Eddie Howe said his Newcastle United team followed his game plan perfectly as they secured a 4-0 aggregate win over Arsenal to reach the League Cup final on Wednesday.
Having a 2-0 lead from the first leg in London, it would have been tempting for Newcastle to play defensively and protect their lead. But that was never Howe’s approach.
Instead, Newcastle’s aggressive pressing put pressure on Arsenal from the start, forcing players like Gabriel, William Saliba, and Declan Rice into several uncharacteristic errors.
Jacob Murphy added to Newcastle’s lead before the first half was halfway through, and Anthony Gordon capitalized on a mistake by Arsenal keeper David Raya, sparking celebrations at a lively St James’ Park.
“We wanted to get pressure on them (William Saliba and Gabriel) and in order to do that we had to get bodies in the right areas and press high — that is how we decided to do it,” Howe explained to Sky Sports.
“We were playing against elite players, and one mistake can make things difficult. We had to be ourselves, be front foot.”
Howe mentioned that the game plan started coming together only on Monday, but the team’s experience in the Champions League last season helped them adjust quickly.
“The Champions League experience really helped us because that got us working with two-day turnarounds,” Howe said. “We can tweak things depending on the opposition and you could see today the change in our performance.”
Howe had led Newcastle to the League Cup final two years ago, but they fell short then, and their wait for a major trophy, which has now lasted 70 years, continues.
Newcastle fans might hope that Tottenham Hotspur can hold onto their 1-0 advantage in the second leg of the other semi-final against defending champions Liverpool on Thursday.
No matter who Newcastle faces in the final at Wembley next month, Howe believes his team will be in a better position to succeed.
“It is huge (to get back to Wembley),” Howe said. “The first appearance there was a bit unexpected, but the club we want to be we have to be there regularly, so it’s not a surprise.
“We are there on merit, our run has not been easy this year, we’ve faced four Premier League teams, so we have done the hard yards. Hopefully we can learn from the last experience and improve our performance.”
