2 good, 1 bad from Newcastle's 1-0 win at Millwall

Newcastle United secured passage to the 4th round of the League Cup with a scruffy 1-0 win over Millwall on Tuesday night. 

A strong United lineup made hard work of the much-changed southeast London outfit, but finally broke the deadlock with nine minutes of normal time remaining.

Jaissle’s side kept their unbeaten record intact via a deflected shot from Joe Willock, who finished after good work from Lewis Hall and Matias Fernandez-Pardo.

Here’s two good and one bad good from the game:

Good: A win’s a win

In what was a tough watch, to come out of the game with a win, no injuries and vital minutes for some squad rotation options and players making their way back from injury, is probably most of what you could ask for when visiting a lower league side in the early rounds of the Carabao Cup.

Sure, a thrashing by four or five would’ve been nice, but this side is still trying to bed in so many across the squad, and whilst the first team may have had a familiar ring to it, many of those players were either out of form last season (Elanga, Wissa, Murphy) or were injured (Schar, Tino, Botman) or only have a handful of appearances to their names as they are new signings.

It wasn’t pretty, but the unbeaten start to the season continues and there is a resoluteness to the side that was almost missing entirely last season. That unbeaten record can only (surely?) breed confidence, and recent good seasons (2022/23) and others in the past (2010/11) both started slowly in terms of performances. And whilst this side may not achieve similar league finishes or cup runs, nights like Tuesday just reinforce that there will be ups and downs this season, in terms of the performance.

Bad: Slow play almost stifled United

For all the good getting the result will do, I still feel the general tempo of United’s play is too slow. There are too many touches, too many under hit passes, and too much cutting back into areas of the pitch swamped with defenders, and whilst it was understandable against a well-oiled Premier League team like Bournemouth, it was disappointing to see it against Millwall.

Still, I feel this will change once Jaissle’s vertical football system has the correct players in the correct positions. Willock, whilst he deserves the credit for grabbing the goal, is not a number ten for me, and he offers so little in defensive phases with his ambling back and tendency to drift out of the game. And for all his attacking threat, Harvey Barnes really needs to learn how to pass a ball when other players are well positioned.

Ultimately, the system will need a few more recruits over the coming windows to really take shape, but it is still a concern that we weren’t able to impose it on a Championship side (and still look a real threat in front of goal) considering it’s been hit and miss in the Premier League so far.

Good: A second clean sheet

It was good to see Fabian Schar back in the side. In the first half, his expanded passing range allowed a couple of decent long diagonals to put us into good attacking positions, and it was high time Malick Thiaw got a rest too.

Botman too must (hopefully) take confidence from it, as he had a poor game against Bournemouth after an indifferent preseason, and whilst the lads at the back are trying to come together as a new unit, it was important for them to maintain the shutout in the face of a different style of offence compared to what they normally experience.

Hornicek will have picked up vital experience of football in this country as he stood up to a handful of physical challenges from dangerous crosses, and Tino’s minutes are key for a lad working his way back from a series of injuries too.

Job done, and the six-day gap between this game and Leeds allowed Jaissle to go strong as (despite calls for it) this just wasn’t the game for the likes of Bamba et al. I don’t think we’d be sitting here in the next round if they’d started; such was the nature of the game and how it unfolded. It would’ve been very easy for young players to fold or get frustrated or do something silly.

Keep the faith. HWTL