How Eddie Howe has solved Newcastle's midfield conundrum, writes CRAIG HOPE
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It felt telling when Eddie Howe said that Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes play the No 6 role differently. The big difference right now, however, is that when Tonali plays there, Newcastle are better for it. On Saturday against Leicester, for the first time since his debut at home to Aston Villa 16 months ago, the Italian started a Premier League game that the team went on to win.
![[Bruno Guimaraes, who scored for Newcastle on Saturday, was alongside Tonali in midfield]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/10/93164879-14194579-image-a-4_1734259230407.jpg)
The mitigation for that is he missed 10 months because of a ban for illegal gambling. There is less extenuation if you consider his performances when available were lukewarm - until now. So why was he red hot at the weekend, as well as 10 days previous against Liverpool? The positional change has changed the direction of his Newcastle career. Without it, you suspected he was drifting towards the margins and, perhaps, a return to Italy. He did not look a fit for the Premier League.
![[It felt telling when Eddie Howe said that Tonali and Guimaraes play the No. 6 role differently]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/10/93164895-14194579-image-a-5_1734259365989.jpg)
Now, Howe has dragged him back into centre field, literally and metaphorically. Tonali has thrived on the responsibility of being the main man, the one tasked with orchestrating play from the middle of the park, rather than a runner at No 8. He is the conductor.
![[With Tonali at No 6 in three home matches, Newcastle have now scored two, three and four]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/11/93165225-14194579-image-a-6_1734261144992.jpg)
There always has been a swagger about the former Milan midfielder that did not seem suited to charging up and down channels. Those efforts invariably led down blind alleys. Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali has thrived on the responsibility of being the main man.
