Hull City 0 Newcastle United 2 – Isak and Murphy shine, but Eddie Howe’s options look thin

The first public practice match for Newcastle this summer ended in a clear victory against Hull City, but it left doubts about whether Eddie Howe's team is ready to compete for a spot in Europe in the upcoming Premier League season.

One week after winning 3-1 against SpVgg Unterhaching in a closed-door match, Newcastle emerged victorious with a 2-0 score at the MKM Stadium. Alexander Isak and Jacob Murphy scored in the first half to secure the win.

Howe selected five homegrown full-backs to start the game, showing how Newcastle's team is struggling with injuries and needs more players before the new season begins in a month.

Chris Waugh discusses the key topics from the Hull game.

When Is Having Too Many Full-backs?

During Alan Pardew's time as manager of Newcastle, fans often joked that he had a lot of left-backs in his squad.

Even though this was just Newcastle's first public pre-season match and 17 players were missing due to injuries, fitness reasons, and international commitments, having five players who have mostly played as full-backs under Howe in the starting lineup was not a reassuring sign.

Dan Burn is naturally a central defender, even though he has been playing regularly as a left-back. On the other hand, Emil Krafth is a right-back and although he has performed well when filling in, it highlights Newcastle's urgent requirement for more defensive players. Lloyd Kelly is still not considered match fit, as Newcastle seeks to handle the former Bournemouth defender cautiously due to his history of injuries.

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On the other hand, Lewis Hall used to play as a midfielder for Chelsea's youth team, but Newcastle is now trying to transform him into a left-back. Despite starting as a No 6, the 19-year-old showed skill with the ball before switching to defense in the middle of the first half.

Interestingly, Jamal Lewis, who was on loan at Watford last season and last played competitively for Newcastle in May 2023, was chosen to start at left-back. Despite being open to a transfer this summer, the 26-year-old has been a regular feature in pre-season matches due to the limited choices available to manager Howe.

When the first game of the season rolls around, it is expected that only Burn and Tino Livramento will be starting in the same positions they were in during this match. This highlights the importance of early pre-season matches and also exposes Newcastle's limited options in certain positions.

Tino Livramento playing in a match against Hull (Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

Isak Stays Razor-sharp

Newcastle may have thought about selling some important players to meet the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules, but manager Howe didn't even want to think about selling Isak.

The young player, who is 24 years old, scored 21 goals in the league last year. Since Sweden won't be in the Euro 2024 tournament, he'll have more time to prepare during the pre-season. Isak played well against Hull, showing passion and scoring a goal effortlessly by redirecting a cross from Jacob Murphy into the net.

However, while Isak was precise in front of the goal, Murphy proved to be Newcastle's most threatening player on the attack. He consistently delivered enticing crosses from the right side, which have become his signature move. The team's second goal was a result of one of his crosses, as Harvey Barnes missed connecting with it and Pandur inadvertently allowed it to sail past him and into the opposite corner of the net.

Jacob Murphy was beaming with joy after scoring a goal (Photo credit: Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

Howe allowed his starters to play for an hour before switching up the lineup with several substitutions, most of whom were brought up from the under-21 team.

Three young players were given chances to shine: Trevan Sanusi, the talented 17-year-old winger; Alfie Harrison, the skillful 18-year-old attacking midfielder; and Anthony Munda, the promising 17-year-old midfielder.

The 20-year-old brother of Lewis, Jamie Miley, played in midfield during the game. Unfortunately, Sean Longstaff was out with a minor injury, Sandro Tonali was suspended, Bruno Guimaraes was on an extended break, and Lewis Miley had a knee injury, leaving Howe with limited midfield options.

Transfer Market Tasks Ahead

By July 1, the team had made four new signings. However, two of them were goalkeepers brought in as backups, and the third was Hall joining the team permanently.

Kelly is the only new player this summer who is expected to play often in the 2024-25 season, but he is not fully ready to compete yet. Hall and Odysseas Vlachodimos were the only new players who played in the game as substitutes at the MKM Stadium. This shows that Newcastle needs to start making more new signings now that they have sorted out their new management structure after a chaotic summer.

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Newcastle's biggest needs are a new centre-back and a right-sided winger.

Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles will not be back until winter, so Howe wants to bring in more defenders. AC Milan's Malick Thiaw has been on Newcastle's radar for a while, but there hasn't been an official offer yet as the club considers their choices.

Following the unsuccessful pursuit of Michael Olise, Newcastle is likely to allocate the rest of their summer funds towards bringing in a right-sided forward. Players like Chelsea's Noni Madueke and Nottingham Forest's Anthony Elanga have been mentioned as potential targets, but no signings are imminent at this time.

Callum Wilson is having trouble with his back, so it might be a good idea to get another striker since he has a history of poor fitness.

Paul Mitchell, the new director of sports in Newcastle, wants to transfer more experienced players to lower the team’s salary expenses. However, Howe needs to add more skilled players to the starting lineup before the Premier League season starts on August 17th.

Howe observes his team effortlessly defeat Hull (Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)

What's In Store For Newcastle?

Wednesday, July 31: Urawa Red Diamonds from Saitama, Japan will be playing at 11.30am BST or 6.30am ET.

(Top image: Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

Chris Waugh writes for The Athletic and mainly focuses on Newcastle United and football in the North East. Prior to working for The Athletic, he was a journalist for MailOnline and also wrote for The Chronicle, The Journal, and The Sunday Sun. He has been covering Newcastle United matches both at home and away since 2015. You can find Chris on Twitter @ChrisDHWaugh.