Gary Neville was caught off guard by Newcastle United’s tactics during their Carabao Cup penalty shootout against Arsenal.
The former England and Manchester United player, working as a pundit for Sky Sports, noticed Newcastle’s warm-up routine, where Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman, and Dan Burn (playing as a left-back) appeared to be performing a mock warm-up.
However, when the teams took to the pitch, Newcastle lined up with a five-man defensive formation, with Lewis Hall at left-back and Burn moved to centre-half. To further confuse Arsenal, Newcastle also warmed up Lewis Miley alongside the starting players, rather than with the substitutes.
Neville, who had been praising Arsenal’s chances, commented before the match: “Just some breaking news, Newcastle are warming up with a four at the back, which makes sense. The idea of Tonali and Guimaraes in midfield on their own would be a big ask, so it looks like Lewis Hall will move into midfield. That should give Newcastle more of a chance.”
Both Fot Mob and Whoscored.com listed Newcastle’s formation as a 5-4-1, which puzzled pundits ahead of the game. Jason Tindall, when asked if the defensive switch had been effective, told Chronicle Live: “It did, yeah. Going into the game, tactically, we had to be sharp. We knew we couldn’t rely on the scoreline from the first leg. We had to take the game to Arsenal, and we did. We made tactical changes, and the players executed them perfectly.”
After the match, Eddie Howe credited Newcastle’s pressing game for the second, decisive goal, which came from Anthony Gordon following a steal by Fabian Schar, who slid in to win the ball. Howe explained: “We wanted to put pressure on them [William Saliba and Gabriel], so we made sure to get bodies in the right positions and press high. That was our plan, and it worked perfectly.”
Newcastle United bamboozle Arsenal with ‘false’ warm-up trick that fooled Gary Neville
