Newcastle should be using their strengths, but what are they?

There were both negatives and positives for Newcastle to take from the latest QPR match. Defence was good, they did most of the job for Tim Krul, even on the line. The midfield got overrun and we looked completely toothless apart from a couple of chances from Leon Best.

What worries me is that we’re hoofing up these long balls all the time. It may not be the tactic Alan Pardew wants to employ, but when you’ve got Shola up top, then high balls are his only strength. If the ball lands at his feet, all you can do is count the seconds until it is taken away from him again. Best is far better with his feet, although he’s a poacher type striker, he works hard and tires the defence enough to make mistakes. Thats where u need Shola to pick up the open spaces to capitalise. Instead, Shola leans against the corner flag and lets Best to all the work to no avail.

It seems to me we are in desperate need of a shakeup. I can see Raylor performing better than Simmo at RB. Raylor has a right foot to be feared and Santon should be puat LB, he’s also good at creating chances. Both players are should be ok going forward, and with the accuracy of Raylor’s feet, his passes and crosses should be dangerous if he gets to them. Saylor and Collo has been immense in our centre of defence, and I don’t dare touch them. May they both stay injury-free all season.

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As for the midfield, we have a bit more pace in the team now, we should also have better crossing on our left half through Marveaux. I’d like to see Marveaux on the LW and Gutti shifted over to RW as he’s equally comfortable there and will help Raylor a lot at the back if needed. I’d like to see Cabaye in the centre of the midfield together with Gosling in our next match. Cabaye should have a bit more room to direct the play from the middle if Gosling was slightly infront of him. Gosling is a bit more creative and forward going than Tiote. Also, Gosling seems to be very hungry to get a go in the first team now, and should be given the chance at the expense of Tiote. Tiote has not been himself since the start of the season, and maybe he needs to sit out a bit to get a bit of his hunger back. Until Ben Arfa is back, I can see Obertan  doing a lot of damage to the opposing team in an AM role with his pace. He needs to wake up a bit though and really challenge and pressure for that ball which can change the game. He’s a pacey fella, but only when he wants to be at the moment.

Up top, I see Best alone. He’s not world class, but he’s strong enough to create an opening and give that vital pass to the player in the role behind him, to pounce on the chance.

This team should help us build on the pace, and give us plenty of options going forward on both flanks and through the middle. There’ll be a bit more accuracy in our passes and crosses, we should be able to do the short precise passes on the ground and not hoof those balls up the pitch. The team is obviously still gelling, but QPR should have been doing that too…

My team against Villa:

Formation: 4-1-3-1-1

GK – Krul, RB – Raylor, LB – Santon, CB – Collo/Saylor, LW – Marveaux, RW – Gutierrez, DM – Cabaye, CM – Gosling, AM – Obertan, Striker – Best.

Subs: Harper, Simmo, Tiote, Sammy, Ba, Guthrie, Raylor.

Again, I really think we need to shake things up a bit, our 4-4-2 is not working offensively, and we don’t know how long we can ride our luck this way. We should be able to open up a bit more play this way using pace, short and low passes and having good wingers that can cross in, especially in Marveaux. Gutti should be able to open up plays by dribbling, sticking 1-3 players on him, then passing the ball. I still think we need a solid RB though, one who’s better than Simmo and Raylor. Gutti tracks so much back to help, it’s sometimes hard for him to go forward.

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