'No, no, no' - Matthias Jaissle reveals the one major thing he won't change about Newcastle United v Hull City
Newcastle United are hoping to bounce back from Monday’s 4-1 defeat to Leeds United when they take on Hull City.
Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle has no plans to change his formation for the Premier League clash against Hull City.
Jaissle’s side were hammered 4-1 by Leeds United on Monday night. It was only their first defeat of the new season, but the manner of it was cause for concern after Leeds completely exposed the Magpies in the opening hour to take a 4-0 lead before substitute Bazoumana Toure pulled one back in the closing stages.
Performances haven’t quite matched the results in recent weeks, and United got what they deserved at Elland Road, leading to questions on whether Jaissle should move away from his 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-2 set-up.
Matthias Jaissle defends his Newcastle United system
However, Jaissle has vowed not to change his approach, insisting it is the “principles” that need to improve.
“It's a brave journey the club is going through and I'm fully committed in that,” Jaissle said. “Now if there's one setback, we shouldn't delete our journey or our vision. We're fully committed. We're fully aligned.
“We anticipated that something like that against Leeds would happen or will happen also in the next weeks and months. It's just on us to respond, but still believing we don't change things.”
“I'm really clear in the principles we want to show on the pitch,” Jaissle added. “That doesn't mean that we need to stick with the formation because if our No.10 is five metres higher positioned, you suddenly talk about two strikers.
“We can adjust that easily also within the game, it's just according to our principles we want to see and how we want to stress their position and how we lift that then on the pitch.
“Tactical is one thing but delivering then things is another thing. We're really clear in the way we want to play with our principles behind that. That gives the players a clear framework. The formation is not too important.”
‘Absolutely wrong’ - Matthias Jaissle’s spiky response
Indeed, Jaissle emphatically said no three times when asked if he had considered switching systems and potentially moving to five at the back.
“Absolutely the wrong approach,” Jaissle said. “That could be something for some coaches but I explained that beforehand, the structure or the formation is not the key element. It's how the players live the principles.
“If our wingers are five metres deeper, maybe you see a five back. If both wingers are five metres deeper, maybe you talk about a six back.”
Matthias Jaissle explains what ‘vertical football’ is
Jaissle’s style of play has been described as ‘vertical football’. Explaining exactly what that is, the German said: "There are many ,many different approaches within that aspect. That's just the principle, being vertical in your approach.
“So that could be that you go straight away for the long ball, that you don't even try to play out from the goalkeeper, just going for the aerial duels there. But that could be also that you have just the intention to have always the first view deep, try to find the deepest option, If that's always possible.
"Not in football because if the opposition is taking away the depth, then you need to find other solutions, then you need to play with deep lay-off patterns, As an example, without going too much in detail.
"But you need to be versatile as well. But the idea behind that, The players' mindset after collecting a second ball, after winning the ball, that the first view is deep, that you have that vertical approach - that should be always there."