What's Wrong With Newcastle? The Same Old Problems

When viewed in isolation, Newcastle United's 1-1 draw at West Brom on Saturday was hardly a result worth getting worked up over.

The performance was uneven, but Newcastle managed to secure a point on the road against a team that's spent the entire season in the top half of the league table. Not exactly an outcome that should result in calls for Alan Pardew's firing.

But that's just it, isn't it? The angry tweets, message board posts and pub discussions weren't simply spawned by one average performance, but rather an alarming trend.

Indeed, the most perplexing aspect of Newcastle's disappointing 2012-13 season has been a complete and utter lack of development. The same problems that torpedoed the first half of Newcastle's Premier League season are preventing the club from smoothly pulling away from the battle at the bottom of the table.

Save for a brief uptick in the wake of January's Gallic spending spree, Newcastle has lurched from one game to the next for the majority of the season. In all likelihood, Newcastle will survive this season with its Premier League status intact. However, the final four games will likely still include their fair share of rough patches for Newcastle — and the causes of those rough patches will almost assuredly look familiar to the fans who have watched this team all season long.

Without further adieu, here's a sampling of the deficiencies that Newcastle has failed to eradicate over 50 Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup matches this season:

The names change, but Newcastle remains brittle at the back. Injuries have prevented Alan Pardew from naming a consistent back five (including the goalkeeper) for the vast majority of the season. Still, for how highly regarded a large portion of Newcastle's stable of defenders is, the team's performance at that end of the field has been alarming.

Newcastle has conceded 60 goals, which ties for second-worst in the Premier League behind lowly Reading. Too many of those goals have been the result of silly individual errors — and despite what some fans would have you believe, not all of them have been by Mike Williamson and Danny Simpson.

Even when he's been healthy, Fabricio Coloccini hasn't been up to last season's elite form. Steven Taylor has been his usual self, mixing long stretches of solid play with the occasional ill-timed boneheaded move. January arrival Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa clearly possesses an impressive skillset, but he's still settling into the English game and has produced a handful of near-disastrous moments (particularly when trying to play his way out of trouble). Davide Santon has regressed as the season has worn on and looks totally out of ideas when pushing forward and nervous when defending. And then there are Williamson and Simpson, who are simply limited in their abilities.

When healthy, January signing Mathieu Debuchy has probably been Newcastle's most consistent defender.  

Late goals are fun, but Newcastle needs more out of Papiss Cisse. We all know Cisse wasn't utilized in his natural position for the bulk of the first half of the season. He's clearly more comfortable spearheading Newcastle's current 4-2-3-1 formation, and his play has unquestionably improved over the past three months.

Cisse's Premier League goal ratio of eight in 31 starts isn't terrible — though it's hardly impressive for a lead striker — and would be more acceptable if he was contributing with his all-around game. But, as we all know, that isn't exactly one of his strengths.

At bare minimum, Newcastle needs Cisse to be a more consistent factor in games, even if it's just by running the channels and pestering opposing center backs. Too often, Cisse has been non-existent for halves or whole games. And, unfortunately, Pardew doesn't have much in the way of alternatives at striker. He's tried to rely on Shola Ameobi to provide a physical presence, but the veteran hasn't performed like a Premier League player this season.

In essence, Cisse has become undroppable, even in spite of his inconsistent finishing and disappointing overall contribution.

Regardless of formation or personnel, Newcastle lacks width in the attack. Gabriel Obertan is probably the only player on the roster who would qualify as a “classic winger,” and the meek Frenchman has undoubtedly taken a step back this season after some early promising Europa League showings.

The rest of the players who have lined up on the flanks over the course of the season — Hatem Ben Arfa, Jonas Gutierrez, Yoan Gouffran, Sylvain Marveaux, Cisse, both Ameobis, and Moussa Sissoko (apologies if I missed anyone) — all tend to drift inside, and are encouraged to do so in the 4-2-3-1 alignment. That places the burden of spreading the field on the fullbacks. At times, Debuchy and Massadio Haidara have supplied the necessary width, but both have missed time through injury.

Too often — particularly when Santon is playing left back — Newcastle’s attack becomes incredibly narrow, and there aren’t many players on the roster capable of carving open a packed defense. Ben Arfa and Marveaux both are, but their fragility means it’s impossible to rely on them from week to week.

The midfield is far too reliant on Yohan Cabaye. In many ways, Saturday’s game summed this one up. Most of Newcastle’s encouraging play ran through Cabaye in the first half, when United created a handful of scoring chances that should have resulted in a commanding lead. The feisty Frenchman’s influence was noticeably smaller in the second half as West Brom ratcheted up the intensity and Newcastle’s struggled to maintain possession.

Newcastle has an impressive collection of central midfielders on its roster. Cabaye and Sissoko are French internationals who could break into most of Europe’s top-level teams. Cheick Tiote quickly established himself as one of the Premier League’s best holding midfielders after arriving in England in 2010. Vurnon Anita has played for the Dutch national team and came to Newcastle from a club (Ajax) that’s regarded as highly as any for player development.

And yet how many times have we seen Newcastle fail to get hold of the ball this season, particularly on the road? For the season, Newcastle’s average possession is 48.42 percent, according to Opta.

Plenty would pin that troubling number squarely on Pardew and his tactics. He’s often talked of a preference for a “rhythmic passing game,” yet Newcastle has regularly gone direct in its play. Regardless of the tactical approach, though, Newcastle’s central midfielders have frequently failed to control — “boss,” if you will — a game. And when Cabaye has been unavailable or struggling (as he was for the majority of the season’s first half), it’s been even more of a rarity.

Tiote has been one of the season’s great disappointments, while Anita, brought in as cover for the position, has failed to carve out a regular role while adjusting to a much faster and more physical league. Sissoko has largely been used in an advanced playmaking role, which looked like a stroke of genius by Pardew early on but has appeared considerably less brilliant of late. Perhaps dropping him deeper would help matters, although he’ll need to show restraint in his dribbling.

You couldn't build a team that's less effective on set pieces than Newcastle. What else is there to say? Newcastle hasn’t scored off a corner kick since Oct. 1, 2011 at Wolves. Unless Newcastle is presented with a free kick within Cabaye’s range of goal, United simply isn’t a threat to score. Corner kicks have become little more than an opportunity for the opposition to attack on the counter after the cross in is inevitably cleared.

Ryan Taylor’s absence hasn't helped, but I question how much his availability would truly matter given United’s lack of aerial threats. Steven Taylor can at least be a factor in the box, but he’s hardly a prolific goalscorer (13 career goals). Yanga-Mbiwa, like Coloccini, doesn’t really have the frame to mix it up on set pieces, as evidenced by his four career goals for Montpellier. Williamson has shown some ability to win the first ball, but there’s a reason he’s yet to score for Newcastle in 97 starts. Cisse isn’t strong in the air, and, of the midfielders, Gutierrez is sadly the best threat to score with his head.

We can leave whether Newcastle should bring Andy Carroll back to Tyneside to future posts. What’s indisputable, though, is that somehow, some way the club must take measures to improve on set pieces over the summer.

Comments

[MNTOONARMY9]

Our set piece plays, whether free kicks in the attacking half or from the corner, have been abysmal all season. I recall two seasons ago when we had a much better set piece rate (at least to my recollection) and here is what we had:

(a) an effective (or more effective) trigger man, Barton, who despite his obvious issues appeared to be savvy enough to know where to put the ball.

(b) a grinder in the landing area like Kevin Nolan who either had the nose for the ball but also the attitude you want in the landing area. Who is our grinder now? Maybe Sissoko...maybe Steven Taylor.

(c) a legit aerial threat. For some of that year we had Carroll who was our main target, but we had Leon Best and a slightly younger Shola Ameobi, too. Neither Best nor Ameobi were great in the air, but when you compare it to this season's squad, you can't say we have any real targets...as Tom notes.

First get someone who can deliver good service (Cabaye?) and then find at least one CB or strike partner who can do something in the air. Otherwise we're better off having HBA take all our corners short. Right?

[Beardsley's Minnesotan Love Child]

With respect to MNTOONARMY9 for being from the correct side of the St Croix from most of these cheeseheaded Leinie swilling Green Bay Packer fans, but if we have good on the ground passing players, why do we "need" an aerial threat?

Point missing from the article Is also our lack of possession in the final third and reliance on a long ball to bridge the gap between defense and attack . Clearly illustrated by our designed to absorb deep lying pay makers and our lone ranger, offsides noes no bounds thriker Cisse, who more often than nought is on the wrong Side of an assistants flag at the moment a preposterously long all is flung vaguely in hs general direction...

Does it surprise anyone that Pardew wants to and has been bleating about brining Carroll back to the biggest long ball team in the Premiership?

Our passing stats have dropped and are inversely proportional to the amount of long all we play? Our playmaker's performances have dropped and are also inversely proportional to the amount of direct hoof ball we play?

There's an over reliance on individual brilllance and last gasp finishing and defending to the detriment of methodical build up and consistent team play.

The payers arent just start sitting back, they have been told or trained to do so. Left to thier own devices, we'd be paying amore on th grou d passing game...

[Beardsley's Minnesotan Love Child]

And another thing: oh my god my spelling is atrocious....that last paragraph should read:

"The players aren't just sitting back, they have been told and trained to do so. Left to their own devices, they'd be playing a more on the ground passing game..."

[Mathew]

It's always good to have an aerial threat! The best passing team in the world still cross the ball and use set pieces to target the big man.

It's always easy to point fingers at a manager when things aren't going well and too often than not, you see a manager fired at the first sign of trouble than allow the team and staff he's trying to build, take shape and click.

I don't think AP has made the best decisions this season I also can't blame him for the duff hand he was dealt all season long with injury after injury. At one point we had 9 possible starters on the injury list and zero big talent added over the summer.

Look at Moyes at Everton. He's been there 11 years now and had 3 manager of the year awards. Their highest finish in that time was 4th the lowest 17th. (7, 17, 4, 11, 6, 5, 5, 8, 7, 7, 6 or 7 this year) In that time they've been runners up in the FA Cup and that's it! 1 Champions League birth and 3 Europa appearances.

AP is into his second full season and already had manager of the year and a 5th place finish along with a QF birth in Europa. He's assembled a team that can play with some of the best and have shown some great sparks. But should we fire him for this seasons slump alone?

The difference will be down to the owner and board. Do they stand behind AP and give him the players and resources he needs to keep building this team? As They owned up to NOT doing that last summer.

OR do they fire him, get someone else in who needs to do what? Win a trophy in 2 years or get fired too?

[Dave from Newcastle]

Really good post and comments- so rare it seems.

IMO, the decision of the year happened back in August when the Board refused to cough up the additional ~1M or so pounds that Lille wanted for Debuchy. 2 days later Raylor gets hurt, Ferguson was never able to step up and the RB position was a struggle until Mid January. I'm not saying this team is 6th with a full year of Debuchy, but take away a couple of simply Simpson moments from the fall and maybe this team is just inside the top 10 and we never had to worry about relegation. I thought the decision at the time was foolish- it was chump change for an identified need where we had depth issues.

[MNTOONARMY9]

Despite my provincial affection for Beardsley's Minnesotan Love Child (can I get you to play on my U-10 team?) I think I'd like at least the option of an threat in the air.

I think (with amateur manager credentials firmly established) the combination of ingredients is the important thing. It wasn't just good service, or a grinder like Nolan or "big Andy" et al that created good set piece results. I suspect it was all three in concert. If you are worried about a big air threat, you to send your best/biggest defender after the threat...leaving a grinders to crash the net.

Now...take the air threat out of it for example. Despite good service on set piece plays, we'd have all of the defenders mostly ground bound. Less to distract the markers and more legs and bodies to deflect the ball.

This year, we've lacked all three elements (though Colo was robbed on a goalline clearence earlier this year) for major portions of the season. Just give me (the manager) the credible threat and then I'll have options.

[Andy]

Pardew has to go. West Brom was the tipping point for me. It was just after half time when I realised that, weeks after the new signings, nothing has changed since the first half of the season.

The pathological sit-back-after scoring is worrying. No recognition that it's a duff tactic, despite the glaring evidence that it's suicidal. Our set pieces have been talked about enough, but where are the signs of improvement? Our deliveries are...I have to go scream into a pillow for a moment...Shola on before Ben Arfa? SHOLA ON BEFORE BEN ARFA!?

If we're honest, we were poor for a lot of last season too; that six game win streak aside near the end of the season where it looked like Pardew had finally turned on the light switch. Injuries and no signings don't mitigate the tactics and failure to even execute the basics, in my opinion. Is it going to suddenly click in the summer?

This is rambling and nowhere near as insightful as the posts above, so apologies.

I would like to mention that my favourite moment of the season was when Tim Krul got the signal to come up for a corner in the last minute, did so...and then we played a short corner. I laughed, anyway.

[Mathew]

If you want to have AP fired - who would you bring in and what must they do in two years to not have the same fate as AP this summer?