What's Pardew's Plan B?

Despite the protests of Demba Ba's agent, resting Ba on Monday should not have been a controversial decision at all. With a full slate of midweek matches throughout the fall, it's only prudent to rotate Ba and Papiss Cissé to keep both healthy and fresh. But there was a curious choice in Alan Pardew's starting eleven - playing Hatem Ben Arfa as a conventional left winger.

Ben Arfa introduced himself to Newcastle fans almost exactly two years ago in the same position, as he turned Everton defenders inside out from the left wing at Goodison Park. But Chris Hughton had a very different set of players and tactical approach in September 2010. Putting the left-footed Ben Arfa on the left wing was logical with Andy Carroll to aim at in the box. An out-of-form Cissé was much less likely to find himself on the end of a cross Monday night, making Pardew's tactical decision rather puzzling.

What should the manager do when trying to keep either Ba or Cissé in reserve? Here are some options that would better suit the squad.

4-4-2 with Ba and Shola Ameobi up front: Before Sunderland graciously decided to fly Cissé to St. James' Park for his medical, Pardew used the duo of Ba and Ameobi to bully Manchester United into submission. This approach only works against other 4-4-2 teams, as Man U was in January. Otherwise, the opposition can outnumber Newcastle in the midfield, with disastrous consequences. It would also present an opportunity to play Ben Arfa on the left, with Ameobi's presence making his left-footed crosses a viable option.

4-3-1-2 with Ameobi + Ba or Cissé, Ben Arfa behind: Essentially, this would be the simplest swap - just take the preferred formation and rest one of the strikers. While Ameobi isn't especially mobile, he essentially provides an axis for the fluid attacking formation around him. In particular, this look benefits Ben Arfa, who's clearly been Newcastle's best player this season, by giving him a free attacking role. As a bonus, Newcastle has six players who could fit into the midfield three behind him, providing more opportunities to rotate the squad as necessary.

4-2-3-1 with Ba up top, Ben Arfa on the right, Marveaux on the left: A small tweak from Pardew's choices against Everton, but one that could pay dividends. Of Newcastle's strikers, it's Ba who has proven to be most effective on his own. He has the movement and link-up play that Cissé lacks, allowing for some intricate passing with the French trio of Ben Arfa, Marveaux, and Yohan Cabaye behind him. Starting Ben Arfa on the right makes him a shoot-first player, which is important with only one recognized striker on the field. 

These three formation choices - with Ben Arfa notably playing in three different positions - would provide the attacking punch Newcastle lacked in the first half against Everton. Pardew has shown a willingness to experiment with different formations in the last several months. With Monday providing a sorely needed lesson, next time he should be able to set the team up better when keeping half of the Senegalese strike force on the shelf.

Comments

[Steve Fowler (Yank in Geordieland)]

Haven't read the post yet, but can you really drop your number nine? I don't think you can...

Will have a proper read of the post later at work haha ;)

[geordiepat]

It's a quandary with plenty of potential permutations. We can rule out dropping Ba after Monday - not only on football grounds but I don't want to see him get the strop on and leave - despite all the moans about player power. I feel a bit for him after cisse's arrival - and he showed us again what he can do when not pushed out left. if we'd played with a sole striker against Chelsea i don't think there would have been the same hubbub - but Pardew obviously saw Everton away as a bigger threat than most fans and media.

In the league we have to accept both Ba and Cisse will start... and Shola understudies/appears as sub, unless Cisse's non-scoring performances continue deeper into the season. That means either 4-4-2, or the exciting/vulnerable 4-3-3 we saw at the end of last season - with Arfa on the right and perhaps Ba and Cisse switching between centre and left.

Tactics are to some extent just about finding a way to field your best players at once - and less about finely honed strategy. More important is getting Tiote back and fit.. when 4-3-3 will look less flimsy and 4-4-2 will enable Cabaye to venture further forwards.

[geordiepat]

Just to add - I find the disparity between Ba's performances playing off Shola (or Best last season) and the left forward slot he occupies with Cisse baffling. You'd expect a slight dip in shots/ goals - but he looked his old sharp-shootin' self again - especially with Shola on to hold up the long balls.

It's a shame he's so miffed about the left/forward role - as whilst it's not his perfect position (unlike Arfa who likes the ball deeper) it's not an outright left wing role and Pardew has encouraged Ba and Cisse to switch during the game.

[AndyMac]

"or the exciting/vulnerable 4-3-3 we saw at the end of last season"

Its more exciting than 4-4-2 hoofball Steve and far less vulnerable !

[geoff777]

He's on 50k a week, Not many fans earn that in a year, but we pay money to watch Ba.

He needs to play where's he's told to play.

[Bob]

I agree, seeing as his options elsewhere seem rather limited, given questions about his knee and the fact that no one touched his release clause over the summer. These bouts of petulance probably aren't helping either, nor his history of having gone on strike in Germany to force his initial transfer to the Premier League. I have a hunch that if there were an imminent chance of losing him Pardew would be taking a more cautious tack.

[Jaeger]

well his release clause goes through the january window...and with this drama about his agent saying he's unhappy and wants more money and all that BS, there's a threat of him disrupting the attitude in the club. We need to get 2 strikers in january, of non african nationality (just so we don't lose all of them for ACON). that way, if ba wants to leave and someone does that 7mil release, we'll have cover.

i couldn't agree more with geoff, he's probably one of the top salaries on the team, and if it's one game that he doesn't start but comes on at half, he needs to just deal with it and not let his emotions get out of hand. but having a bit of anger can help you play better, as we saw on monday, so i guess pardew knew what he was doing ;)

excited for europa games to start, i like being able to watch newcastle play multiple times a week, i could get used to this ;)