Steve Bruce has huge boots to fill after replacing Rafa Benitez as the manager of Premier League Newcastle United.
They say absence makes the heart grow stronger.
Amid all the outpouring of grief following the announcement that Rafa Benitez had walked away from Newcastle United in June, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Spaniard was worshipped like a deity by each and every Magpies match-goer. But that was not necessarily the case.
While Benitez was undoubtedly popular, and rightly so, there was some who dared to question his methods.
In particular, his stubborn refusal to move away from his lone striker system frustrated many, particularly when Newcastle were lacking cutting edge in the final third.
And while the general consensus remains that the appointment of Steve Bruce is a substantial backwards step, Benitez’s successor could at least give the Newcastle fans something they never got from the one-time Real Madrid, Liverpool and Inter Milan boss.
Throughout pre-season, Bruce has attempted to introduce a 3-5-2 system designed to give Newcastle far more firepower in and around the box.
A burgeoning, all South American partnership of Miguel Almiron and Joelinton certainly has supporters drooling at the mouth, the £56 million-strikeforce combining effectively in a recent triumph against Hibernian. Who knows, perhaps Yoshinori Muto, who scored with a lovely flicked finish against West Ham in the Premier League Cup, will be rejuvenated too in a new role.
Bruce arrived with a reputation for pragmatism, a reductive, long-ball style more akin to Sam Allardyce than Pep Guardiola. But the affable Geordie appears to have had one look at Newcastle’s attack and realised that attack is the way to go.
Newcastle might not match last season’s 13th placed finish with Bruce at the helm, though the fans can at least expect entertainment. And this was not something anyone expected Bruce to provide.
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