Opposition Managers No Longer Underestimate Newcastle United

According to Daniel Storey, the i’s chief football writer, opposition managers no longer approach matches against Newcastle United with “no complacency.” Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, Storey stated, “After that season of significant overachievement Eddie Howe had when he came in, opposition managers don’t sleep on Newcastle United anymore.” He further elaborated, “There is no complacency when you face them. There is no taking anything for granted. It isn’t that everyone looks at those games as cup finals, but people are more up for it now than they were in that first season.” Newcastle United centre-back Dan Burn concurred with this assessment, adding: “I agree with that. I think the season where we got to the Champions League was a surprise, with the total change in the way we played the season before.” Burn continued by emphasizing the need for continuous adaptation in football: “Once teams have played against you once or twice, they can obviously change the way they play. The thing is that you have got to constantly evolve the way you are playing – you can’t really stand still in this game.” He concluded, “You can’t just keep rolling out the same thing constantly or else teams will sort of find out what you’re about.”