🔗 Share this article Baffling & Bewitching Newcastle Pursue Remedy to Curb Disorder Supporters of the Magpies are progressively viewing their manager's squad as a fickle companion. At their brilliant best, they prove to be the very thrill-seekers, delivering high-intensity displays. However, on other occasions, key players like their midfield linchpin and others utterly do not show up. Exacerbating the frustration is a late-game approach laced with a worrying tendency of chaos. Ahead of their holiday fixture to Manchester United, the facts tell a troubling picture: the team has dropped thirteen precious top-flight points from winning situations this season and are without a clean sheet in 10 consecutive games in every tournament. Claiming a win at Old Trafford would be only their second-ever domestic success on the travel this year. A Tale of Extremes: Hope Among the Inconsistency Conversely, defeat has only come once in their most recent 6 league fixtures, and despite sitting in a modest eleventh place, they remain a only 6 points off the coveted top four. Consider an upcoming two-part Carabao Cup last-four clash against the reigning champions and a decent prospect of moving on to the European Cup knockout phase, and it is simpler to understand the gaffer's guarded hope. “We don't just have difficulties,” stated the team's manager. “You can see positives also. My glass is firmly positive at present. I understand everybody else might have a divergent opinion, but in my view we're improving.” The challenge is: can this squad recapture – or even eclipse – the successes of last season's cup glory and European-qualifying finish? Managing a packed schedule makes this difficult. Exhaustion and Strategic Growing Pains This heavy-leggedness might be the reason behind the failure to maintain a superb opening 45-minute showing versus their London rivals, eventually letting slip a 2-0 lead to tie 2-2. Similarly, it could be the reason for a subdued performance in a damaging loss to arch-rivals Sunderland, where the side seemed sluggish just days after a grueling European excursion. While on-field instruction is undoubtedly the manager's forte, the constant grind of twice-weekly matches has drastically cut into valuable practice sessions. This hinders the squad's tactical adaptation to playing with new striker their number nine up front, rather than the now departed their former star. While hugely skilled, the German forward has not shown the equivalent searing counter-attacking pace or ferocious defensive work rate. In fact, the team's once-formidable pressing game has at times failed. Injuries to vital cog Joelinton have been a factor, while expensive signings Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey have struggled settling after their combined £90m+ moves. System Questions and Defensive Crises If a switch to a 3-5-2 could arguably assist the cause, a worsening backline injury list renders that difficult. Key full-backs will be missing for the next key matches, further testing the squad's resilience. When playing at their ferocious peak, they seem virtually unstoppable. The catch is sustaining that level for the entire 90 minutes. The go-to alternative approach of sitting back into a deep-lying defensive shape has sometimes been self-destructive. “That match became chaotic at two-all,” admitted the coach. “However the intention was going for the victory. Our mentality is to always go out to win.” The Path Ahead: Practicality What seems necessary is a pragmatic solution – involving better ball retention, a engine room capable of dictating the pace, and a sensible willingness to occasionally settle for a point. Yet, a ambition to compete on all competitions is stretching finite squad resources to their limit. This might appear unthinkable to some, but a more selective strategy in the cup competitions in the initial stages could have eased the present fixture pile-up. Amid vital European and league games on the agenda, the need to carefully choose focus areas is becoming ever more apparent. The manager recognized the scale of the journey ahead. “Being at a club of this size, the demands are immense. Every moment's pivotal. We have work to do in the Premier League. We are in the League Cup semi-finals, we want to progress in the Europe and do well in the FA Cup. “We're moving in the right direction, but we have a great deal of work to do to transform into the regularly winning side we want to be. The ability to put sequences of victories has deserted us so far. “The objective is to reach those levels we are aware we're capable of. My feeling is that the assurance we can achieve it is growing. But nowadays we have to prove it. It ain't all doom and gloom currently, but the next few weeks will decide much.”
Supporters of the Magpies are progressively viewing their manager's squad as a fickle companion. At their brilliant best, they prove to be the very thrill-seekers, delivering high-intensity displays. However, on other occasions, key players like their midfield linchpin and others utterly do not show up. Exacerbating the frustration is a late-game approach laced with a worrying tendency of chaos. Ahead of their holiday fixture to Manchester United, the facts tell a troubling picture: the team has dropped thirteen precious top-flight points from winning situations this season and are without a clean sheet in 10 consecutive games in every tournament. Claiming a win at Old Trafford would be only their second-ever domestic success on the travel this year. A Tale of Extremes: Hope Among the Inconsistency Conversely, defeat has only come once in their most recent 6 league fixtures, and despite sitting in a modest eleventh place, they remain a only 6 points off the coveted top four. Consider an upcoming two-part Carabao Cup last-four clash against the reigning champions and a decent prospect of moving on to the European Cup knockout phase, and it is simpler to understand the gaffer's guarded hope. “We don't just have difficulties,” stated the team's manager. “You can see positives also. My glass is firmly positive at present. I understand everybody else might have a divergent opinion, but in my view we're improving.” The challenge is: can this squad recapture – or even eclipse – the successes of last season's cup glory and European-qualifying finish? Managing a packed schedule makes this difficult. Exhaustion and Strategic Growing Pains This heavy-leggedness might be the reason behind the failure to maintain a superb opening 45-minute showing versus their London rivals, eventually letting slip a 2-0 lead to tie 2-2. Similarly, it could be the reason for a subdued performance in a damaging loss to arch-rivals Sunderland, where the side seemed sluggish just days after a grueling European excursion. While on-field instruction is undoubtedly the manager's forte, the constant grind of twice-weekly matches has drastically cut into valuable practice sessions. This hinders the squad's tactical adaptation to playing with new striker their number nine up front, rather than the now departed their former star. While hugely skilled, the German forward has not shown the equivalent searing counter-attacking pace or ferocious defensive work rate. In fact, the team's once-formidable pressing game has at times failed. Injuries to vital cog Joelinton have been a factor, while expensive signings Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey have struggled settling after their combined £90m+ moves. System Questions and Defensive Crises If a switch to a 3-5-2 could arguably assist the cause, a worsening backline injury list renders that difficult. Key full-backs will be missing for the next key matches, further testing the squad's resilience. When playing at their ferocious peak, they seem virtually unstoppable. The catch is sustaining that level for the entire 90 minutes. The go-to alternative approach of sitting back into a deep-lying defensive shape has sometimes been self-destructive. “That match became chaotic at two-all,” admitted the coach. “However the intention was going for the victory. Our mentality is to always go out to win.” The Path Ahead: Practicality What seems necessary is a pragmatic solution – involving better ball retention, a engine room capable of dictating the pace, and a sensible willingness to occasionally settle for a point. Yet, a ambition to compete on all competitions is stretching finite squad resources to their limit. This might appear unthinkable to some, but a more selective strategy in the cup competitions in the initial stages could have eased the present fixture pile-up. Amid vital European and league games on the agenda, the need to carefully choose focus areas is becoming ever more apparent. The manager recognized the scale of the journey ahead. “Being at a club of this size, the demands are immense. Every moment's pivotal. We have work to do in the Premier League. We are in the League Cup semi-finals, we want to progress in the Europe and do well in the FA Cup. “We're moving in the right direction, but we have a great deal of work to do to transform into the regularly winning side we want to be. The ability to put sequences of victories has deserted us so far. “The objective is to reach those levels we are aware we're capable of. My feeling is that the assurance we can achieve it is growing. But nowadays we have to prove it. It ain't all doom and gloom currently, but the next few weeks will decide much.”