3 big concerns from Newcastle 0-1 Aston Villa

Newcastle United lost 1-0 to Aston Villa on Saturday evening to suffer back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time this season.

United huffed and puffed, but an attack that flaccid was never likely to score, as the one shot on target across the 90-plus minutes can attest.

Villa’s goal came via former Toon target Johan Manzambi, who was left criminally unmarked at the back post to power a header past Hornicek.

Here are my three bad points from the game:

The limpest attack in the league

One shot on target across 90-plus minutes at St James’ Park against a side that, not 18 months ago, we would have considered rivals for the (and I hate this term, but I’m going to use it for illustrative purposes) “disruptors” tag is, frankly, unacceptable.

Throw in the fact that nearly every cross into the box, whether from open play or a set piece, went straight into Zion Suzuki’s arms, and our attack was firing blanks all night.

Shot conversion rates for our main forwards are in the single digits (Barnes: 9.09%, Wissa: 9.09%, MFP: 0%), highlighting the chronic lack of finishing ability in this side, with only Willock (13.33%) of the regular starters in double figures.

Just compare that to Nicolas Jackson (16.67%) or, God forbid, a certain Swede (26.67%). Those two combined have only taken 12 fewer shots than our four starting forwards who have played the most games (27 vs. 39)!

Our attack is faltering badly, as our xG per shot shows. It is just 0.10 per shot, showing that we are taking poor-quality shots in general, which places us 13th in that particular table. If this attack isn’t sorted out, then that’s more than likely exactly where we will finish this season.

Jaissle’s baffling picks

Jaissle’s penchant for baffling selection calls continued in earnest as he picked MFP in the RW slot, a player who only played there on one occasion for Lille last season, and who promptly put in another utterly forgettable performance.

Wissa showed he is no better up top than he is in the ten, which he has stunk out all season apart from 45 minutes against Liverpool. The longer his abysmal form continues, the more you start to wonder if he will ever turn it around.

Lewis Miley is a wonderful player, but he is not a right-back, as his total lack of positional awareness showed for Manzambi’s free header. Playing one of the best midfield talents in the league out of position when you have a specialist right-back on the bench (who did so well in his first three appearances) is a real head-scratcher.

I’m not sure Joelinton showed enough in an error-strewn 32 minutes against Coventry to be catapulted back into the starting midfield pair. In fact, I’m certain of it, as he put in a wayward performance full of lax touches and passes and seemed more interested in trying to foul Villa’s players, considering he was horribly exposed in there.

And what has happened to Sean Steur? The lad ran the show against Hull. When he went off, we fell to pieces and nearly dropped two points. Since then, he hasn’t had a single minute, which is another utterly baffling call.

How about, for one game, we just try and play all our players in their natural positions and see what happens? Is it too much to ask…

Dan Burn up top

Whilst I appreciate it was “last chance saloon” stuff on the night, I’ll never be a fan of this sort of tactic. Just imagine the vitriol if Eddie Howe had done it, or just recall the absolute mockery Man Utd get when they do it with Harry Maguire.

It’s amateur-hour stuff for me, and I get that desperate times call for desperate measures, but surely one of Europe’s brightest young coaches must have other tactical game plans up his sleeve?

Saying all that, one of the Englishman’s knockdowns nearly created an opportunity for what would’ve been a deeply undeserved point (hypocritical, given all that I’ve just said, I know) late on. But it fell to the one Villa defender when there were three well-placed United attackers, in a moment that was a microcosm of the entire match.

For my mind, we simply have to pick up six points from the next three games against Palace, Everton and Fulham if we are to restore any confidence to this side, as they’ve looked hopeless since returning from the international break.

Over to you, Matthias.

Keep the faith. HWTL.