As I wrote in yesterday’s piece, there was plenty not to like about Newcastle’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
It felt like a negative set up that didn’t play to our strengths, the refereeing was shoddy and Dan Burn at left-back was not a pretty watch.
However, there were some big positives from a deeply frustrating game, which I cover below:
Liked: Nick Woltemade (again)
In a match of slim pickings for positives, Nick Woltemade stood head and shoulders above everyone else (pun intended) as he scored his second Newcastle goal with an excellent header under immense pressure.
The German is making the best of a bad lot at the moment, as his teammates aren’t reading his game, are not running beyond him, and we have (as of yet) not got the lad into a shooting position with the ball at his feet, which is a huge strength of his.
The side are not using his playmaking/hold-up attributes correctly either (consistently firing balls at his head seems mad when he never played that way in Germany) but he is still making a difference (and he riled Gabriel up so much that he felt the need to punch him in the face…more on that later) but he just needs more time with his teammates on the training pitch (which is going to be hard to come by of course) for the link-up play to come good.
I felt all our attacking threat left the side when he was subbed too which is equal parts encouraging and worrying but Big Nick put in another promising performance despite the result.
Liked: Thiaw and Botman CB pairing
It seems strange to say when your side has lost 2-1 to two headed goals from inside the penalty area, but I thought Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman were probably the best players on the pitch for United. However, it’s difficult to get too effusive when they were on the losing side (especially with the nature of the goals too).
Both are really comfortable on the ball and could take some of the pressure off Pope’s kicking, although they went back to him too often yesterday (and this will seem harsh in a game where he kept us in with his saves, but I can’t be the only one who feels a decision needs to be made on Pope ASAP and whether we want to evolve as a side) and forced Pope into some awkward kicking situations.
Personally, I feel it’s time for Eddie to make a decision with his centre-backs too. If his centre-back pairing moving forward is going to be Thiaw and Botman (and I don’t think you can drop Botman as he looks like he’s getting back to his best), he has to take Burn out of the side. We cannot, must not, please if there is a God, go back to Burn playing at left-back.
Sunday was a tough result to take, especially with us still winning in the 84th minute, but with two games this week, there is time to put a positive spin on the start to the season with a couple of wins. However, if things go against us this week, the season really will be on a knife edge.
