Eddie Howe has always believed coaches make their own luck but there are exceptions to every rule and Newcastle’s manager is adamant that ill fortune is responsible for his team’s extraordinary injury crisis.
As Howe’s captain, Jamaal Lascelles, prepares to undergo major knee surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament this week, Newcastle’s manager is struggling to pick an XI to face Everton at St James’ Park on Tuesday night. Nonetheless, he appears reluctant to alter his side’s hallmark high-pressing style.
“I always think there’s no such thing as bad luck, I think you create your own luck,” said Howe, who is without 10 injured and two suspended senior players. “We play a really high-intensity style and a real physical game. Naturally, if we didn’t play that style and played a different way, the physical cost on our players would be less.
“The speed of the game is definitely getting quicker, week on week. But when you look at some of the injuries we’ve had this year, and we’ve analysed and reanalysed them, then for a lot of them you can’t put them into any category other than bad luck, even though I don’t really believe in it.
“It’s been a really strange one. It looks like the whole of the [still available] squad is going to be used against Everton. But our spirit is still there and that’s the most important thing beyond anything. If you have spirit you have a chance.”
That suggests the little-used Chelsea loanee Lewis Hall may be offered a rare start on the left of defence or midfield. The 19-year-old did well as a second-half substitute during Saturday’s dramatic 4-3 win against West Ham on Tyneside. “Lewis has given me a lot of food for thought,” said Howe. “This is huge for him and huge for us because he’s done an incredible amount of work behind the scenes on various aspects of his game. He came on against West Ham and made a real difference.”
Howe is desperate to fulfil the ambitions of Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian majority owners and qualify for the Europa League. He very much hopes the team’s much-coveted Sweden striker, Alexander Isak, will be part of that potential European adventure. Isak has 18 goals in 31 games in all competitions for his club this season. “He’s an outstanding talent and no one connected with Newcastle wants to lose him,” said Howe. “He’s in a really good place at the moment.”
So too is Elliot Anderson. The 21-year-old homegrown midfielder has missed most of the campaign with a back injury but, like Hall, impressed as a substitute against West Ham. “I felt at the start of the season Elliot would come into the team and be outstanding,” said Howe. “I thought it would be his breakthrough season. Unfortunately we lost him through another really strange injury but he’s back and looking really, really good. I thought he was sensational when he came on against West Ham.
“He’s different from our other midfielders. He’s got that mix of technical ability, a goalscorer’s mindset, he’ll deliver the last pass but he’s also tenacious and athletically he’s very good. Although he’s been out injured and he’s sort of early steps, he’s really good athletically so I hope for really big things. Just as long as he can stay fit.”
