Football

Newcastle have experienced a summer of significant change ahead of the 2026/27 season with new faces all over the training ground.

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Multiple popular players were shipped off to other Premier League clubs while new faces have been brought in, with  more activity likely before the transfer deadline.

One unexpected change was in the dugout. Eddie Howe surprisingly decided to step down as manager just weeks before the start of the season. He stayed on until a replacement could be identified, as young German coach Matthias Jaissle was brought in to replace him, plucked from the Saudi Pro League where Newcastle’s owners will no doubt be familiar with his work.

The Sporting News details who Jaissle is as a coach, what he has accomplished so far, and what he could bring to Newcastle in his first season in charge.

MORE: Why Eddie Howe left Newcastle

Matthias Jaissle coaching career

After a seven-year playing career entirely spent with German club Hoffenheim, Matthias Jaissle was forced to retire at 25 due to an injury. He turned to coaching and became one of Germany’s most well-respected young tacticians.

He started with Norwegian side Bronby as assistant manager in 2017, before joining RB Salzburg as their U-18 coach. He took his first senior role with Red Bull-owned Austrian club FC Liefering, staying for just one season in which the club finished second in Austria’s 2. Liga. That saw him hired to replace Jesse Marsch as RB Salzburg head coach, where he won the Austrian Bundesliga title in both his seasons, taking them to the Champions League knockout stage for the first time ever.

Jaissle then joined Saudi club Al Ahli in the summer of 2023, with the side having only just secured promotion to the Saudi top flight. He would lead them to a third-place finish in his first season in charge, securing qualification to AFC Champions League play. He then would lead the club to a stunning rise, as they would win the AFC Champions League Elite in back-to-back seasons, their first-ever continental titles.

Jaissle is a Ralf Rangnick disciple. Rangnick signed him as a player at Hoffenheim when he was manager of the Bundesliga club, and then brought him to Salzburg early in his coaching career. Rangnick then took Jaissle to Liefering and back to RB Salzburg as first-team manager as part of his role as head of sport and development at Red Bull.

Matthias Jaissle tactics, style of play

Coming through the Red Bull system in the early years of his coaching career, Jaissle’s style reflects the high-pressing methods that are the hallmark of the global football development system.

Jaissle has been tactically versatile, able to play a 4-4-2 diamond, a 4-3-3, and a 4-2-3-1. The 4-4-2 is very different from the other two formations, indicating he can set up in different ways to fit the squad available to him or the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. However, the fundamental philosophies behind his approach have remained the same.

«I had a squad that was completely different in profile, and I had to think much more game-to-game about formation, how and when to press, and that forced me to become much more flexible — to develop as a coach,» Jaissle said about his time in Saudi Arabia.

There is a high-pressing element to Jaissle’s style, with his teams looking to progress very quickly once they regain possession of the ball.

“I want stress on the opponent as soon as possible,” Jaissle said as quoted in The Athletic. “And when we win the ball, I want to go as quickly as possible towards the opponent’s goal. I’m very vertical in that approach.”

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How Matthias Jaissle’s methods will work in Premier League

There is plenty of precedent for Matthias Jaissle’s methods to work in the Premier League.

Andoni Iraola, Roberto De Zerbi, and Fabian Hurzeler are three managers who have succeeded in England’s top flight over the past few years with a similar style of play.

The bigger question for Jaissle is whether his style will fit with the players Newcastle have on their roster. A tactical analysis by The Mirror suggested that Eddie Howe enjoyed his best two seasons at Newcastle while playing a high-intensity style similar to what Jaissle plays, while they struggled in the two seasons they played a more control-oriented style.

The latter instances come with the caveat that Howe was having to manage the added physical demands of competing in the Champions League, something that is not on Newcastle’s agenda this time around. There is significant stylistic overlap from Jaissle’s time in Saudi Arabia and Newcastle’s best seasons under Howe.

How Newcastle could line up under Matthias Jaissle

The managerial position is not the only place where Newcastle has experienced turnover this summer, as the squad has also been forced to deal with significant change.

It will be interesting to see how Jaissle deals with the shuffling throughout the squad, especially in midfield, where Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes have departed.

Those who have been brought in include Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba, while Bazoumana Toure has also been secured from Jaissle’s old club Hoffenheim to play on the wing.

Amar Dedic, a £30 million recruit from Benfica, is likely to start the season at right-back as Tino Livramento battles with his latest round of fitness woes.

Eddie Howe played a 4-3-3 for the most part at Newcastle, which could be where Jaissle goes to keep some consistency, but he could also opt for a 4-2-3-1, which he embraced throughout his time at Al Ahli.

It will also be interesting to see who Jaissle decides is the best option at striker, after Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa both struggled last season. William Osula pushed for a place late in the campaign.

Newcastle predicted formation (4-2-3-1, right to left): N. Pope (GK) — A. Dedic, M. Thiaw, D. Burn, L. Hall — A. Bamba, S. Steur — A. Elanga, Joelinton, H. Barnes — N. Woltemade.

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