Why Newcastle United dropped Sandro Tonali v Arsenal as Eddie Howe given tough £120m decision
Eddie Howe has explained why Sandro Tonali didn’t start for Newcastle United against Arsenal on Saturday.
Having starred during the 2-0 Carabao Cup against Chelsea on Wednesday, supporters were looking forward to seeing the Italian in action once more. However, Howe sprung a surprise when Tonali was left out.
Bruno Guimaraes, as expected, came back into the midfield and featured alongside Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock.
And the Newcastle head coach’s bold call paid off after Alexander Isak’s 12th minute goal ended a run of five league matches without a win.
Explaining his decision, Howe said: “That's not a short conversation and we've got very good players competing for a limited number of places.
“For me, the team overrides any individual and has to take priority so you can think whatever you think about individual players in the midfield or any area of the team, it has to function well together and that's what it did again today, I was really pleased.
“Joe Willock adds something different, Sean adds something different, Bruno adds something different, Sandro does. They're all unique players and you're missing Joelinton who has played wide and done an incredible amount of effort and work for the team in a different area of the pitch. It's good to have those decisions and I'm sure there will be a lot more debate about it in the future.
“I think that [questions over team selection] comes with the job, I don’t think there is any escape for me from that. It is always going to be up for debate, decisions will always be debated and if you don’t win you’re going to get criticised. I’ve been in it long enough to know that.”
Tonali was introduced in the 65th minute as Willock went off with cramp. Howe will face another midfield selection dilemma for the visit to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.