1 good, 3 bad from Newcastle’s 3-1 defeat at Man City

Newcastle United will not retain the Carabao Cup after losing 3-1 (5-1 on aggregate) to Manchester City in the semi-final second leg on Wednesday evening.

After conceding three without reply in the first half, there was a slight rally in the second 45, but it was all too little too late. Throw in an injury to Gordon, and it almost couldn’t have gone any worse in the Northwest.

Here’s my one good and three bad from the game:

Good: A big moment for Elanga? 

In an evening of slim pickings there was a clear stand out positive for United and that was Anthony Elanga finally breaking his goalscoring duck for the club. It was a brilliant run and finish from the Swede and, missed sitter aside, we just have to hope that the lad can take some confidence from his effort.

Elanga looked a threat on other occasions too, and really should’ve scored a second, but he skewed a sitter horribly wide when well placed. Let’s hope that it doesn’t play on his mind too much as he was a bright spark on a pretty drab evening.

If he could find a way to go on a run of semi-decent form, it may offer up some slight hope he could deliver something going into a difficult run of away games especially with injuries mounting up now. I realise that this point may be the slimmest of slim pickings but with all the evidence that we are one of the worst teams away from home, full stop, and with six out of the next seven away from home, hope is all we have at the minute.

Bad (but understandable): Tactical set up

I understood the need to be on the front with us being two nil down in the tie, but the man for man pressing system in the first half just left us horribly exposed in the middle of the park. Man City cut through our centre at will with our central midfielders pushed right up on Man City centre backs and all it took was one pass and their attackers were in acres of space running at our defence and punished us accordingly.

Ramsey often failed to do the simple things like cover the spaces and track runners, Tonali was sloppy in possession, and our aging and slow centre backs were left chasing shadows time after time. Thiaw is on a real downturn of form and if we had anyone to come in, I’d say the lad needs to come out of the side.

Perhaps, we should’ve been more conservative, but if we had’ve played that way we all know the manager would’ve got it in the neck for us playing that way too.

Bad: Big chances missed and worrying striker form

United did have chances throughout the match: Willock’s one on one chance not minutes after City’s opener was a huge moment that could’ve changed the game, but he never looked like scoring it. Gordon’s effort was weak, but it was a great chance as he was again one on one. Botman’s header was decent but never enough in the corner to threaten to beat Trafford.

Elanga’s sitter was criminal as was Wissa’s miss from a yard out, and we just can’t afford to miss a plethora of presentable chances against a side that have as much quality as they do, and it ultimately sealed our fate on a disappointing night.

Woltemade was a passenger throughout his 45 minutes, and he’s now only scored the brace against Chelsea in his last 18 games. He is being horribly exposed in our current setup, but it isn’t all on him; the manager must take some blame for the inability to find a way to play with the lad in the side especially when you paid £69million for him which presumably means he’s going to be our main striker for the foreseeable future. It all heaps pressure on the lad especially when Wissa is turning out to be dud as he missed a handful of decent chances and was offside far too much too.

Bad: Trippier looks finished

This is a painful point to write but Kieran Trippier appears to be finished as a fullback at this level. He was targeted consistently by City, was at fault for Man City’s second, and Burn was often so deep trying to cover for him he was playing their lads onside.

Trippier is a legend at this club but we are now seeing why few footballers are still playing at the top level at 35-year-old, especially in this apparent era of athleticism over footballing ability. Full backs are so key to the modern game too, and to have one playing who opposition attackers can rinse at will almost means you’re starting a game one nil down before it starts.

And so, we move onto Brentford at home, in what is probably a must win game considering the run of fixtures we have coming up away from home. It will be a tough match considering how dogged Brentford were in their one nil win with ten men in their last away game at Villa, who not a week earlier had played us off the park.

February is horrific fixture wise, and with Gordon presumably added to the ever-extending injury list which now includes Lewis Miley too, the shortest month of the year could be a long one…

Keep the faith. HWTL