Tindall drops early hint and hails four Newcastle players ahead of Villa clash
Jason Tindall will take charge of Newcastle United for the third time as we head to Villa Park for the Saturday 17:30 kick-off.
In the absence of Eddie Howe, who remains in recovery from a nasty bout of pneumonia, Tindall has extended the Mags win streak to six with thrashings over mid-table sides Manchester United and Crystal Palace.
It’s a run that includes the cup final and stretches back to March 10 when we secured a first clean sheet in five with a 1-0 win over West Ham.
Quite remarkably, our starting xi hasn’t changed at all in the six game period, and Tindall has hinted that isn’t set to change when we take on Aston Villa.
Tindall unlikely to make changes
There were some questions coming into the Crystal Palace game whether or not Anthony Gordon would get a first start since his red card against Brighton, but another goal for Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy, the latter also grabbing a quality assist, seems to have ended that debate for now.
Some also wondered if Tindall would take a risk with Joelinton on Wednesday evening. The Brazilian successfully avoided a booking for the eighth consecutive game and is no longer at risk of suspension for accumulation of yellow cards, with the counter resetting at full-time post-Palace.
Tindall hinted that the electric form we’re in has made the job quite easy to field an 11 on Saturday, saying in his pre-match press conference:
“When you’re in good form and winning games, it becomes difficult to change your team unless you feel players aren’t performing and I don’t think anyone can say that because the players are collectively and individually delivering excellent performances.
“In some senses the team does pick itself, but we’ve got a fantastic squad and everyone’s played their part this season. Everybody is going to need to play their part in the remaining six games.”
Tindall singles out four individuals for praise
“Everyone’s playing awesome,” were the words of Jacob Murphy after our thrashing of Crystal Palace and it’s hard to disagree.
Almost every single starter over this run has been at, or at least very close to, their best at a vital time of the season as we push on for the highest possible league finish. We’re playing as a team, no doubt, but certain individuals have still stood out for praise.
Tindall, we’re sure, would give credit to every single player if he could but four names in particular came up during Friday morning’s press conference.
Tindall on Murphy: “Full credit to Jacob. He’s been at the football club a long time and I’m sure if he was someone we signed at the start of the season or January from somewhere then he would be receiving more plaudits than he is.
His performances certainly don’t surprise myself or the manager. He works extremely hard on a day-to-day basis. He takes everything in tactically and week-in, week-out we know we can rely on him.”
Tindall on Barnes: “It’s a testament to all the players who weren’t starting games for a period—they come in and deliver performances, but you can only do that if you’ve got the right attitude in your work day-in, day-out and are consistent, you’re mentally strong and you deal with frustrations in the right way.
“Certainly Harvey has done that since he’s come into the team. He’s delivered excellent performances individually, but team performances as well.”
Tindall on Tonali: “Sandro has delivered some fantastic performances. With the type of player and professional he is—the sort of attitude he has—there is no ceiling for him. He is one of the best midfielders in Europe based on his form.”
Tindall on Livramento: “It’s not easy when you’ve been playing as a right-back to then go and deliver top performances as a left-back.
“If you look at his last few performances, you’d probably say that he’s one of the best-performing left-backs in the Premier League.”
