Nobody really knows if Newcastle are ready for this season. They are heading into the unknown

Dan Burn had a go at answering a question for the ages: are Newcastle United ready?

“Very ready,” the England centre-half said. “We’re not going to peak against Liverpool. It’s going to take time for the new manager to embed the things he wants to do, but I’m confident. We want to be pushing for Europe again. I feel like we need to embrace this change.”

A little later, Burn spoke about “a season of unknowns,” and that felt about right. How could Newcastle possibly be ready? Matthias Jaissle, the head coach, has been in position for two weeks, a brief window in which to make an impression but hardly long enough to get his ideas across. The coaching staff is box-fresh, the players young and callow. They need more.

Yet Liverpool on Sunday is an occasion which demands that Newcastle be ready, a titanic fixture of heightened emotion which will celebrate the life of Kevin Keegan, a legend at both clubs, and see Alexander Isak, a tarnished legend at one, return to St James’ Park. It is sink-or-swim time. “We don’t need any motivation,” Burn said.

One of these years, Newcastle might enjoy a summer of serenity, quietly going about their business, rather than enduring the ructions which have become the norm. It does not feel like steady ground on which to lay foundations although, in this case, it is difficult to lay blame. Eddie Howe chose to carry on until he did not.

From scrambling to avoid a points deduction, the departure of Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, the co-owners, the loss of Elliot Anderson, the saga of Isak’s contentious departure and the desperation which followed, to this, Howe has been a glue. What binds them now? Will they coalesce or come unstuck?

Newcastle will come up against their old forward Isak when they face Liverpool next weekend (Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Newcastle’s final two pre-season friendlies brought two defeats, making it three losses out of four for Jaissle, following an uplifting 2-1 victory in Valencia during his first outing. Saturday’s 2-1 reversal against Bayer Leverkusen, when the home side had to farcically change their shirts midway through the first due to a kit clash, was deserved.

Newcastle shaded Sunday’s match against Strasbourg, which finished 1-1 after normal time, yet three penalty misses — two of which were woeful — and a 3-2 shootout defeat followed. These are early days, but they do not scream ‘ready’.

“I’m hoping that when we look back on this season, it’s going to be very positive,” Burn says, but nobody truly knows.

Change can be frightening, but change can also be necessary. “There’s a new energy coming in with the new staff and younger lads,” Burn said. “Change can be good.”

Whereas under Howe there was an increasing sense of predictability about the likely starting XI, formation and attacking routines, there are countless fresh questions now that Jaissle is in charge. And precious few (definitive) answers.

In all four friendlies, Jaissle fielded a 4-2-3-1, so we can expect that system against Liverpool, but who will occupy many of the positions remains unclear. Jaissle has to find a No 10 and two No 6s, essentially three specialist positions which Howe rarely, if ever, sought players for. To an extent, Jaissle is trying to place square pegs into round holes, or at least only partially rounded pegs into round holes, given he has not been involved in the construction of this squad.

There were belated signs of offensive life — and clear evidence of how they want to attack under Jaissle, with ‘verticality’, quick transitions and plenty of balls upfield — against Strasbourg. Goals, and even the creation of scoring opportunities, are genuine causes for concern, however.

Having laboured for long spells against Everton and Leverkusen, Newcastle looked more fluid and focused going forwards on Sunday, with Will Osula dangerous (and on the scoresheet), while Jacob Murphy laid on the goal and created many of the home side’s best opportunities. Joe Willock was also heavily involved as No 10, yet he is expected to depart, while Murphy is not guaranteed to stay on Tyneside, which suggests further succession planning is still required.

Osula scores in the game against Strasbourg at St James’ Park (Andy Commins/PA Images via Getty Images)

The strong assumption is that Osula will play as the striker next week, so one of Yoane Wissa (who looks revitalised and has been a bright spark throughout the summer) or Nick Woltemade (who continues to struggle) will likely play off the Dane. Harvey Barnes will probably play off the left, despite Bazoumana Toure generating excitement with his pace and directness, and Anthony Elanga to the right, even if he is yet to convince.

In midfield, Joelinton is out for a fortnight at least, so the Brazilian will not feature, meaning Jacob Ramsey — who was at fault for Strasbourg’s equaliser — and Lewis Miley, who has only played 45 minutes across pre-season, are favourites to start. Sean Steur has impressed since arriving and up to €40million (£34.1m, $46.2m) has been invested in Aladji Bamba, but they are 18 and 20 respectively and require time to acclimatise.

Jaissle is desperately seeking experience, especially in the engine room, but a move for Marseille’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has stalled and luring Joao Palhinha to Tyneside is looking unlikely. There is a Bruno Guimaraes-shaped hole in this side, with his creativity, leadership and inspiration sorely missing.

At full-back, Jaissle only has two fit senior options — and that is assuming Amar Dedic’s transfer from Benfica, for a fee of around £30m, is completed (as it should be). The 23-year-old worked with Jaissle in Austria, so is well-versed in the head coach’s philosophy, though Dedic has scant experience in Europe’s top-five leagues. Dedic will likely deputise against Liverpool, though, with Lewis Hall on the other flank.

Dedic gestures to the Benfica fans in a European qualifier this week (WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

Whether Burn is ready to start after only 45 minutes against Strasbourg is unclear, while Sven Botman has had a difficult pre-season. Malick Thiaw will be the right-sided centre-half.

In goal, Lukas Hornicek will make his Premier League bow, with Nick Pope heading for the exit, though the Czech Republic international has yet to inspire confidence, with questionable shot-stopping over the past week.

Jaissle clearly feels Newcastle have had too many friendlies and too few training sessions as he works on fast-forward to implement his ideas. The weekend double-header immediately preceding the season forced Jaissle to “split” his team across the two games, meaning the XI he fields against Liverpool will never have played together.

That provides Newcastle with a surprise factor, although that applies as much to themselves as it does for Liverpool.

Not all of Newcastle’s touchstones have gone. Howe, Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali now belong to another era, but Burn remains, newly minted as a World Cup semi-finalist with England and freshly installed as club captain. Amid a lot of uncertainty, he represents a fixed point to cling to.

Burn is Newcastle’s new club captain following the departure of Guimaraes to Arsenal (Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)

Win or lose, Howe projected calm. Trippier was the standard-bearer, Guimaraes the heartbeat, Gordon led Newcastle’s press and Tonali oozed quality. This applied somewhat less in the Premier League last season, when fatigue and mediocrity took hold, but you knew what you were going to get and quite often it was very good.

What to expect now, amongst all this churn?

“Intense football with a vertical approach, aggressive, front-footed,” Jaissle said last week when asked to explain his vision for Newcastle — which does not sound too far removed from Howe’s s***-housing swarmers — but there has been little sign of that so far.

The tyros must become titans. “You don’t need to step up when you’ve got leaders in front of you,” Burn said. “When you haven’t, it becomes your time to do it. When there’s no one there to fill that vacuum, you’ve got to be the one that does it. It’s going to be good for our younger lads. I’m excited.”

Beyond Dedic and an experienced midfielder, many observers would argue Newcastle require another striker, a wide attacker and another full-back in the market. But reinforcements in such volume appear unlikely, especially on the offensive front.

David Hopkinson, the CEO, and Ross Wilson, the sporting director, have overseen a bold — and what they argue is a necessary — reset this summer. “Newcastle United 2.0” will definitely be different, but whether it can prove successful in the short-to-medium term is something nobody can answer (even if many fans understandably fear the worst following another summer of upheaval).

“We’re not concerned,” Jaissle said on Saturday. “We know the reality and we do the best with the reality.”

What that reality is, nobody else is sure. Newcastle really are heading into the unknown.