CRAIG HOPE: How Eddie Howe forged the Premier League’s best defence with one crucial mantra

Eddie Howe was not laughing a year ago when Newcastle were beaten 4-2 at Liverpool, conceding 34 shots with an xG (expected goals) conceded of 7.27, an unwanted Premier League record.

“Thanks for bringing up that statistic, it’s a great memory of that night!” Howe said on Friday, as I reflected on New Year’s Day at Anfield. This time, however, he laughed.

He could too. The context in which Howe is reminded of ‘that night’, as he put it, is that Newcastle currently have the meanest backline in the Premier League in terms of form.

And here’s the secret. When Newcastle’s defense is at its best, and this is the way Howe has designed it, they don’t have to defend much at all.

Take their last four Premier League games. Not only did they win all four without conceding goals, goalkeeper Martin Dubravka only had to make four saves.

With a ratio of one call of duty per match, this is the lowest in the top flight this season. And in fact, only two of those shots came from inside the penalty area.

Howe’s theory is that, when his team functions the way he wants, it should reduce the need for last-gasp heroics. Stop the shot, stop the goal. Better yet, stop the attack, stop the shot.

That’s not to say Newcastle don’t have players who put their bodies on the line – Dan Burn and Lewis Hall produced goalmouth blocks in the 2-0 win over Manchester United this week, and Howe relishes that enthusiasm – but by using your mind, the body can be spared.

And that goes back to the key that has opened Newcastle’s season and shut out the opposition: Sandro Tonali as a midfielder. At the moment, the Italian has almost everything in his grasp, both in front and behind him. He even found time to put the referee at Old Trafford at ease.

“He sprints to put out fires, chases balls, intercepts balls and uses his athleticism to track runners. He has been excellent from a defensive point of view,” said Howe, whose team is eight games unbeaten with Tonali as ‘No. 6’.

The insurance policy behind Tonali is Burn. ‘You’ll never, ever beat Dan Burn’ they sing, and the ode turns out to be lifelike. The Geordie giant is football’s Diplodocus with the Stegosaurus arsenal. He has the NBA frame with NFL power.

When Thomas Tuchel plays his first Premier League game as England boss during Newcastle’s visit to Tottenham on Saturday, he will be facing the country’s most in-form centre-back.

Burn has been Newcastle’s player of the season, and that’s a competitive field to play in when considering players like Alexander Isak. At 32-34 when the World Cup starts next year, his chances of a first call-up are slim, especially as qualifying seems so easy.

But is he playing better than John Stones, Harry Maguire and Marc Guehi, who have all played at centre-back for England in recent times? You bet.

Sven Botman’s impending return from a 10-month knee injury has led many to assume he will take Burn’s place as Newcastle’s left-wing centre-back. Not Howe.

“As long as Dan continues to play the way he has played this season, you can’t imagine losing him from the backline,” said the head coach, who brought Burn home from Brighton for £13million three years ago this month. .

“He has been an incredible signing, even better than I expected. We knew he was talented and could be a difference maker with his stature and size. “When you add leadership and consistency in performance and selection, he is a tower of strength in the dressing room, a real, powerful force.”

And what about Howe’s own journey? As a player he was a central defender, but as a coach at Bournemouth he was often criticized for being unable to organize a defence.

In five seasons in the Premier League, his Cherries team have never conceded fewer than 60 goals. He also laughed when I reminded him of that reputation.

“I take it the way you meant it!” he said, accepting the existence of the historical stigma with a smile.

‘But I think as a coach you always evolve. I don’t have the same view of the game as I did five or six years ago. If I did, there would be a problem. You’re constantly changing your focus and changing the things you think are most relevant to your team.

‘Believe it or not, we’ve always had a big focus on the defensive side of the game – it would be remiss not to. But the delivery is entirely up to the players. Let’s not kid ourselves: if you don’t have good defenders and a good midfield structure to protect your defense, you will concede goals. If your goalkeeper doesn’t play well, you’re going to concede goals.’

Currently, Howe’s midfield is playing well, as are its defenders and goalkeeper. Their seven clean sheets this season are behind only Liverpool and Nottingham Forest (both eight), and add to a growing defensive CV that also includes the 2022/23 season, when no team conceded fewer goals than Howe’s Newcastle.

“It’s also about the willingness to defend your cause,” he added. ‘We didn’t have it against Brentford (a 4-2 defeat in November). I was very disappointed with our defensive performance that day. This was not what I wanted to see from the team. The response has been much better.

“Against Manchester United you saw the chances they had, we threw our bodies in the way and it looked like we had a great desire to defend. The challenge is to keep that up.’

Keep going and it will take Newcastle back to the Champions League, just like an impenetrable backline did in 2023.

The numbers have them moving towards that prize again – and that’s not bad for a coach whose teams, it was once said, couldn’t defend.