It's not news that Eddie Howe is taking great care. One step further is probably fair. Eddie Howe is the main obsession of a city filled with them.
Holding a 1-0 lead in the Carabao Cup final and 45 minutes after smashing the 56 Trophyless Hoodoo, Hau didn't speak alone for a halftime team talk. He believed in his preparation.
He had faith in the slideshow.
As the players entered the army, the moment Dan Byrne's header led them, Howe waited with information. His presentation included physical statistics from Newcastle's games over the past two months. He begged the players not to do the same at Wembley.
“We've been guilty of protecting Reed in the past,” Byrne said. Athletic After the match. “We just wanted to move forward without taking a step backwards.”
“Take them,” Jollington added. “Don't change anything.”
They did it all. 53 minutes later, Newcastle jumped forward to the left, and Jacob Murphy's knockdown fell on Alexander Isaac. The Swedish striker had already ruled out his target at the offside moment. Not this time.
His shot found the corner of Liverpool's goal and as he held the 2-1 victory, Howe was catapulted to Mount Rushmore at Newcastle United. This is the inner story of the day, the game plan that led them there.
Two years ago, Newcastle became clever with regret after a 2-0 loss to Manchester United. That day was not their brand of football – they were meek, one and emotionally empty. Hau later admitted that after the match he was not mentally in a healthy place.
But it was important to losing. It brought lessons and resolved. The mantra emanating from Newcastle's Benton training base was simple, but it resonated. This time things go differently.
It was my last trip to Wembley in Newcastle and the day felt long. The team stayed on the other side of the stadium and counted down to kickoff the moment the curtains opened.
This year, Howe has given the club's logistics staff the importance of staying elsewhere. Choose a hotel in Hertfordshire.
“This time we tried to take as many distractions as possible,” Howe said after the match. “It's very similar to building a Premier League. I think it's really important to stay in a quiet hotel.”
“I just ran into the stadium itself today and it all felt very different,” another member of the club staff said after the game. “It was focused – there was no emotion.”
Of course, it is impossible to escape the sentiment and expectations of the city completely, especially when Alan Shearer, the club's all-time goalscorer, texts to club captain Bruno Guimarès the night before the game. His message was clinical instruction rather than emotion-spewing. “Get back that trophy.”
Banner Howe Loves (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
That sentiment was echoed by supporters who redisplayed the flag from Arsenal's semi-finals – “enter them” – Howe was personally recognized as his favorite banner, marking the core standard he wanted to set for his team.
But since Hau is Hau, he didn't send out the team with those words alone. Arne Slot's Liverpool is Buzzsaw and won't challenge the Premier League table. Newcastle needed his weapon.
The Newcastle coach identified early in his preparations that he felt Liverpool could be exploited from the set pieces. Their team shape wasn't confirmed until after the West Ham United game on Monday night, but the final corner routine has been put into practice for the past two weeks.
Newcastle staff feel that given his physical advantages, they should score more from corners and emphasize the importance of getting the ball to an area where it is likely to lead the ball to the first. By peeling his back away from the six-yard box, Byrne was able to take advantage of Liverpool's zone defense. The header itself gets too far from the goal and gets intense, but burns out by Liverpool's small blockers (in this case, Alexis Mac Alister).
Burn the tower on top of the Mac Allister and do what he wasn't doing in training: Score (James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
After 45 minutes, their plans were ruled out – burning power past the Mac Allister to bounce his header. It was Newcastle's first goal at Wembley in 25 years.
“If we had actually met us, we would have thought we had no chance,” Howe later told Sky Sports. “Dann is the first to admit that he doesn't practice that way, so when he scored, Jason (Tindall) and I turned to each other and couldn't believe he had scored.”
Slot said it even more frankly – “I've never seen a player in my life heading from afar and heading towards the ball towards the far corner with that power. Trust him. Few players can score goals from that distance with his head.”
The Header of Byrne that surprised Slot and Howe (Michelle Mercer/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
Newcastle was intentional in his preparation, and Howe had allowed him to hide some of his repertoire when he played Liverpool three weeks ago. This was a sacrifice – they looked passive in a 2-0 defeat – but even if they missed out on Champions League qualification in points, it would be pale to Wembley's importance.
“We still wanted to win that game,” Howe claimed after Sunday's victory. “We did that differently.”
In a way, he was inevitably helped. The injury to Lewis Hall suffered during that defeat was considered a major blow. That's because Newcastle is in a position where there are few options after Lloyd Kelly set out for Juventus in January. But great coaches are those who adapt when Plan A fails.
Usually, shuffling the right back to the weaker side would be a big no no to face the world's inform right winger Mohamed Sarah. At Matt Target, Howe had a specialist left back despite playing little football for the past 18 months.
However, the Newcastle coaching staff felt positive about Tino Libramento, who is considered a one-on-one defender than hall due to his pace. Furthermore, they emphasized to Livramento that his right foot could be an advantage. If Sarah is cut inside, the rivlament will challenge the strong right foot on the right foot. Meanwhile, Byrne is instructed to double inside, and Livlament was able to force him without fear of being beaten in isolation.
Shift Librament also opened the right-back berth, giving Hau and Tyndal the luxury of choosing Kieran Trippier, who will do the best set-piece delivery on the team. With ordinary trustee Anthony Gordon being ruled out through suspension, Trippia had the opportunity to play regardless of the injury to the hole, given the importance Newcastle placed on dead ball opportunities. At the event, it was Cross, 34, who supported Byrne's goal.
The other major choice questions for Howe were on the left, and decided how to exchange Gordon. Joe Wilk offers a huge amount of work rates he doesn't own and dangerous, serious ability, but Howe decided earlier in the week that Harvey Burns was his preferred option.
Monday evening's match against West Ham was the winger's first start in three months, and Howe liked what he saw as Burns supported the game's only goal. Newcastle, which allows for fitness, will not change.
In the offense, their plans depended on putting pressure on Liverpool's fullbacks, not on elite-level centrebacks. Isaac often drifted to the left, and Burns cut the inside instead. Makeshift right-back Jarrel Quanza wasn't sure which one to pick up. Deeper runs from Jollington and Bruno Guimarès and isolating Liverpool defenders made the job even more difficult.
This gave Livramento a space for him to carry the ball upfield, and although he was still on his weak side, he added time to pick a technically difficult left footed cross. This created a second goal for Newcastle. Murphy overtook Liverpool's other fullback Andy Robertson, and Isaac nodded to score.
Wait for that Isaac's celebration! 😍⚫😍⚫️⚪️#efl | #carabaocupfinal pic.twitter.com/paebtz4qth
– Carabao Cup (@carabao_cup) March 16, 2025
But these were the ruffles Newcastle needed to score, but that wasn't the core reason they were able to compete. It fell to Newcastle midfield trio, Sandro Tonari, Guimaré and Jollington. For Liverpool, the black and white shirt group must have felt like a prison bar.
Before kickoff, Tonari was the only player on either side to return his warm-up jacket to the fully folded Kitman. To advance Newcastle, we summarise the players who emerged with simple passes from the day's chaos.
Guimarès was often dedicated to mid-due for a few. Full time, it was tears that he had to give.
Tonari was at the heart of Newcastle's performance (Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
But Jollington was at the heart of Newcastle's victory. That player is that their career is currently synonymous with How. He is the biggest personal success of the head coach.
He suffered a knee injury in early February and missed the semi-finals second Congress and Liverpool match, so he proved his fitness until his FA Cup defeat to Brighton two weeks ago.
It was always expected to be appropriate, but there were lingering concerns about What-IF for the same thing. Newcastle staff felt their plans would only work if the midfielder was completely healthy. Howe aimed to exploit the physical edge of the midfield. Being dominant directly, physically and aerially was a requirement rather than a possibility.
It symbolized Newcastle's ambitions when Jollington barreled Quansah out of the ball midway through the first half and yelled at Newcastle fans to do so. The soccer match will be decided by Microwins for a big moment. These were Jollington's domains.
Guimares completed Shearer's Mission (Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
One of these was just one minute into the second half, with Newcastle still putting up one goal and Dio Gojota cut the ball on the byline. But Jollington was listening to Howe's slideshow. Returning from the start of Newcastle's career, he can return for 40 yards in the Cup final and block Sarah's goal-bound shot.
This was Sarah's only real danger moment. Along with Trent Alexander Arnoldout, the main way to build Liverpool play – with the exception of a long, hopeful ball, he beat Newcastle's first press and played the midfield. They never got close to doing it. Dominique Zoboschlei was marked by Jollington at the point of extinction, and Hau held the winger tightly to make sure Guimaré and Tonari had a quick read to win the Spring and duel. Sarah began chasing the hopeful punt.
By the time Liverpool's final heaves landed, Jollington was on his lap, pointing towards the sky. Guimares cried uncontrollably.
At Royal Box, Newcastle owner and Piff Chairman Yasir al-Rumeiyan sent the message by knocking the phone for 30 minutes after the match and leaving a voice memo. Newcastle is waiting for Saudi Arabia to sign off to upgrade to both the training base and the stadium. Shiny metallic silverware helps things get done.
A short term has been set if decisions are still being made for Newcastle's long-term future. The players streamed towards Wembley's Box Park. Those not on an international mission will fly to Dubai on Monday for a warm weather training camp. Don't forget that Hau is very careful.
However, as the final whistle was blown away and the Newcastle player streamed onto the pitch, Howe stared, his eyes wide and spinning before falling into Tyndal's arm. For the first time on Sunday, he and Newcastle didn't know what to do.
(Photo above: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
