Eddie Howe is standing on the St James' Park touchline, visibly taken aback by what he has just witnessed, looking for confirmation from Jason Tindall, his senior assistant.
It is Saturday, August 9, and Newcastle United's final pre-season friendly has just begun. The opening gambit provided by Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone -- a coach Howe has admired and attempted to emulate when it comes to his team's levels of hard running and some of the darker arts of the game -- has shocked Newcastle's backroom staff.
Immediately from kick-off, Atletico launch the ball towards Newcastle's left-back position. Several players sprint forward, and the aim is to kick the ball out for a throw-in and hem Newcastle in deep inside their own half. Simeone does not care that he is surrendering possession. He is convinced his team can win it back quickly, in a high and dangerous position.
Simeone is setting a challenge to Newcastle, or at least that is the way Howe perceives it. Atletico are essentially saying, "You're not good enough to play out from this."
Atletico's execution is poor in this instance and the misdirected punt actually goes out for a goal kick (shown above). Yet Howe immediately spotted the intent and later confided in those close to him that, in that moment, he was left "feeling inferior".
At the same time, however, he "loved the attitude" Simeone had shown. The psychological impact is something Howe was eager to flip. He wanted to make Newcastle's opponents feel similarly substandard.
This is the genesis of Newcastle's new (and divisive) kick-off routine, which they have used in three of their four Premier League matches so far this season -- and had planned to do so in the other.
Fast-forward to the end of the interval on Saturday afternoon at St James' Park. Newcastle are leading visitors Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0, and Sandro Tonali is waiting to restart the game. The home side are going to be shooting down the slope towards the Gallowgate End during the second half and six Newcastle players are lined up, ready to immediately advance.
Rather than pass to a team-mate, Tonali boots the ball into touch just five yards from the opposition's dead-ball line.
By the time Toti Gomes is ready to take a throw-in, every Newcastle outfield player has advanced into Wolves' half. Eight of the 10 -- including Tonali -- have boxed eight opposition players deep into their own territory (shown below).
Toti attempts to hurl one down the line, but Dan Burn wins a Newcastle throw-in off Tolu Arokodare. Tino Livramento takes it and, although Newcastle shift the ball backwards and from left to right, they have forced every Wolves player into their own territory and have their own attacking personnel in advanced positions.
This is the third restart from the opening four matches of the current season when Newcastle have used this tactic, having never tried it until now.
For their very first action of the campaign, Tonali pinged the ball straight into touch away at Aston Villa (shown below), a ploy so jarring it led to some debate as to whether it was a deliberate strategy or a disastrous, misdirected pass.
Atletico are not the first team to employ such an approach -- Michael Cox cites examples from Marseille's 3-0 defeat against the Spanish side in 2018's Europa League final through to Paris Saint-Germain's 5-0 win against Inter in the Champions League equivalent four months ago -- and Howe is not the only coach to mimic the manoeuvre this season.
Cox views this as a worrying trend, inspired by rugby union, where teams look to gain a territorial advantage by kicking for touch, even if they are ceding possession.
Yet for Howe and his predilection for a high-intensity, high-pressing method -- not always, but often -- there is logic behind it.
Rather than view it as a negative move, Howe believes it gives his team an excellent chance of getting on the front foot early in a half. If Newcastle can win the ball back high up the pitch, as is their strength, they can force goalscoring opportunities. He views it as a positive, because he is backing his team to regain possession while exerting pressure on their opponents.
The change in kick-off approach has not been universally welcomed by the players, many of whom back themselves to keep the ball. When Howe and Tindall told the squad before that Villa game what they were asking them to do, the response was, 'Why are we doing that?'
Some relayed they did not enjoy immediately handing over possession and, at half-time against Liverpool the following week, told Howe that they did not want to repeat the move. Already a goal behind and also down to 10 men, they wanted to play.
Reluctantly, Howe relented, and Tindall changed the plan. Newcastle would pass it backwards before looking to find Joelinton and aim to win the second ball.
Bruno Guimaraes, facing towards his own goal, dropped possession back to Fabian Schar from kick-off. The centre-back floated a diagonal to the Liverpool right-back position (shown below), only for the visitors to win the ball and immediately counter.
Liverpool flooded forward, overloading Newcastle on the edge of their box. Eventually, Hugo Ekitike scored.
The ball did not go out of play between Guimaraes' kick-off and Ekitike's shot finding the net.
Before the trip to Leeds United the following weekend, Howe showed a video of that passage of play to his squad. He told them this is what resulted from an emotional in-game response to a match situation, rather than conviction in sticking to the plan.
Come that match at Elland Road, when Newcastle kicked off the second half, Tonali followed instructions by punting the ball out of play behind Leeds' left-back (shown below).
Once more, Newcastle players had advanced in unison, suffocating the space. After a long throw down the line, Sven Botman picked up possession and looked to start an attack. All 20 outfield players were inside Leeds' half.
This kick-off routine has split Newcastle supporters, too, but it is not merely a novelty. Newcastle will not launch the ball directly out of play in every match, but they planned to do so in each of their opening four Premier League fixtures this season.
Whether Howe is bold enough to demand a repeat performance against visitors Barcelona in both sides' Champions League opener on Thursday will be fascinating to see.