Fortune Favors The Mags

How Newcastle United didn't concede a goal on Wednesday, we'll never know.

Alan Pardew talked about his team's resilience after Newcastle's 2-0 win over Blackburn at Ewood Park. Can't argue with that. But United was also insanely lucky to win the match thanks to a Scott Dann own goal (after a mixup between Radosav Petrovic, Dann and Jason Lowe handed Newcastle possession and led to a long-range Ryan Taylor shot) and a late insurance goal from Gabriel Obertan. Newcastle's play didn't merit one point, let alone three (not that we're complaining).

Tim Krul and Fabricio Coloccini were the stars at the back and, without either one, it could have been the second half of the Fulham match all over again. However, unlike Fulham, Blackburn, playing without suspended goal-poacher Yakubu, was incapable of finishing off the chances it created.

Krul played a role in that, with the highlight being his stop on a David Dunn penalty after Danny Simpson had charged into the back of Anthony Modeste. To be fair to Simpson, he had previously stopped Gael Givet's goal-bound strike and had a solid overall game. The same couldn't be said for the patchy beard sprouting on the right back's face.

So how was Blackburn able to control the match? Where did Newcastle go wrong? Well, we've previously said we're intrigued by Pardew's use of the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1/whatever you want to label it. But it was abundantly clear that Newcastle simply didn't have the necessary personnel available to pull it off.

Leon Best isn't a wing forward. Shola Ameobi can't be the focal point of the attack, particularly when he's in the midst of a poor stretch. He doesn't offer enough movement and his hold-up play wasn't up to par on Wednesday. Jonas Gutierrez works hard but isn't efficient enough with the ball to play in the middle of the field. Taylor's lack of mobility can be exposed, and his short-range passing doesn't live up to his long-range skills.

Hatem Ben Arfa, a player who would seem to fit quite well into Pardew's new formation, didn't help matters with a poor showing full of over-dribbling. He's not the first skillful attacker to fall victim to that, though, so it shouldn't be a cause for alarm.

Pardew's decision to replace Ben Arfa with James Perch at halftime gave Newcastle a foothold in the midfield, with Perch slotting in behind Danny Guthrie and Gutierrez and Taylor moving out to the wings in a 4-4-2. Perch gave United just what it needed in the middle of the field: a mobile, defensive-minded presence, allowing Guthrie to get forward and pass the ball.

Once Yohan Cabaye, Cheick Tiote and Demba Ba are all back in the lineup and Papiss Cisse is ready to be unleashed, the 4-3-3 could still be an option. But not until then.

The good news is Ba and Cisse should be available for Sunday's tilt against Aston Villa, a huge offensive boost for a team that's looked sluggish in the attack in the five games since the 3-0 thrashing of Manchester United almost a month ago.

And that, in theory, should take some pressure off the backline. Goodness knows they need it after Wednesday.

Comments

[MnToonArmy9]

I think that once our central midfield pairing and our strikers are all back, team selection and formation will take care of themselves.

The trick, I think (hey, I coach second graders, so I'm a soccer expert) is to push as much forward as you think you need to score enough goals. If Ba and Cisse can score enough up front with Cabaye, HBA, Vukic, Raylor and others chipping in, it would seem a solid 4-4-2 that plays to our solid defensive record would be a good idea.

It's like an NFL defense...you rush only as many as you need to get pressure on the QB. By dropping 7 or 8 into coverage you have advantages. For our Newcastle United side, if Ba and Cisse can generate sufficient offense with some chip ins from other players, and if our back four plus Tiote can be rock solid, there isn't any need to push up to a 4-3-3.

With Ba and Cisse available and likely playing and at home...I'm feeling a 4-0 victory this Sunday in the only game that I really care about result-wise.

[Ryan]

Yesterday was certainly an odd match. I will take 3 any way we can get them. In many ways, Blackburn looked like we have at times this year. Control the match, have good scoring opportunities, but just can't put the ball in the net. It was one of those days that luck was not with them and things didn't go their way. This has certainly happened to us before, so it's nice to be on the other side of that coin for once. Look at Brighton match, we controlled the match, couldn't put opportunities away, and lost because of a bad luck, deflected goal.

Huge credit to Pardew and the team. They stuck with it, fought hard, and got the points, even if it wasn't the prettiest. We showed yet again that we deserve to be in the position we are in on the table. And we did it without Tiote, Ba, Cabaye, or Cisse. Can't wait to have the full team back again. Howay the Lads!!

[rob moyer]

Good point about Perchy, he came in and really settled the side down. We were much to reckless with the ball in the first 45 and did a better, but not excellant, job of making them work on defense. The better teams find ways to win games when they do not play their best and that is what we did yesterday. Simmo's clearance off the line, Krul penalty stop, and other plays were made when they had to be and that is the sign of a team getting pretty good.