The Premier League Owl
It’s been a good week for Newcastle, with Mike Ashley finally brushing the dust from his chequebook and working out how to use it.
This isn’t an attempt to guess how Alan Pardew is going to set-up his team with the new players, more just a way of illustrating the range of options which now exists.
So, firstly, how Newcastle could look if all players were available:
…and a variation, which fills-out nicely even without using James Perch or either of the Ameobi brothers.
The formations are unrealistic, and some players don’t necessarily fit in the roles which they’ve been assigned, but try and ignore – almost overnight, Newcastle have got the kind of depth they’ve needed this season. As always, some of those new players will adjust quicker to the English game than others, and one or two might not work out at all, but in theory everything looks much more healthy.
The recent signings will create a few issues with Pardew going to have to address, but they are at least healthy problems. Danny Simpson’s future, for example, looks to be elsewhere, given that Matthieu Debuchy is clearly now considered a first-choice in his position and Davide Santon could provide cover at right-back if needed.
That first side especially would be extremely competitive and probably excellent to watch – but more importantly, it would now take more than just one or two injuries to disrupt Newcastle. Theories about ‘purples’ and whatever other rhetoric Derek Llambias wants to invent are fine, but Premier League squads need players capable of replacing the rivals in their position – and not just second-rate square pegs shoved into round holes.
There’s more work to do in the Summer, but this transfer movement represents genuine progress.
A question for another day, and something to be picked up on in the coming weeks, is how this spending effects the pressure on Alan Pardew. Lots of people, myself included, have given Pardew a free-ride this year on account of the limitations he’s had to put up with – no such excuses exist anymore, and he’s now in position to be fairly judged.
“The formations are unrealistic, and some players don’t necessarily fit in the roles which they’ve been assigned, but try and ignore.”
Gouffran is in both sides because of his ability to play two positions. Sissoko is placed at AM because he’s capable of playing any position in the centre of midfield – he’s not just a holding player.
Errr… Do you know the players you have put in the line ups?? Bigirimana and Sissoko at attacking mid? Gouffran in both teams?
Poor errors to make an article out of am afraid…..
We need creativity yet what we’ve bought is effort and stamina. Sissoko is a btb mf and Gouffran a 2nd striker. So without HBA or Cabaye in the team we’re still lacking ingenuity.
I agree with all the points in this article to be honest, very good piece of writing, and all the comments give valid opinions… I agree, Tiote has been poor this season and both Anita and Bigi are looking like legitimate challengers for his place in the starting XI. I’d give him a few chances after he returns from Africa, he should be full of confidence and/or a drive to prove himself once more at club level – both he and Cisse have had good national team form this season and poor club form, but I think they will be boosted by the signings, which give them real competition from within the squad, and also boost the defensive half of the team, giving a more reliable platform to work from – how can a striker be confident when all his hard work will be let down by Williamson and co at the other end? Tiote will have room to play with the ball more with Mbiwa and Colo behind him, and Santon will have good players to learn the defensive part of his game from and his occasional defensive errors might not be so costly.
As a second XI i volunteer this:
__________GOUFFRAN or AMEOBI___________
JONAS_________MARVEAUX_______OBERTAN
_________ANITA___________BIGI___________
HAIDARA_TAYLOR_PERCH (or good)__R TAYLOR (or simpson / tavernier)
_______________ELLIOTT_________________
We still lack defensive depth at center half and right back, but it’s a significant improvement – Taylor is now a key squad player, which while sad, gives us another diehard Newcastle man to come off the bench and perform to a high level – the way he returned from injury this season and looked right at home in the first team shows he can come in when needed and is not a confidence player.
Swap cabaye and sissoko in first formation and im not really into your second formation.
Id rather this
4231
———————KRUL——————–
DEBUCHY-MBIWA-COLO-SANTON
———–SISSOKO—TIOTE————-
—BENARFA–CABAYE–GOUFFRAN—
———————CISSE——————-
Maybe anita instead of sissoko or tiote depending on form but i still like the idea of tiote being in there just for his physical presence.
For villa id have that back four, anita for tiote and marvo for ben arfa
nice article, agree with your point on pards
Anita over Tiote in the first formation. He has been much more consistent this season unlike Tiote who has been more error prone than any other player.