ST JAMES’ PARK — Out of a confusing start to the season at Newcastle United, one thing at least can be etched in stone. They have a player capable of steering them into a new era in the shape of the fabulous 18-year-old midfielder Sean Steur.
Steur was a £20m steal from Ajax in the summer and already looks like the perfect poster boy for this “Newcastle 2.0” project. He can pass, press and push Newcastle on but what really sticks out is his personality.
A youthful, re-booted Magpies are going to need plenty of that this season. Setbacks and sweat patches are guaranteed if the first five games are anything to go by but they are finding a way.
No one typifies that more than Steur, who responded to a chastening evening at Elland Road with the sort of pitch-perfect performance that should set pulses racing on Tyneside.
Inside Newcastle they marvel at his maturity. Even in pre-season he was coming to analysis meetings with his own clips, delivering detailed debriefs of what he could do better. So you sort of suspected that he would learn from what happened at Leeds.
Given his role in Newcastle racing into a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes against Hull City, he certainly checked that box. Steur’s willingness to find a progressive pass seemed to set the tone as Matthias Jaissle’s side showcased the vertical football he’s been talking about since setting foot in St James’ Park.
More experienced heads did the damage. Joe Willock – nearly sold for £15m in the summer but whose contribution in the opening weeks of the season has been priceless – opened the scoring with a brilliant low drive before Lewis Hall doubled the lead. But Steur’s pedigree was stamped all over a classy first half.
It didn’t last, of course. And there remains plenty of cause for concern about the way Newcastle are struggling to control games.
The second half spiralled alarmingly from chaotic to almost calamitous and Hull made life extremely uncomfortable for them in the final half an hour. For the first time Jaissle’s substitutions – and requirement for in-game system change – actually seemed to diminish Newcastle.
But there are caveats aplenty. Firstly Newcastle are without nine senior men – Tino Livramento the latest to suffer an injury after feeling “discomfort” following a training session. Their bench included three 17-year-olds and a goalkeeper in Nick Pope who has been told he has no future at the club. It is a crippling situation and one that Jaissle admits needs to be investigated.
Add into the mix the fact that they had to cling on against a game Hull side without Steur, who seemed to succumb to fatigue on 66 minutes. Jaissle’s solution was to swap him with Fabian Schar and Newcastle’s grip on the game loosened completely. Mohamed Ali-Cho scored within seconds and the last 30 minutes were torture for a sold-out St James’ Park.
But you know what? They got there and in the context of the season and Jaissle’s short Newcastle career that felt really significant.
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For all the troubling stats – 96 chances conceded across five games and bottom of Opta’s expected points table before kick-off here – they are doing just fine. Eight points from a tough opening sequence of fixtures is just fine for a manager and club clearly learning on the job.
Do they have to improve on this? That goes without saying. But they will and the imminent return of Dan Burn and Joelinton will add heft to a team that played with a touch too much naivety in the closing stages. “An incredible reaction,” was Jaissle’s verdict.
Steur will return from the super-sized international break refreshed, too. “It is not normal what he is doing at his age,” said his manager afterwards. It is starting to become routine, though, which is reason enough for optimism as Newcastle emerge from a summer reset.