1 good, 3 bad from Wolves 0-0 Newcastle
Newcastle United drew 0-0 with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday in what was an incredibly drab display. Not having a shot on target until beyond the 70th minute against a side who could still end the season as the worst in Premier League history is, frankly, unacceptable by anyone’s standard.
And with some incredibly tough games upcoming this very much felt like two points dropped in our pursuit of the top five.
Here is one good(ish) and three bad from the game:
Bad: Absolutely toothless
United are completely lacking any end product at the moment. Despite creating some decent openings, the lads never really looked like scoring, as the standard of finishing was dreadful.
Two shots on target across the entire game against one of the worst sides to ever grace the Premier League, despite an apparent “uptick” in their form (and remember they were starting from an incredibly low bar), is poor, and shows just what happens when you lose a world class striker and your wingers (Barnes aside) are criminally out of form too.
Woltemade and Wissa are so short of form that you would feel a fit Osula would be getting minutes in their place at the minute. And with some huge games to come, things are unlikely to get any easier away from home.
Good(ish): 10 from 12
Some will call this clutching at straws and I’m pretty sure I agree with them but considering the position we were in before this recent run of ten points in twelve, United have put themselves back in position to at least challenge for a European place via the league.
Without this run we’d be nowhere, so this mini run was vital, and despite it probably being two points short of what it should’ve been, we’ve managed to get some results from some thrilling moments in games we haven’t played all that well in.
Clutching, like a said, but it’s the only reason we’re not marooned in lower mid table, and if other teams continue to be as inconsistent as we have been this season, and we can just hang in there then maybe we can finish in one of those coveted top five spots come the end of the season.
Bad: No ability to change the game from the bench
It has been commented on occasions this season that we have a stronger bench then we’ve ever had under Eddie’s tenure, but performances like that from the bench flies in the face of those statements.
Any squad needs options from the bench if things aren’t going well and we just don’t seem to have any options that can change a game. Elanga, Wissa, and Miley just offered more of the same with the changes being like for like.
Shifting Barnes to the left was academic as he doesn’t deserve to be shoved out of position in the first place, Elanga was marginally better than he has been recently but that’s another really low bar, and Miley looked like a young man who has played the last eleven games in a row and offered very little.
But why, in an era of five subs, especially when things aren’t working against such a poor side, surely you should go to your bench again and use Ramsey or give Neave a go? It can’t hurt surely to just give something a go.
Bad: If the patterns aren’t working, why aren’t they changed?
United had a 94% pass completion rate in the first half which was the highest by any team without having a shot on target since 2003/04. The patterns of play were almost exclusively sideways with every player basically requiring three touches before making a pass which slowed down the play to such an extent that Wolves were always back in position to comfortably defend the attack.
The same patterns of play, mixed with out of form players, are making us basically unwatchable at times, and it was summed up by a poor Wolves side looking much more dangerous than us by the simple virtue of trying to move the ball quicker and playing on the counter.
To be clear, I’m not for a moment suggesting we should’ve played on the counter against that Wolves side (as that would’ve brought its own level of criticism) but you just can’t always be so prescriptive with your patterns of play, tactics et al, when you just don’t have the personnel who will succeed playing that way.
Also, the fact that we seem unable to maintain any sustained pressure on opponents, allows the simplest of gameplans to be effective against us, and honestly, you’d have found more excitement and quality under a rock than United produced on Sunday.
Anyway, we move on to PSV on Wednesday, and we will need to perform a hell of a lot better to, hopefully, secure out place in the next stage of the Champions League.
Keep the faith. HWTL
