Bournemouth have become a proper pain in the backside for Newcastle United lately.
It is not just bad luck either, there’s a reason why NUFC have found them so difficult.
They are aggressive, they press well and they re very good when games open up. Newcastle United often struggled to deal with that, especially when losing the ball and suddenly there’s space for them to run into.
Bournemouth don’t need loads of chances either, they’re quite happy to make the game scrappy and wait for United to give them an opening.
That’s what makes this afternoon interesting for me because this Newcastle United under Matthias Jaissle already looks like it wants to play with a bit more intensity.
I don’t mean we’re suddenly going to have 70 per cent possession and camp in their half. I mean being more aggressive without the ball, pressing them at the right times and trying to win it back in areas where we can actually hurt them.
Then, when we do get it, I want us to move it forward quickly, rather than giving Bournemouth time to get everyone back into shape.
And that could be where we cause them problems. Bournemouth like to press and commit players forward, but if we can beat that first press, there should be space there to attack.
Newcastle United have genuine pace now, so get Elanga running at their defence, get Wissa making those runs through the middle and let the midfielders look forward rather than sideways every time.
We don’t need to sit back and be a counter-attacking team. We can actually go after Bournemouth, but still be ready to exploit the space they leave when they come at us.
The big thing for me is getting that balance right. We can’t just go hell for leather for 90 minutes because Bournemouth will punish us if we become too open. But I’d much rather see us take the game to them, press them properly and make them uncomfortable, than spend the afternoon worrying about what they might do to us.
This is a new manager, a different approach and, hopefully, a Newcastle United side that’s a bit harder to predict.
I’m not saying the Bournemouth hoodoo suddenly disappears because we have got a new manager but this Newcastle United does feel different.
The pace to hurt them, the energy to press them and, hopefully, the confidence to actually take the game to them.
If we get that balance right, there’s no reason we can’t finally put one over them in the Premier League. It has been a bloody long time coming, so let’s hope today is the day we finally put this lot to bed. Howay the lads.