Sean Longstaff reveals what he was told about tactical change at Newcastle United

Steve Bruce had a simple message for Sean Longstaff before he took to the field.
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The instructions were that there were no instructions. None at all. The midfielder, playing as a No.10 behind Joelinton, was being given a free role by Bruce.

Longstaff was simply told to do his own thing at the Kassam Stadium, where Newcastle United were taking on Oxford United in an FA Cup replay. The shackles were coming off.

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Up to then, Longstaff had been fielded deeper by Bruce – and he hadn’t found the net.

Newcastle United's English midfielder Sean Longstaff shoots to score the opening goal of the FA Cup fourth round replay football match between Oxford United and Newcastle United at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford, west of London, on February 4, 2020. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /  (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)Newcastle United's English midfielder Sean Longstaff shoots to score the opening goal of the FA Cup fourth round replay football match between Oxford United and Newcastle United at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford, west of London, on February 4, 2020. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /  (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Newcastle United's English midfielder Sean Longstaff shoots to score the opening goal of the FA Cup fourth round replay football match between Oxford United and Newcastle United at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford, west of London, on February 4, 2020. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The night before the game, the 22-year-old had had a long chat with midfield colleague Nabil Bentaleb about the challenges he had faced – on and off the field – since breaking through under Rafa Benitez, Bruce’s managerial predecessor, 12 months earlier.

Bentaleb, signed on loan from Schalke 04 last month, had had a similar experience Tottenham Hotspur as a young player – and his advice stuck with Longstaff as he took to the field for the warm-up.

A few balls ended up in the car park behind the goal at the three-sided ground as the players went through their pre-match drills. Longstaff, however, was repeatedly finding the net in readiness for a more advanced role in the fourth-round replay, which had followed a goalless draw at St James’s Park.

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With 15 minutes on the clock, the ball was in the net again thanks to Longstaff, who curled a shot beyond Simon Eastwood after sidestepping into space on the edge of the box.

Matty and Sean Longstaff.Matty and Sean Longstaff.
Matty and Sean Longstaff.

Longstaff also set up Newcastle’s second goal, scored by Joelinton, with a well-timed ball over the top.

“It was great,” said Longstaff. “They said to us ‘you’ve got a free role, just go and do what you want’. I really enjoyed it. I was able to drift a bit and do what I wanted.

“It probably took the shackles off a little bit. I was able to get forward and get in the box and get on the ball as much as possible. I really enjoyed it. I was put in there to create stuff, and luckily enough I was able to do it.

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“Hopefully, it’s something I can work on going forward if we’re going to play like that in the league.”

Longstaff – who scored eight League One goals for loan club Blackpool the season before last – looked up to goalscoring midfielders like Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard when he was a young player.

Lampard and Gerrard made scoring look easy, but finding the net at Premier League level is anything but that for midfielders.

With injury-hit Bruce short of strikers – and the team short of goals – Longstaff could find himself pushed further up the field again in the coming weeks.

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“When you’re playing in a bit more advanced role, there’s a bit more pressure on you to either score or create goals,” said Longstaff. “Ever since I was growing up, that’s been a massive part of my game – getting forward and scoring. Midfield players that can score are really, really rare.

“When I was on loan, I was able to do it. Now it’s about doing it here. You look at the Lampards and Gerrards and how many accolades they got and how well they did. That was a massive part of their game.

“That’s something I need to add more of, and (Oxford) was the start. That’s how I’m looking at it.”

Longstaff’s younger brother Matty, also in the starting XI against Oxford, has already scored three competitive goals this season. He also netted on first senior appearance at St James’s Park in a friendly against Saint-Etienne in July.

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The 19-year-old – who is out of contract in the summer – had been set for a loan last summer, only to earn a place in Bruce’s first-team squad after impressing in pre-season.

“Matty’s been outstanding in a really tough game, a real grind, a game that he’s probably used to playing in terms of the Under-23s and the Premier League,” said Longstaff.

“There aren’t many games like that. He’s got Nabil next to him for a lot of the night, who I thought was outstanding and got on the ball. It’s a great night. A lot of people stood up when they needed to be counted upon.”

Oxford scored two late goals to level the game at 2-2 and take it into extra time, but Allan Saint-Maximin netted a 116th-minute winner to book Newcastle a place in the FA Cup’s fourth round for the first time in 14 years.

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Bruce didn’t have a striker on the pitch – or bench – following the loss of Joelinton to a first-half injury, and that was a concern when the game went into an extra period.

“I think it’s a massively under-rated quality, the togetherness we’ve got,” said Longstaff, who is also due a new deal at the club following his first-team breakthrough.

“When things do start going bad, we always stick together, we’re together as a group, and I think that’s probably one of the best things you can have as a side. We’re going to fight for each other.

“When one person’s down, we’re going to gather round them. That showed again. When it got to 2-2, it could easily have crumbled. Probably a lot of people thought it would have, but it was the complete opposite and we’ve got on to win the game and Maxi’s scored a great goal. Everyone’s over the moon to get through.”