Newcastle United are a bunch of s**thouses. Right? At least that's what everyone says – whether it's targeting how long the ball is in play or deliberately frustrating the opposition.
There's a banner that the fans hold, claiming that the Toon are not here to be popular, they're here to compete – and if you believe everything that rival fans tell you, the Magpies have been time-wasting, rough, ready and downright dirty this season.
Naturally, that's not the whole picture, though. Newcastle United currently sit third in the Premier League table heading into the final furlong. Could Champions League football really be going to the North East next season? Eddie Howe has got his tactics spot on this season – it's not all just dark arts and dastardliness.
Why have Newcastle United been so good this season?
"Newcastle United are one of the most tactically efficient teams in the league this season," says Adam Clery in the video above.
By playing with a particularly ferocious high press and using Bruno Guimaraes as a tool to get further up the pitch, Howe has managed to instil a high-intensity style of play that enables the Magpies to create turnovers and commit men forward.
In fact, when you look at the stats, Newcastle aren't particularly dirty or employing too much s**thousery by any metric. This is a team, remember, that has gone from the bottom of the league when Howe took over to pushing for Champions League football.
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