Eddie Howe: the ‘experiment’ was a failure.
Newcastle United are going to be without Sandro Tonali for the rest of the season, which could force the club to dip into the January transfer market.
The Magpies have been linked with signing another midfielder, but still have a couple of months to go before the January transfer window opens.
That means Newcastle will definitely be a man light between now and at least the start of January 2024, with Sandro Tonali banned until August of next year.
It is a difficult situation for Eddie Howe, who is now looking for a solution to his midfield conundrum. He also has the issue of Elliot Anderson and Lewis Miley currently being out of action.
That has forced the Newcastle manager to be creative, and we nearly witnessed a very interesting experiment on Wednesday night at Old Trafford.
Matt Targett was going to play in midfield for Newcastle
When Newcastle kicked off against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, it quickly became apparent that Matt Targett was playing in midfield alongside captain Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock.
It was an interesting tactical decision by Howe, but one we did not get to see much of. Targett was forced off almost immediately due to injury, which was a devastating blow for the 28-year-old.
After the game, Howe spoke to NUFC TV and explained his decision to put Targett in midfield before he had to be replaced
“We were going to try to experiment a little with Matt Targett’s position,” he said.
“So we were going to look at him as a midfielder just in case in the Premier League we would need another midfielder. We were going to look at him in there.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much of it. I think it was a minute or two that he lasted.”
