Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer believes that Eddie Howe made a mistake against West Ham United, but quickly atoned for his error.
The Magpies came from 3-1 down to beat West Ham 4-3 on Saturday, picking up a vital three points in their bid to qualify for Europe. It was a must-win game for Newcastle United, and they nearly didn’t.
But Harvey Barnes inspired a comeback, with his two goals completing a remarkable turnaround at St James’ Park.
It was an unlikely comeback, given how much Newcastle were struggling against the Hammers. Eddie Howe‘s side looked massively disjointed, and that was largely down to the substitution he made in the first half.
Jamaal Lascelles was forced off with an injury, and it resulted in Howe changing his entire back four. Emil Krafth came on and played right-back, Tino Livramento moved to the left, Fabian Schar became the right-sided centre-back and Dan Burn went from left-back to left centre-back.
It was a strange substitution, and one that Alan Shearer did not agree with.
Alan Shearer confused by Eddie Howe substitution vs West Ham
On the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer reflected on the confusing change Howe made in the first half.
“I didn’t understand what Eddie did in terms of his substitution,” he said.
“Lascelles came off injured, and he then changed the whole back four with one substitution, which I thought was a bit of an error.
“But he certainly made up for it in the second half with his substitutions. He took Krafth off, who he had brought on. He’d moved Schar from one side to the other, he moved Livramento from right-back to left-back, he moved Dan Burn to centre-half then they conceded and were all over the place.
“But then in the second half he took Krafth off, he brought Hall and Barnes on, and those substitutions worked perfectly. It was an amazing turnaround.”
Eddie Howe wanted more height in the Newcastle defence
As Shearer says, Howe recognised the mistake he had made and rectified it. Livramento was forced off, while Krafth was taken off. That led to Lewis Hall coming on, and Jacob Murphy moving back to right full-back.
It was a positive change, and one that led to Newcastle turning the game around.
While Howe did make a mistake, his reasoning for bringing Krafth on for Lascelles was sound.
Howe told Newcastle World: “I could have possibly brought Lewis on at that stage but I went for a little bit more height with Emil with West Ham’s set play threat knowing losing Jamaal was a big blow to us physically.”
Howe’s error could lead to Lewis Hall getting a chance
Howe’s reasoning for bringing Krafth on ahead of Hall made sense, but it did not bring the desired results. And when he made up for his mistake, Hall was quick to prove it was exactly that.
While Hall lacks height, he made up for it in composure. He used the ball incredibly well, and built up numerous attacks down that left flank. The 19-year-old even excelled defensively, which is an area of his game that he has needed to improve.
He certainly has based on his cameo against West Ham, and it will hopefully lead to him getting more minutes between now and the end of the season. It could even result in a first start since November against Everton on Tuesday night.
That is what Newcastle fans want, with Hall finally making his mark in black and white.
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