2 good, 2 bad from Newcastle 2-2 Bournemouth

Newcastle United fought back to grab a point on Saturday afternoon with the match ending 2-2 at St James’ Park. United were outclassed for large periods in what was a frustrating watch, but to grab a late point showed real character from 2-0 down.

Bournemouth’s goals came via Marcus Tavernier and a crazy Malick Thiaw own goal, and Newcastle’s came via Harvey Barnes and Jacob Ramsey.

Here are my two good and two bad from the game:

Good: Character shines through 

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that last season’s version of Newcastle United would’ve lost that game by three or four goals, such was the crippling lack of belief when the team went behind (or ahead most of the time…). 

So, for the lads to fight back from 2-0 down, when we really weren’t playing well and keep our unbeaten record shows that this “2.0” version of United has worked on its mentality.

Bournemouth really were particularly good in the first half (when they weren’t courting cheap fouls and diving all over the place), and their tactics hemmed us inside our defensive third, and they deserved to be ahead.

Thankfully, Barnes exemplified this newfound character when he just seemed to say “sod it, I’ll get us back into this” with a lovely solo goal (from probably our only fast forward pass of the first half) just 27 seconds after their second.

Second half, the lads hung in (and improved after the subs) but to take what was probably an undeserved point from the game showed that this new version of United doesn’t give up and fold under the pressure and that can only stand us in good stead.

Bad: The refereeing…again 

People will cry corruption (and I get it after this week’s Mike Dean nonsense) but I will say it for the thousandth time – it’s just incompetence and the level of the refereeing in this country, mixed with a little main character syndrome.

Rob Jones is clearly incompetent and full of his own self-importance. Yes, his decisions were baffling, and he is clearly over eager with his whistle, but it was his total lack of care for any of Newcastle’s players which stuck out when he seemed only happy to baby Bournemouth’s, almost to the point of being a helicopter parent.

Murphy’s theatrical dive may’ve get a mention on MOTD (which for me only highlighted that they didn’t watch the game in full) but he was forced into it after an afternoon where the ref ignored grabs and fouls against us but was only too happy to award similar fouls to them.

The Adam Smith dive was particularly frustrating as even from the back row of the Gallowgate you could see there was no contact, yet the man mere feet away from the incident gave the freekick, but refs are only too happy to give defenders the benefit of the doubt which rarely ever extends to attacking players.

United really need to get wise to this sort of “play” and hurry up and join the club as all players will try and con the ref (and in the case of Alex Scott will often receive praise for it which elevates them to £100m player status) because the boat sailed on diving and cheap fouls etc. seasons ago.

Bad: Unable to escape their press

For all their dark arts, Bournemouth’s press in the first half was suffocating and they deserved to be two nil up, as it all worked in an almost perfect cadence. They forced Miley and Nico so deep that our only out ball in the first 45 was to punt it long into the middle of the park, which was void of any United players such was the central midfield pairings proximity to our own goal.

The other out was often to pop the ball off to Thiaw and Botman (who had a stinker) but our passing was so slow or floaty which caused the receiving player to have to take another touch which just allowed them to swarm all over us again as they had the extra man in the press (five v four most of the time) as Joe Willock in the ten role offered absolutely nothing defensively.

They did an excellent job on Dedic and Hall too, who were often caught up field giving them loads of space to exploit the wings. But the version of United we have seen over the first four games, whilst largely successful, cannot be the final version of Jaissle’s side, simply down to a lack of time and personnel, so with that evolution to come, I would expect to see improvements over the coming months.

Good: Subs changed the game

For the third game out of four, Jaissle’s second half subs changed the game. Pardo’s impact in the ten role was immediate as the side really did improve after his introduction as you could see his pace and pressing ability forced Bournemouth back into their final third and once he’s up to speed, he could be the missing piece of Jaissle’s system.

But special mention for Jacob Ramsey, who not only grabbed the equaliser, but changed the pattern of play as he had the pace and ability to get out of tight spaces which allowed us to grab control back in the central midfield.

Steur also worked better against a tiring Bournemouth side as he was able to exploit the late space and gaps, and his late pass (which was just overhit for Wissa into the penalty box) was almost a thing of beauty.

Considering you have access to five of them these days (which I’m actually not a huge fan of but that’s for another day), it’s vital that subs are effective and can change games, and after year of conditioning that subs were only apparently made at specific times, no matter the game state, it has been a welcome trait over the opening weeks of this season.

Millwall up next in the Carabao Cup. Keep the faith. HWTL