Three Points: A Tale of Two Halves At West Ham

Three takeaways from Newcastle United's closer-than-it-should-have-been 3-1 win over West Ham United in East London:

Second-half swoon
For most of the season, Newcastle has avoided the perplexing trend that engulfed it during last season's tumble down the table: A positive first half would be swiftly followed by a lifeless second 45 minutes.

It seems harsh to complain too much after a 3-1 win on the road, but it was disappointing to see Newcastle follow a predictable narrative after West Ham's garbage goal made it 2-1 going into halftime. The visitors stopped putting pressure on the Hammers' hapless backline and dropped deeper, allowing West Ham to build possession and confidence.

Newcastle, which should have made more of its chances in the first half, ended up being fortunate Carlton Cole and Andy Carroll couldn't convert a pair of easy chances.

Simply the best
What's made the difference between last season's near-disaster and this season's resurgence? It's hard to name a greater factor than the play — and fitness — of Yohan Cabaye.

Cabaye ran the game in the first half, and his first goal — the footwork, the calm finish — was tremendous. His free kick to seal the win gave him seven goals this season, the third best total among central midfielders in Premier League play (behind Yaya Toure's 11 and Aaron Ramsey's eight).

The diminutive Frenchman wasn't right physically or mentally last season, and when he tried to force a move to Arsenal at the start of the season, it was difficult to envision a happy reconciliation. Rather than sulk, Cabaye has established himself as Newcastle's best — and most important — player.

Help on the way?
In a report on French website ActuaFoot that surfaced before today's game, Remy Cabella's father and agent claimed that the Montpellier attacking midfielder "will join Newcastle this winter."

Should Hector Cabella's quotes prove accurate, his son's arrival, while a timely boost for a squad lacking quality attacking depth, would pose a long-term predicament for Alan Pardew. Initially, you'd expect Cabella to start on the bench as he gets used to the Premier League. But Newcastle won't be shelling out a substantial fee for a squad player, so eventually Pardew will have to decide on how to deploy Cabella. That would likely involve only using two of Cabaye, Cheick Tiote and Vurnon Anita.

Of course, cashing in on Cabaye in the summer would solve that logjam ...

Comments

[Jaeger]

my biggest problem was the substitution of shola for anita... would have preferred a 'like-for-like' switch with probably remy coming off instead.

i think that would have helped us with possession better in the second half.. i liked dummett when he came on. played his part well.

id rather we get a quality striker for the reported 12 million euros fee that has been thrown around for cabella. we have great midfielders right now and just need a new player up front to create a new attacking threat. someone like a gomis/Ba/benteke/lukaku type of player.

[Steven Edgar]

Excellent 3 points yesterday, we needed that to get this season back on track. If we had lost yesterday this season was in danger of fizzling out into nothing.