added that Jaissle’s structured approach, rooted in what Bassong called the manager’s DNA, had made for an encouraging opening to the season, while acknowledging difficult patches would come.
Saturday was one of those patches. What matters is the response, and Newcastle delivered one.
The noise around this squad has been generated by the new arrivals, but it was Ramsey and Barnes, the experienced heads, who clawed the point back when things were going wrong. Yoane Wissa and Anthony Elanga caught the eye in the first two games. Against Bournemouth, the old guard sent their own reminder.
Jaissle now has players across the squad who want to play for this club, who fight when it gets hard. Trips to Millwall and Leeds United arrive in the next eight days. After Saturday, there is reason to believe this group can handle both.