Newcastle United can now fully focus their preparations ahead of their Premier League return against Coventry City on Monday evening after an unprecedented international break. The first international window of the season was an extended three-week break between club fixtures, with 23 days having passed by the time the Magpies face the Sky Blues at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
In that time, 20 Newcastle players across the first team, youth setup and those out on loan represented their national sides with a mixed degree of success. Of those prominent players involved, Chronicle Live have taken a look at the winners and losers from those players involved with their countries across the international break.
Winners
Lewis Hall's return to the England fold has been an unequivocal success and he has surely made the left-back slot his own ahead of the November internationals. Having sat out England's defeat to Spain, Hall started the next three matches, earning rave reviews for his performances and helping the Three Lions to three successive clean sheets and an assist in their 3-0 win over Czechia.
Having missed out on last summer's World Cup, Hall has responded in perfect fashion by backing up an excellent start to the season at club level to prove why Thomas Tuchel made a mistake by not taking him to the USA in the summer.
Sean Steur earned his first cap for Netherlands under-21s during the international break and across his three appearances for Jong Oranje he helped inspire them to secure an unlikely play-off place ahead of next summer's European Championships. Netherlands drew with Norway and beat both Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to pip Israel to second spot in their qualifying group to set up a two-legged play-off match to secure their place at the tournament next summer.
Aladji Bamba has struggled for game-time at Newcastle since his £34.5million move from Monaco in the summer, being restricted to just 27 minutes of action at club level this term. So it would have been a relief for all parties that the 20-year-old made two starts and a further appearance from the bench for France under-21s to get some much needed minutes in his legs. Les Bleus booked their place at next summer's European Championships and Bamba will look to use a positive international break as a platform to push for more involvement at club level with the Magpies.
Like Bamba, Bazoumana Toure has struggled for game-time with head coach Matthias Jaissle pleading for patience when it comes to the £43million summer signing from Hoffenheim. He has scored two goals this term, despite having just 95 minutes of action across all competitions, so the fact he added a further three caps to his name for the Ivory Coast would have pleased all parties. Toure has fierce competition with Real Madrid's Yan Diomande, Manchester United's Amad Diallo and Villarreal's Nicolas Pepe out wide for his country. But he came off the bench in wins over Ghana and Somalia, scoring against the latter, before starting and lasting just over an hour in a friendly defeat to Cameroon on Saturday. The hope is he will return to Tyneside with a renewed sense of confidence as a result.
Yoane Wissa's excellent form for DR Congo proved to be the catalyst for a renaissance at club level at the start of this season and he continued in a similar fashion across the last couple of weeks. The 30-year-old scored in both of DR Congo's wins over Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe, while also picking up an assist against the latter. Crucially for Newcastle, that was where his involvement ended as he left the camp ahead of a double header of friendlies against Uganda and it means he should be fresh to face Coventry on Monday.
Germany picked a mammoth 44-man squad that was split into two camps, with one half playing in the first two games of their UEFA Nations League campaign and the second half playing in the second two games. Malick Thiaw was part of the second half of players and made a positive impression on new Germany head coach Jurgen Klopp as he formed a solid partnership with Borussia Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton and kept two successive clean sheets. With Klopp set to name a reduced 23-man squad for the November internationals, Thiaw has put himself in a strong position to be included.
Ousmane Diabate is still a bit of an unknown quantity for Newcastle fans given he signed in the summer and returned immediately to Turkish side Genclerbirligi on a season-long loan deal. But he has impressed so far this season in the Turkish Super Lig and the 18-year-old took that form into Guinea's Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, putting in a player of the match display in their win over Kenya having come off the bench in their defeat to South Africa a few days later.
Lukas Hornicek joined up with the Czechia squad after an excellent start to the season with Newcastle, with the 24-year-old making a seamless transition to the Premier League since joining the club from Braga. He has plenty of competition at international level for the number one shirt, though, and Czechia manager Santi Denia afforded all three goalkeepers chances to prove themselves over the international break. Hornicek started their first game against Croatia, PSV goalkeeper Matej Kovar was handed the chance in their defeat at home to England before Tottenham's Antonin Kinsky started against Spain. In their fourth match against England, it was felt that Denia's number one would become apparent by which goalkeeper got the nod and it was Hornicek who started the 3-0 defeat at Wembley. So despite his country losing all four matches in their UEFA Nations League group, it was a positive camp on a personal level for the Magpies goalkeeper.
The young Irish pair of Alex Murphy and Rory Finneran were called up to the Ireland under-21s set-up and started all three matches across the international break. Murphy scored in their win over Kazakhstan, which backed up their win in Slovakia to set up a huge match against England on Tuesday evening. Ireland knew a win against the European Champions would book their place in the play-offs to qualify for next summer's European Championships, and the chance to join the Young Lions in Serbia and Albania. And they came from behind to stun Lee Carsley's side by winning 3-1 in Cork and now the pair, who have made promising starts to loan spells with Kaiserslautern and Notts County respectively, will look to help Ireland book their place in the summer showpiece in a two-legged play-off next month.
Losers
Like Thiaw, Nick Woltemade found himself in the second half of Klopp's mammoth Germany squad but missed his chance to make an impression. After a slow start to life on loan at Juventus since leaving Newcastle on deadline day - Woltemade has made just one start and scored one goal - he looks set to compete with Eintracht Frankfurt's Jonathan Burkardt to be the second choice forward behind Arsenal's Kai Havertz. The pair started a game each, with Woltemade missing a sitter from four yards out in Germany's win over Serbia. Burkardt started in the 0-0 draw with Greece and saw a goal disallowed after a handball from Bayern Munich's Tom Bischof in the build-up. Burkardt has scored six goals in five matches at club level this season and Woltemade has a mountain to climb in the next five weeks if he wants to make Klopp's next Die Mannschaft squad.
Ewen Jaouen had missed Newcastle's last four matches with an ankle injury and his call-up to the France under-21s squad felt like a chance to get back on track and some vital game-time. He started in les Bleus' first two matches but a hamstring injury picked up in training ruled him out of their next two matches and he could be set for a spell on the sidelines instead of pushing Hornicek to be the number one goalkeeper at St James' Park.
Lewis Miley was called up for England's under-21 side but was an unused substitute in their win over Kazakhstan. He then pulled out of the squad through injury and although he is set to be fit to face Coventry, it may have harmed his chances of cementing his place as a starter in the Young Lions' side. Borussia Dortmund's Jobe Bellingham, Fulham's Josh King and Tottenham's Archie Gray seem to be the preferred midfield trio and it feels as if Miley has missed a chance to impress Lee Carsley ahead of next summer's European Championships in Albania and Serbia.
