Yoane Wissa hailed manager Matthias Jaissle as Newcastle’s best signing after they claimed their first Premier League win under their new boss with a 2-0 victory at Tottenham.
Jaissle was denied a win in his opening game as Liverpool claimed a point at St James’ Park with a last-gasp penalty but, after beating West Brom 3-2 in the EFL Cup in midweek, the German saw his maiden league triumph come via an excellent away performance.
Anthony Elanga broke the deadlock with a fine finish on the turn shortly after the hour mark, with Wissa doubling the lead 10 minutes later with a wonderfully improvised finish from Nick Woltemade’s knock down.
Wissa hails Jaissle impact
Elanga and Wissa have each enjoyed superb starts to the new season after struggling last campaign following big-money moves from Nottingham Forest and Brentford respectively.
Their form has helped Newcastle make an unbeaten start to the new season despite the departures of three key players in Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, who left for Tottenham in a £100million move but failed to make a tangible impact against his former club.
And Wissa, whose first season on Tyneside was derailed by injury, was effusive in his praise of Jaissle when asked about Newcastle’s early success.
“I am very happy, to be part of the team and part of the club,” Wissa told Sky Sports. “The fans love their club and love the players and what they want is us to give them what we have. They never stopped singing or shouting so that is for them today.
“Of course we lost so many players but the club worked well. It is challenging and we need players to step up, like me for instance, I didn’t play last year and now I have a chance to play. So many players have to step up and enjoy the challenge and with the fans behind us nobody can stop us.
“I am not injured and I feel confident now. I trust myself and I trust the manager and even though I didn’t play last year I have trained a lot with the players and they know my movements.
“Eddie Howe did a top job and the new manager [Matthias Jaissle] came with a new identity and that [first goal] is something we have been working on. Every part of the game we are really precise. He is a really dynamic manager, so we have to give everything and I think he is the best signing of Newcastle so far.”
Jaissle: Newcastle ‘DNA’ key to strong start
Jaissle, meanwhile, gave subtle praise to predecessor Howe — who left the club last month after a celebrated five-year spell — indicating that the foundations he laid have made his job in the opening weeks easier.
“We are really proud as a club and coaching staff to see the team delivering on the pitch and also seeing players committed to what we are doing,” Jaissle told Sky. “Proud and a moment to enjoy.
“We did well also last week. It was a step in the right direction again with a strong opponent, huge signings. The way we handled the opponent was amazing.
“The DNA of Newcastle is a good fit to the playing style I like to see so therefore we saw already in the past similarities.”
Asked about the improvements made by Elanga and Wissa, he replied: “I don’t take the compliments yet. I try just to encourage them, motivate them and support them, not only those two but the whole squad. I am really happy to see the improvement.
“It [the first league win] means a lot. I just said to the lads in the locker room we can count now our defensive stability. The clean sheet today was a big goal.”
Newcastle are reported to be looking at multiple forwards in the closing days of the transfer window, having signed seven players so far.
“We have ambitions, we know what is needed,” Jaissle said on that subject. “The squad is strong but there are still a couple of days left then we can talk again.”
