‘Developing Nicely’: Eddie Howe Talks On a new ‘goalscorer’ may Be Emerging At Newcastle Now

‘Developing Nicely’: Eddie Howe Talks On a new ‘goalscorer’ may Be Emerging At Newcastle Now

 

‘Developing Nicely’: Eddie Howe Talks On a new ‘goalscorer’ may Be Emerging At Newcastle Now

For the second friendly in a row, Newcastle United gave a summer signing their first ever Toon appearance. But yet again it was Elliot Anderson who stole the show.

The local lad was the real star when Sandro Tonali made his debut against Rangers, and now he has delivered as Newcastle fans got their first glimpse of Harvey Barnes in black and white.

Anderson started once again in the midfield, with Eddie Howe picking him for all three of Newcastle’s friendlies so far. The youngster is getting a real chance in pre-season, and is taking it with both hands.

He got a goal against Gateshead then followed that up with an assist versus Rangers. And against Aston Villa he was even more influential.

The 20-year-old showed great composure to score Newcastle’s first. He was played through on goal by Jacob Murphy, beat the offside trap and chopped a defender before instinctively finding the bottom corner.

He then turned provider, with his pressing high up the pitch winning the ball back in a dangerous area. Anderson was able to drive into the box and get a shot away, with Alexander Isak tucking away the rebound.

The midfielder was decisive in the first half, and Howe was delighted with what he saw.

Eddie Howe delighted with Elliot Anderson vs Aston Villa
After the game, Howe spoke to NUFC TV and went into detail about Anderson’s performance in Philadelphia.

“He’s come back really fit, we saw that on the first day back with our testing,” he said.

“He’s done really well today by nicking balls in midfield and being very aggressive but the composure shown around the box today was elite, he has done excellently for the two goals we scored.

“I think he is a goalscorer, a potential goalscorer for us. He is a goal creator as well. He’s a very good player. He’s in an area of the team where there is huge competition for places with some very good players.

“We really like him, I think he is developing nicely. And he has a big part to play.”

Newcastle youngster is taking his chance in pre-season
Anderson made the difference in the first half against Aston Villa, with his efforts allowing Newcastle to go into the break level after going 2-0 down.

As Howe says, he was ‘elite’ in and around the box – which was even more impressive considering he had to bounce back from missing a real sitter early in the game.

But he was able to regain his composure and be decisive, which is exactly what we need to see more of. He is a major talent, but he will be defined by how many goals and assists he gets. That is what we need to see from him if he is going to play regularly in the Premier League this season.

It is going to be very difficult for him to be a consistent starter, but his efforts in pre-season suggest that he is more than up to the task.