Happy Winter, Tooners! (Sorry for that, inside joke.) We enter this weekend’s Winter Break at 12th place, on 31 points. At this point last season, we had just beaten Man City and lost to Tottenham, and were about to go on a tear, taking 10 of our next possible 15 points. The last two seasons under Rafa showed big resurgences in the late winter, and I have a feeling this season will be the opposite. We went on a great run in the late autumn this season under Bruce to get us to the point in the table where we are today. But I fear that we are being found out and our future doesn’t hold the pleasant surprises that last season did.
Another fun fact in researching last season: Our strikers scored a whopping 29 goals. TWENTY NINE!! Guess what? 25 of those were by Rondon and Perez. 3 by Joselu, so that leaves only one goal scored by a current striker, Yoshinori Muto. I’m afraid that this season, we’re seeing the very obvious results of bad business by the suits at Newcastle. We’ve had two transfer windows to replace these goals – and Joelinton was just a miss – but after seeing his obvious mediocrity, to not bring in a second option is sinful.
But boy, did I digress. We’re here to discuss the season so far, how we’re doing, and where we are going. To summarize, I think that this Newcastle is one of the worst squads we have had since being in the Championship, and I don’t mean for that to sound like a platitude. Our quality on the pitch has been horrible, it is hard to overstate how poor we have been when you look at the football and disregard results. There are a few bright spots that I’ll get into, but our team is poor in quality, incomplete, lacking ambition as well as a clear plan, and has resulted in defensive tactics, frustrating missed attempts, and blank stares from player to player and from me to the TV.
Strikers: Rating: 1/10
This one is obvious. We have been made fun of across the entire league for our offensive failures. Joelinton is the only striker on our club with a goal – and he only has A goal. One. Our leading goal scorer is Shelvey with five, and after that there are seven players tied with 2 goals this season, 5 of which are defenders. It’s the worst situation we have been in from a striking perspective since I’ve followed the club (16 years). Sometimes I think that it’s naive or immature for fans to always beg the club to buy a new striker, thinking that it’s an easy way to produce excitement, but it’s shocking how we just cannot find a striker to do the job at our club. Rondon was great, but he was never really a Newcastle player, Joe is terrible, Perez was VERY hot and cold…not since Ba and Cisse have we had players with actual striking power. (Take a look at this well-written but very pathetic list of strikers: Top Strikers in the Ashley Era) And Ba wanted out the day after he stepped into the building. I’m not even counting Gayle and Muto as strikers on this team, because they will NEVER play or score goals – they’re irrelevant. Look, this is a huge problem for Newcastle, and it’s not going to get any better. We will need to rely on Saint-Maximin, Almiron, Shelvey and the Longstaffs for the rest of the season, and there’s no use arguing about that. Let’s figure out how to get it done, and write a letter to Steve Bruce. And include cookies in the package.
Midfielders: Rating: 5/10
As discussed above, the midfielders have a big job ahead of them. And I don’t think we have the midfielders to live up to the task. St. Maximin is my favorite player on this squad – he can be exciting as hell, he is fast as hell, he’s great for the community, hilarious on social media, and is fashionable and memorable. He’s exactly the kind of player who would excel at Arsenal. So, there you go. Almiron will never score many goals and will ALWAYS choke because he is jittery. His springy energy is what’s great about him, and also is his downfall. The Longstaffs, who apparently are one person since Bruce ONLY plays them together, are not at the level they need to be yet to succeed in this league. Shelvey is on and off, and you can’t count on him, or against him. He seems to be the only central midfielder who has ANY interest in passing forward and scoring goals. Isaac Hayden seems like a guy who’s genuinely a good athlete, but not a football player. He’s a great warm body who will play hard, do his best to organize the team, but this club needs players who can change a game, can provide a moment of brilliance and magic. Isaac Hayden just is NOT that guy. But in general, our midfielders are okay, not quite good, and have a higher standard than other midfields in the league because of how poor our striker is. I think the potential in the group lies in Saint-Maximin and Almiron, and if these two can work together and use their speed to their advantage, this is our only hope to score goals.
Defense: Rating: 7/10
As we get further back in the team formation, our quality improves. This defense, particularly the CB’s, are actually very strong. We’re #1 in the league in clearances, which is more just because we never have the damn ball, but it’s not bad. Our defense has WAY more goals than our strikers, obviously, and a lot more skill in their ranks. Honestly, Clark, Schar, Lascelles, Fernandez and Lejeune are five really good CB’s, and would probably start on most Premier League teams. Our wing backs could use a bit of an upgrade, particularly after the injuries we have gotten, but I have confidence that Rose will get back in shape and play well, and I’m REALLY hoping Manquillo gets healthy to help out, as he was one of our best players before his injury. I think defensively, we are strong enough for this season, and this is the reason why I think we will stay up this season.
Goalkeeper: Rating: 9/10
Dubravka is our best player. He’s incredible, and the reason why we are where we are in the table. He has made a couple mistakes this season which have cost us points, but such is the life of a goalkeeper. He has done WAY more good than bad for us, and I’m obviously a huge fan. Not much more to say than please keep it up, and PLEASE GOD stay with us.
Manager: Rating: 5/10
Here’s where it gets controversial. Are you with him or against him? Brucie is probably the most divisive head coach in the league, and he doesn’t even try to be. That’s actually what I love about him – he really doesn’t give a crap what anyone says outside of the club, he seems like he really wants what’s best for the players and the team, and he’s a Geordie so you know he only has the best for the club in his heart. I really want to like the guy, as he seems like a great guy, and it seems that the players really do like him. But the problem is that he just isn’t a great manager from a footballing perspective. Here are my thoughts.
- He was the one who said YESYESYES to Joelinton. Look how that worked out.
- He didn’t put our defensive line together, it was RAFA’s defensive line.
- He tried to create his own lineup at the beginning of the season, and we couldn’t win a match to save our lives. It was a failure, and showed that he wasn’t able to tell how to use the players he had.
- When he reverted back to Rafa’s formation and tactics, we went on a huge tear and started collecting points again. I don’t think Rafa is a genius, but results speak volumes, and this one stood out for me.
- He was in charge of the January window, and while I actually think we did okay in other areas, the inability to bring in a striker reeks of either idiocy or ineptitude, and I put this, partly, on Bruce’s shoulders.
- Joelinton is fixable, and he hasn’t been able to fix him yet. Not even close. He sulks on the pitch, he is lazy, he’s always out of position and often offsides, and doesn’t get into good spaces to receive a ball and create chances with our wingers. These are all things that the coach needs to help him with. And Bruce just hasn’t fixed this yet.
- Our club has ZERO ideas moving forward. We have ONE idea defending (numbers win matches). We get caught in between the midfield and defensive lines. We don’t show any off the ball movement. I mean, I’m not a manager and these are obvious tactical deficiencies that we have, which other clubs don’t have. It’s as though he just doesn’t understand how to create a game plan which doesn’t involve putting 9 men behind the ball and hoofing it forward.
I know I’m being a little obtuse here, but Bruce just needs to show more. Now, one thing I can say I like about him is his ability to get behind the players and vice versa. I do think that some of the matches we won very late were 100% because he has instilled belief in the players. He is a good emotional manager. But between the ears, there is much to be desired.
Moving Forward:
As I mentioned, we are 12th place right now. We’re 6 points below 5th place, and 7 points above the drop zone. So we’re in the middle of the mediocrity sandwich, but still within distance of either greatness or relegation. I’m not counting anything out. We have 13 matches left, and I’m predicting we get between 16 and 20 points from them. That’ll put us at just under 50 points for the season. The next 6-8 matches are absolutely crucial, because we play some teams that we could really get some good points against. If we don’t do well during this time, the end of the season will be VERY tough, and we’ll be in a relegation fight. But if we can get around 48 points, that’ll be our most productive season since 2013-14, and better than any under Rafa (in the Premier League). If we can finish around 12th (where we are now) in the table, it’ll be successful in my mind, since this team is SO sorely lacking in quality and ideas. Then in the offseason, it’ll be about keeping our defensive group in tact and finding that one striker to push us forward. Honestly I feel that we have about 60% of the pieces we need to be a good club, but some changes need to be made to make that happen.
Happy Winter Break everybody.
The Newcastle Review 