I Wish I Was A Geordie - The Blog of Newcastle United in the US

Three Points: NUFC 1-0 QPR...The Moose Is Loose

Three reflections on Newcastle's fifth Premier League win in a row:

Playing like he's being scouted

That was the phrase co-blogger Phil used to describe Moussa Sissoko's form of late, and he continued his excellent play by notching the winner against QPR. It wasn't just the goal, though. Sissoko seemed to treat the captain's armband like a talisman, setting up a pair of excellent chances and using his strength and speed in a much more controlled way than he typically has in his time at the club.

Sissoko has been one of the more vexing figures at Newcastle since joining in January 2013. As we have seen in spurts, and in his appearances with the French national team, he has world-class ability. That's made his generally inconsistent play in black and white all the more maddening. For now, I'm trying not to worry about the transfer window in January, and hoping just to enjoy a talented young player starting to realize his potential.

Winging it

Two other standouts on Saturday were starting wingers Sammy Ameobi and Rémy Cabella. It's hard to imagine two more different options on the flank: Ameobi towers over most defenders and uses his straight-line speed to blow past them, while the slight Cabella is more trick than quick. But in their own ways, both were extremely effective. I've always thought that Ameobi deserved more of a chance, and that his failure to establish himself was mostly injury-related. On the other hand, Cabella has really stepped up his play after being benched early in the season. It seems like he's given more thought about how to turn his endless stepovers into something constructive. See the one-two with Sissoko in the first half, where it looked like he was just dithering on the ball, but turned it into a shot from a good position. Of course, the highlight was the insane spin move to set up Ryan Taylor outside the box. No one else in the current squad could have pulled that one off.

Tears for Taylor

Whatever you think of him as a player, it was a real shame to see Taylor have to leave the match in tears after a half hour. Taylor, much like Jonás Gutiérrez, epitomized the team that finished 5th in 2011-12: certainly not the most skilled player, but one who worked hard and filled different roles to benefit his more talented teammates. He even spent some time scouting upcoming opponents during his two-year recovery from multiple knee injuries. According to Taylor's Twitter account, the setback was not a serious one. Clearly, though, it makes one wonder about the future of his playing career. And if it turns out that he isn't able to be a regular contributor on the pitch, I hope Newcastle gives him an opportunity in a scouting or coaching role.

On The Air: The Pod Is Back, Still Hating On Pardew

Is this thing still on? Apparently so, as we managed to take time from, well, not partaking in soccer over the international break to finally record another podcast! Joining Matt and Phil for this edition of the show is Robert Bishop (@BishopSBN), managing editor of fellow US-based NUFC blog Coming Home Newcastle. Because if there's one thing that can bring supposedly competing blogs together, it's shared hatred for, or at least lack of confidence in, the well-dressed man in charge on the touchline.

Besides diving into Robert's excellent writeup on the Silver Fox,we catch up with the last few weeks of news and analysis. How does Newcastle cope with the flurry of injuries the squad has sustained since the West Brom match? What do we think of the club's reportedly shabby treatment of Jonás Gutiérrez? Come January, who stays, who goes, and where does everyone fit in? Who's been the best newcomer, who's starred, and who's come up short? And just because someone thought it was a question worth asking Robert on his own blog, what's the best flavor of Pop-Tart? Join us for the first of what will hopefully be a more regular set of podcasts in the near future...maybe.

Click below to listen, or visit our iTunes and Stitcher sites to listen and subscribe!

IWIWAG pod 1117-edit

Three Points: Welcome To The Top Half

A quick recap of yesterday's 2-0 victory against West Brom at The Hawthorns, which lifted Newcastle to 8th in the table.

Don't look now, but...

Just to demonstrate how quickly the league table can shuffle itself around in the early part of the season, Newcastle now finds itself two points out of the top four going into the international break. The last time the Premier League had a weekend off, just over a month ago, it was 18th and had yet to win this season. And unlike the similar run the club went on around this time last year, it seems fairly sustainable. The "keep it tight and hope to find a goal from somewhere" strategy employed by Alan Pardew always has its limits, but there aren't obvious players to sell this season, and the current squad is continuing to grow in confidence.

More league goals than Xisco and Luque combined

There's no one more confident and comfortable at the moment than Ayoze Pérez, whose stylish finish capped off one of Newcastle's best team goals since it stormed through the West Brom defense in March 2012. Obviously all goals count the same, but it was nice to see Pérez, Rémy Cabella, and Daryl Janmaat put their footballing pedigrees to good use with some crisp passing and excellent awareness.  Hopefully a goal like this will demonstrate that a pass-and-move approach is clearly the best way to bring the diminutive 21-year-old striker into the match. Though Pérez has certainly given it his all when the ball's played to him long, it clearly doesn't suit his strengths. As I mentioned last week, Newcastle has to create more chances and pass its way through packed defenses around the penalty area if it wants to have success against weaker opponents.

Also, if you've not read the article on Pérez from In Bed With Maradona from back in April, it's well worth your time. (It's also fairly astounding, from reading the piece, that he decided to come to Newcastle.)

New center back pairing?

It's no secret that I strongly prefer Massadio Haïdara to Paul Dummett at left back, seeing as I say so at virtually any opportunity. But for all of Dummett's shortcomings on the outside, he's put in two excellent displays alongside Fabricio Coloccini at center back of late, and maybe it's worth keeping the two together for the time being. We've talked a lot about Coloccini's leadership, or lack thereof, over the last couple seasons. When he plays with Mike Williamson, it seems like it's Williamson doing all of the talking and organizing. But with a younger partner at the back, Coloccini is forced to step up, and the defense did a pretty sensational job against the extremely dangerous Saido Berahino and burly Victor Anichebe yesterday. A defensive pairing that gets the best out of the captain and sorts out the left back conundrum is one worth sticking with.

Three Points: Zombie Pardew Wins Again

Three quick takes on Saturday's 1-0 win over Liverpool and what it means going forward. Depending on today's results, Newcastle could be closer to the top four in the league than the relegation zone after 10 matches. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.

35% possession is enough...

Even with its high-priced attacking options, Liverpool turned out a performance straight out of Brendan Rodgers' worst days at Swansea. The Reds controlled the ball, as you might expect, but generated practically nothing out of that possession.

In such a stellar defensive effort for Newcastle, it's hard to single out one player for praise. But I'm going to do it anyway. How about Mehdi Abeid? Coming into the season, Abeid looked to be another example of a once-promising young player who fell into the Bermuda Triangle that is the club's "player development" system. Yet in his first Premier League appearance, Abeid (7 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 blocked shots) was instrumental in stifling the Liverpool attack before it got going, then starting a quick and relatively dangerous-looking counter. Newcastle perfectly illustrated how to defend teams which dominate the ball.

...at least in this match.

While Alan Pardew soaks in praise for upending three heavily favored opponents in a one-week span, it's important to keep one thing in mind. If Pardew's approach works the way it should, Newcastle probably will look better against the "big clubs." A counterattacking system allows underdogs to mostly concentrate on defense, while hoping to steal a goal or two on the break. But it will be a different challenge for Pardew as a manager, and one he's often struggled with during his tenure at the club, to come up with a way to break down more defensive-minded teams. Looking at the upcoming fixture list, he'll have to find a way to do just that in the next few weeks.

The shape of things to come

With that in mind, Pardew should be thinking carefully about how he wants to deploy his personnel over the matches to come. This could be an ideal time to restore Rémy Cabella (12-12 passing, 1 chance created, 2 shots against Liverpool in 25 minutes) to the starting eleven, given that his creativity may be the key to unlocking a more defensive opponent. Maybe playing two strikers can help spread a compact defensive shape. Maybe the midfielders need to make more late runs into the box, so they can get on the end of passes to the penalty spot or win second balls following a cross. Given the emergence of several youngsters over the last few weeks, Newcastle now has the ability to do these things. But the manager has to be willing to come into the match with a positive approach to keep the winning streak going.