I tend to notice that during games, when we are in possession, Mbemba travels out to one side and colo to the other with the defensive midfielders covering the middle. This then allows Janmaat and Lb to move forward up the flanks. When we are countered, this leaves us vulnerable, Id prefer our Rb/lb stayed back with the CB's holding their natural position and a naturual line of four and allow the cm midfielders to get forward. We typically try and play very wide, but with no real sucess, we have a lack of numbers in the middle when attacking and when the ball is lost, there is a 60 yard gap in the middle between our striker's and our DM's/CBs. We overload the wings, I understand the thought of trying to stretch the game but when you have our lb/lm and their rb/rm all in a small space down the wing, we are rarely ever going to be sucessful, especially when there is no option to cut in.
I agree playing 5 at the back looks good on paper, I even use it in my FM15 game with Newcastle. But i have no trust in these players to adapt to play in that formation. I think it's too much of an ask. And definitely no Thauvin at left back, we'd get murdered (more so) Could try it for a few games, would be an interesting watch for sure!
We do not have the correct players to play any formation at the moment, there is weakness all over the pitch no matter who plays where, and teams are able to expose this. It must be really easy to play us at the moment, Any decent manager can find holes and problem areas to attack throughout our squad. We are a guaranteed draw/win for most teams at the minute!!
Could it be Clarence? But what about David? Or Brendan perhaps, they do say he likes a project? No, hold on a minute, Rafa has got to be a better bet, a spot of Rafaology will soon sort it. Newcastle United have won only two of their 13 Premier League games this season and the Tyneside rumour factory is working overtime. No sooner had Jamie Vardy opened the scoring in what was to become a 3-0 victory for Leicester City at St James’ Park on Saturday than speculation began mounting as to who would replace Steve McClaren. Once Real Madrid had surrendered to Barcelona, Rafael Benítez joined David Moyes and Brendan Rodgers on the list of likely lads. By Monday morning though that trio were forced to make room for Clarence Seedorf. Reports in the Italian media suggested the former Milan midfielder had already held “secret discussions” with Newcastle and was all set for relocation to north-east England. The club did not take long to let it be known they were not interested in Seedorf after all, and have no plans to replace McClaren. If keeping faith with the former England manager is surely the right thing to do, the lack of substance to the Seedorf talk was, in one sense, slightly disappointing. If only Newcastle had been trying to persuade the former all-conquering Milan star to turn back the clock and step out of retirement. The suspicion is that, even at 39 and long since retired, Seedorf may still be capable of pulling on a black and white striped shirt and outclassing the rest of a malfunctioning midfield. This failure is not really McClaren’s fault. He does not have responsibility for signing Newcastle’s players and, having inherited a right mess, is attempting to make the best of a bad job. please log in to view this image FacebookTwitterPinterest Florian Thauvin, a £12m signing from Marseille, was one of Newcastle’s key summer recruits but has appeared out of his depth in the Premier League. Photograph: Newcastle United/Newcastle United via Getty Image A squad suffering from three years of chronic underinvestment was very nearly relegated last season so out went John Carver, in came McClaren and £50m was spent on Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba and Florian Thauvin. Although Mbemba, a centre-half, and Wijnaldum, an attacking midfielder, disappointed against Leicester they have generally looked decent buys. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the collective £25m blown on Mitrovic and Thauvin. The latter, a winger, is so out of his depth in the Premier League it can, at times, be almost painful to watch the summer import from Marseille. Hatem Ben Arfa may have been high maintenance but there are few Newcastle fans who would not swap their former No10 for Thauvin. Apparently reborn at Nice and back in the France squad, Ben Arfa is, ironically, the type of creator who may well have flourished under McClaren. Unfortunately after falling out with Alan Pardew and being loaned to Hull, he was offloaded for nothing last January. Then there’s Mitrovic. The Serbia striker scored a lot of goals for Anderlecht last season but has all too often looked slow, volatile and ineffective in England’s top tier. After being whacked by Robert Huth early in Saturday’s game, Mitrovic – who did not relish Wes Morgan’s attentions either – looked as if he could not wait for his replacement by a similarly lacklustre Papiss Cissé. If only McClaren had been allowed to sign a reliable goalscorer in the Charlie Austin mode last August. If only he had been allowed to strengthen a defence understaffed at centre-half (why on earth didn’t Newcastle make more of an effort to recruit the excellent Virgil van Dijk, now shining at Southampton, from Celtic in the last window?) and full-back. Who decided Davide Santon was really surplus to requirements last January? Who, watching Paul Dummett’s struggles against Leicester, possibly thinks the technically assured Santon, now back at Internazionale, would not have represented an upgrade at left-back? And yet arguably the biggest problem of all is in central midfield. Newcastle’s policy – something drawn up by Mike Ashley, the owner, and executed by Lee Charnley, the chief executive, and Graham Carr, the chief scout – of signing only players aged 26 and under dictated they decline a chance to re-sign Yohan Cabaye from Paris Saint-Germain in July. Cabaye’s age has failed to prove a problem at Crystal Palace where the 29-year-old Frenchman’s game is elevating Alan Pardew’s current side to a new level. Desperate to introduce a new patient, possession-based passing approach at St James’ Park, McClaren could have done with having Cabaye’s playmaking skills to calibrate a midfield low on technical proficiency and creative vision. It is worth noting that Pardew abandoned all attempts to play a passing game on Tyneside when Cabaye departed for PSG, instead deciding Newcastle’s limitations made them much better suited to a counter-attacking, sometimes brutally direct, approach. Gallowgate Enders hated such fundamentalism and in certain matches Newcastle have looked infinitely more attractive under McClaren’s choreography. But as Sunderland’s Sam Allardyce keeps reminding us, managers, no matter how good they are, stand or fall by the players their club recruits. In theory the lightweight, between-the-lines players Carr – the de facto director of football – seems addicted to acquiring should be suited to McClaren’s passing blueprint. But without a proper framework to support them they cannot possibly be expected to flourish. Newcastle’s spine is far too weak for such fragile talents to stand a chance of prospering. A commanding centre half, a strong central midfielder and a prolific centre-forward would make all the difference. Right now, with Jack Colback and Cheik Tioté injured, central midfield is so under-manned there is a real case for, perhaps temporarily, converting Fabricio Coloccini from life as a fading central defender to a fresh deployment as a deep-sitting midfield anchor. Such a quasi-sweeping role would not only protect the backline but enable Coloccini to show off his stellar distribution skills. please log in to view this image FacebookTwitterPinterest Fabricio Coloccini is a fading force in central defence but his still stellar distribution skills could see him successfully redeployed as a midfield anchor. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters Then there’s the attitude problem. Players like Leicester’s Huth, Morgan and Danny Simpson have their limitations but Claudio Ranieri’s squad are clearly all fighting for the same cause. A lack of leadership and experience in Newcastle’s dressing room – that recruitment policy again – means there is no one around to challenge Moussa Sissoko when he drifts through one of his frequent spells of underachievement. McClaren is in the process of trying to get the message through to Charnley and Carr – and thus Ashley – that the club will lose a fortune if it gets relegated and the best way to avoid that fate is buying a bit of battle-hardened nous in January. He may yet succeed and there remains a feeling that, in the medium-to-long term, the 54-year-old could prove very right for Newcastle – but arguably his biggest, most immediate challenge is clinging on to his job until New Year. With a tricky trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday followed by a visit from Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool and then an excursion to Tottenham, it is quite likely Newcastle could still be stuck on twoleague victories by the time Aston Villa arrive at St James’ on 19 December. Perhaps sensing potential for impending tragicomedy, television executives have made the Villa game the third in a run of four successive December fixtures McClaren’s side must play in front of the live cameras. Should his side stumble once more against Rémi Garde’s fellow relegation strugglers, Ashley really would have a very big decision to make.
To get to 20 points by half way means winning 3 and drawing one of the next 6 matches, this team needs to find something to get their arse in gear, Tufty seems to be far more LVG than Ferguson in his approach, you would think that his ethos from his day at Man Utd would be a hell of a lot more high speed attack with intent than this pedestrian keep the ball.
It's all kicked off on the training ground this week. McClaren has had a 'major' bust up with Coloccini and 'other' senior players. He was furious after the Leicester game and during the inquest on Monday, Coloccini and others were blaming 'refereeing' decisions. McClaren is then said to have told them exactly what he thought about their level performance leading to a near punch up.
IMO - probably just what we need. Cannot do anymore harm than good. At the very worst it will leave some of the players on the end of it wanting to leave. At the very best it will give them the kick up the arse to go out there and prove him wrong.
McClaren is absolutely livid apparently. He is furious that he is taking the blame for their lack of effort and commitment. He, Colocinni, Sissoko and another 'unnamed' player had to be separated.
Mbabu looks to be off the injured list, so possibly could see Dummett moved inside and Mbabu at LB, or Lascelles playing with Dummett at LB. Tiote also out so could see Thauvin start as at least he looked like he was trying on Saturday, with Wij in the centre and maybe De Jong playing as an AM. **** knows though. I'm passed trying to work out who plays and why! We don't get to see who puts in the effort in training - and anyone not doing so after last week should be dropped regardless of who they are! Of course it also depends how many players he decides were just so **** that they are getting dropped regardless of any bust ups.
Looking for silver linings in amongst the clouds - at least with McClaren on the board now the players should know they aren't going to win any power battles with him!! Toe the line and work hard or **** off!
It's also being reported that he's adamant that he only wants British players in the January transfer window. Graham Carr has reportedly been seen at domestic games in recent weeks, rather than his usual trips abroad. Sounds to me like he's really trying to impose order.
Mitro will be happy!! In all seriousness though, we definitely need some British players in the squad who know the league already but also understand how to get the crowd onside and how to play the game.
McClaren can clearly see part of the problem. I'm not convinced he can sort the rest out by hey ho Seems a nice guy but the table doesn't lie. That said I did say if we didn't sign a left back and centre half in the last window we were knee capping him from the start. I said this is where we'd end up without them and so it has proved. Its not that I'm some kind of football guru or have magical powers. Its simply about having eyes and a brain that function. The happy clapping "Colo and Haidara" are good enough brigade were clearly as out of their depth as Obi being a speaker at a "how to get thin" convention
We should be looking for potential replacements at least. Our club has no foresight what so ever. When we are thinking of selling someone we simply don't seem to remember that a replacement is in order. If I was in the position to sack or choose the manager, I'd not be thinking of sacking yet, but I'd be looking at potential replacements.
