Archive for tag: Newcastle United tactics.

How do we pull ourselves out of the win drought?

March 8th, 2012 | 44 Comments |

Gabriel Obertan - Out of favour?
Out of favour?
Newcastle United are going through (what is so far) a short spell without a win, so what can be done to pull us out of that?

We’re in the midst of a slightly disappointing run. Since our 5-0 thrashing from Spurs we’ve only managed two draws. We seemed to lack resilience and second-half ‘attitude’ against Wolves and threw away a 2-0 lead. Against the mackems it was the other way around and we clawed our way back into the game in the second half to snatch a draw. We’re up against Arsenal next of course and I can’t help but feel pessimistic about our chances of coming away from The Emirates with any points.

So what can we do to improve?

One of the criticisms of the team I’ve heard a lot is that our midfield plays too deep and this isolates our strikers a bit, and it has been suggested that introducing Ben Arfa into the mix helps to alleviate this problem. Yet Alan Pardew seems reluctant to start with Benny and has insinuated that this may be because Benny doesn’t defend well enough and thus leaves us open at the other end. (more…)