There was green, white and red among the black and white, a sprinkling of tricolore flags brought by the people of Tyneside. Sandro Tonali hugged a Newcastle supporter. He had his arm around his manager, too, amid celebrations that marked more than just a penalty-shootout victory over Nottingham Forest. Banned for 10 months, Tonali looked slick and quick on his comeback, enviably classy on the ball, ambitious in the passes he played and the runs he made. He may be ring-rusty and short of match sharpness, but he still looked the statement signing he was supposed to be.
And at the final whistle, he looked happy. There was a footballing cost to his absence, but a personal one, too. Tonali’s gambling problem came as an unwanted surprise to Newcastle, prompting questions if they should have known and if AC Milan did. Staff, players and fans have all looked supportive, easing his comeback.
“I think he will be absolutely delighted to be back. He has the love of the people that really matter, that is his family and the Newcastle family, and that will make him feel so good,” said Eddie Howe. “It has been difficult for him but he has had his teammates and a really strong family unit.”
Training, the Newcastle manager said, had been an escape; but not a total one. “He has been training with no purpose which is difficult,” he added. And then suddenly Newcastle had a purposeful midfielder again. Thrust in the day after his suspension ended, he helped create a goal in 18 seconds. “He was involved in some lovely passages of play,” Howe said. “He did well, fitness-wise, considering the lack of action. He has had a real lack of top football work, so I think he is a bit short of his top levels.”
And if that underlined that Tonali can be better again, it is because Newcastle signed a high-grade player: vice-captain of AC Milan, a starter for Italy at times. Howe’s Newcastle have tended to get their major signings very right – think of Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon – and the early impressions was that Tonali belonged in that bracket, too.
Until Italian police descended on the Azzurri’s training base at Coverciano; Tonali, the man designed to be Newcastle’s Champions League specialist, made his final appearance of last season in October’s defeat to Borussia Dortmund. He returns to a team with no European football at all.
The trajectory of Newcastle altered in his absence; after the swift rise after the Saudi takeover, the unexpected fourth-place finish. But then came the stumble to seventh: Newcastle showed spirit in adversity, but also a frailty. They ran out of players and yet had a one of their most gifted players running every day at the training ground, but never when it mattered most.
Howe wondered what might have been if he could have called upon Tonali. “Working with him and thinking, ‘we need you so much now’,” he recalled. “We had injuries everywhere and I was working with a really fit player. I don’t tend to work with emotions of ‘what if?’, it is no use.” And yet it is human nature. Newcastle could think similarly about injuries last season – the two most telling to Nick Pope and Joelinton – but they were unfit to play. Tonali was instead unavailable.
And Newcastle had twin spells when they were down to three midfielders, each forced to complete every game. First it was Guimaraes, Joelinton and Lewis Miley, then Guimaraes, Miley and Sean Longstaff, who was playing with an injury anyway. There was no squad rotation, no fresh legs, no tactical choices. Newcastle could have done with Tonali first as an extra body, even before factoring in his talents.
Tonali has a blend of the physical and the technical. He can play at the high tempo Howe prefers, but with a greater level of excellence than some of his midfield peers. “It is massive to have him back and you could see the quality he has,” said Longstaff; the workmanlike local ensured it was a successful night by converting the winning penalty but could be the man to make way. The midfield with most potential would comprise Guimaraes, Tonali and Joelinton. Newcastle got a glimpse of it when they started last season with a 5-1 demolition of Aston Villa; by the time the campaign ended, the Midlanders had claimed the berth in the Champions League that had been theirs.
There was nothing spectacular about a 1-1 scoreline against a weakened Forest team. But there were moves and moments, touches and teamwork that hinted that when Newcastle have most of their major talents on the pitch, they could be a terrific team. Their ascent was interrupted last season, as was Tonali’s career. Now he is back. It remains to be seen if Newcastle are, too.
