What Is Wrong With Newcastle United?
Another defeat makes it 3 losses in a row for Eddie Howe, how does he stop the rot?
When the fixture list came out in the summer Newcastle were handed the most difficult start of any Premier League team. The first four games would all be against teams who finished in the Top 7 of a very competitive Premier League last season.
Those four fixtures have all been completed of course and it doesn't read too well for The Magpies. After hammering Aston Villa on the opening day of the season, 5-1 in a dominant and impressive display, it was followed up with a narrow, but underwhelming, 1-0 defeat at reigning champions and treble winners Man City.
Up to that point, nothing seemed too concerning other than the lacklustre nature of the City loss.
But then came Liverpool at home. An absolutely shocking result. A game thrown away in the final 10 minutes. A 2-1 loss to a team playing the majority of the game with just 10 men. Unacceptable.
That, unfortunately, was swiftly followed by the worst result and performance of the season so far, away to Brighton where nobody in black and white (well, green actually) covered themselves in any glory
So the question to ask is, just how worried should Newcastle supporters be at the last two results, and the start to the season as a whole?
There’s an old saying in football that games are won and lost in midfield and as someone who has watched the sport for well over 30 years it is something that I thoroughly agree with.
When the midfield is doing its job properly it is capable of assisting and creating goal scoring chances, but crucially will also protect a defence. Without a strong midfield the defence becomes exposed and will leak more goals.
Whilst the start to this season has been disappointing in terms of results, before a ball was kicked losses to Man City and Liverpool wouldn't have surprised too many people.
But we don’t live in a world where it’s as black and white as that. There is nuance. Nobody is under any illusion that the Liverpool game should have been put to bed comfortably and 3 points collected.
We also know that we could have done more against Man City.
And that’s where genuine -and acceptable - frustrations and criticism kicks in. Brighton was just totally unacceptable and has rightly been the subject of much heated debate.
What concerns me, away from the ‘on paper’ and hypothetical ‘points scenario compared to last season’ arguments that I keep reading and hearing is the trend that I am seeing.
What is the trend I am talking about?
Goals conceded.
1 clean sheet in 15 league matches dating back to April and that was to a doomed Leicester City team.
What happened to the team that was hard to break down? Although United had the joint best defensive record in the Premier League last season, the tendency to concede at least one goal has been growing for months now. And it shows no sign of ceasing either as Brighton put another 3 past us at the weekend.
It’s easy to point the blame at individuals. Dan Burn seems to get the lions share of that and Matt Targett hasn’t done himself many favours either. And whilst some of the criticism is justified I feel that the real problem is actually a little bit in front of the defence.
The midfield balance this season has been way off, even in the two home games. And I believe there are many factors for this including but not limited to;
Bruno not being fully fit
Joelinton not being fully fit
Bruno and Tonali trying to fill too similar a role
Missing Joe Willock
Not having a true defensive midfielder
It’s too simplistic to blame any one player, there’s a lot of factors at play. I believe Howe’s justification for playing Tonali and Bruno is that he wants a fluid system, where his players play in zones and use their footballing IQ to rotate based on what other players are doing.
And let’s be fair, it has worked at times. The team were irresistible against Aston Villa. And although the Liverpool performance was a struggle, the team did create enough chances to win the game comfortably. It’s also worth noting that when it was 11 v 11 we dominated and were good value for the 1-0 lead.
Even against City away, the 2nd half there was some good moments albeit without ever truly laying a glove on the hosts.
So what am I saying here?
Football supporters are allowed to be annoyed, angry or upset by results. They can hold whatever opinions they want. That’s their right.
In my opinion though, despite losing 3 out of 4 matches, it’s more a case that Howe needs to tweak things rather than rip it all up and start again.
We have done some good stuff, particularly in the two home matches, to suggest the team is still a good one. Eddie Howe obviously needs to work to find solutions - and quickly. The Premier League is unforgivable and if we don’t start winning after the international break then the pressure will be on him.
Howe must get the midfield tightened up so it is able to support the defence properly, as it was in the early part of last season.
The other side of it is that as a team we have to become much more clinical. Too many chances are being squandered and it will cost us, just as it did against Liverpool, if that issue is not resolved quickly too.
I’m not panicking yet, but the fixtures coming up will be season defining and possibly Eddie Howe defining too if bad results are not halted.
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I just want to complain about the fans complaining about other fans complaining about our results