“Can’t believe the sending off. Can’t win with ten men. I didn’t think it was a seven yellow and one red game. It’s a football match and you have to compete and I think the referee lost a bit of control”.
Steve McClaren
Newcastle lost to Arsenal 1-0 at St James’ Park in controversial circumstances yesterday following the 16th minute dismissal of Aleksandar Mitrovic by referee Andre Marriner for a foul on Francis Coquelin. The decision spoilt what would have been a good game for the neutral as two evenly-matched teams were battling for three early season points.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored what proved to be the winner early in the second-half to secure the win despite a valiant 10-man Magpies display.
Five Talking Points from the Arsenal Game
1. Discipline issues are being made worse by bad luck
The fixture list gave Newcastle the toughest start of all with six of last season’s top eight in their first eight games and when they proved up to the test with battling points against Southampton and Man United, first half red cards in the subsequent games have reduced any potential to gain momentum. As Match of the Day showed, Newcastle have received a Premier League-high 15 red cards since the start of the 2013/14 season — five more than West Ham, their nearest ‘rivals’ in the red card table.
Since Boxing Day, 2013, Newcastle have not had an opposition player sent off against them in the Premier League — 62 matches — or a meaningful penalty. (The one spot kick awarded in that time was at 3-0 down at Old Trafford having been denied a “stonewall kick” at 0-0).
Unless Newcastle are black and white devils in a Premier League comprising 19 teams of opposition angels who don’t commit serious fouls or give away penalties, something is seriously rotten in the state of Denmark.
The fixture list gave Newcastle the toughest start of all with six of last season’s top eight in their first eight games and when they proved up to the test with battling points against Southampton and Man United, first half red cards in the subsequent games have reduced any potential to gain momentum. As Match of the Day showed, Newcastle have received a Premier League-high 15 red cards since the start of the 2013/14 season — five more than West Ham, their nearest ‘rivals’ in the red card table.
Since Boxing Day, 2013, Newcastle have not had an opposition player sent off against them in the Premier League — 62 matches — or a meaningful penalty. (The one spot kick awarded in that time was at 3-0 down at Old Trafford having been denied a “stonewall kick” at 0-0).
Unless Newcastle are black and white devils in a Premier League comprising 19 teams of opposition angels who don’t commit serious fouls or give away penalties, something is seriously rotten in the state of Denmark.
2. The Magpies need another Centre Forward
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s first red card in English football, rightly or wrongly, may prove a blessing in disguise for The Magpies. This is because it has happened before the close of the transfer window as the need for reinforcements due to suspensions and injuries can be seen immediately.
Emmanuel Riviere is injured, Papiss Cisse has just recovered from illness and now Mitrovic is banned so currently there are no recognised 100% fit centre forwards, not a problem during international break yet a situation which could be devastating further into the season.
Charlie Austin has been the subject of more transfer speculation than any British player this summer and losing Mitrovic for three games may spur Newcastle to sign him, It’ll be £15M well spent if he does the business at St James’ Park as well as he has done it at QPR and is Premier League-proven.
3. Newcastle are United in spirit once again.
Fans, players, managers and staff are once again singing from the same hymn sheet at the Church of St James’ Park after 50,000 supporters got behind their team 100%. Talk of loving the club is once more prevalent among fans, buoyed by stirring videos like that released by the club on Thursday across its social media channels rousing Geordie passions.
Steve McClaren was imploring the fans from pitch-side to be in full voice and support the players especially in the adversity of 10-men against Arsenal.
4. More height and physical presence is needed
Newcastle’s passion and attitude against Arsenal could not be faulted and, if anything, their approach was a little too gung-ho, certainly in the eyes of the officials. Yet instead of having 10 outfield runners covering every blade of grass and racking up the pro-zone running stats, having the innate physical strength of bigger men might pay dividends. Athleticism is good yet so are power and intelligence.
Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor, Cheick Tiote, Paul Dummett and Siem De Jong would give Newcastle that extra height, stature and physical presence especially on free-kicks that was displayed against Northampton mid-week. It gave Newcastle a genuine threat from the excellent delivery of set-pieces from Florian Thauvin that paid off with headers from De Jong and Williamson to put the game out of sight.
In the Premier League when chances can be few and far between especially with 10-men, that potency from set-players must be exploited by The Magpies.
5. Steve McClaren hasn’t figured out his best team yet
The weakened line-up that swept Northampton aside on Tuesday night contained some of the strongest players Newcastle have played this season.
Siem De Jong brought a game-intelligence to the match on Tuesday night that Newcastle have not demonstrated in the Premier League so far. Cheick Tiote should be one of the first names on the team-sheet instead of the ineffectual Vurnon Anita — whose win percentage rate is abysmal — or Sissoko could play a deeper central role considering how well the club are off for wingers.
Gabriel Obertan has been unlucky to miss out and Rolando Aarons continues to make things happen and has done in every appearance since he joined the club since his stellar match-winning display at The Etihad in the League Cup.
Arsenal was tough and it is still early days yet McClaren, an increasingly popular boss among the Geordie faithful, must figure out a winning Premier League formula soon.
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s first red card in English football, rightly or wrongly, may prove a blessing in disguise for The Magpies. This is because it has happened before the close of the transfer window as the need for reinforcements due to suspensions and injuries can be seen immediately.
Emmanuel Riviere is injured, Papiss Cisse has just recovered from illness and now Mitrovic is banned so currently there are no recognised 100% fit centre forwards, not a problem during international break yet a situation which could be devastating further into the season.
Charlie Austin has been the subject of more transfer speculation than any British player this summer and losing Mitrovic for three games may spur Newcastle to sign him, It’ll be £15M well spent if he does the business at St James’ Park as well as he has done it at QPR and is Premier League-proven.
3. Newcastle are United in spirit once again.
Fans, players, managers and staff are once again singing from the same hymn sheet at the Church of St James’ Park after 50,000 supporters got behind their team 100%. Talk of loving the club is once more prevalent among fans, buoyed by stirring videos like that released by the club on Thursday across its social media channels rousing Geordie passions.
Steve McClaren was imploring the fans from pitch-side to be in full voice and support the players especially in the adversity of 10-men against Arsenal.
4. More height and physical presence is needed
Newcastle’s passion and attitude against Arsenal could not be faulted and, if anything, their approach was a little too gung-ho, certainly in the eyes of the officials. Yet instead of having 10 outfield runners covering every blade of grass and racking up the pro-zone running stats, having the innate physical strength of bigger men might pay dividends. Athleticism is good yet so are power and intelligence.
Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor, Cheick Tiote, Paul Dummett and Siem De Jong would give Newcastle that extra height, stature and physical presence especially on free-kicks that was displayed against Northampton mid-week. It gave Newcastle a genuine threat from the excellent delivery of set-pieces from Florian Thauvin that paid off with headers from De Jong and Williamson to put the game out of sight.
In the Premier League when chances can be few and far between especially with 10-men, that potency from set-players must be exploited by The Magpies.
5. Steve McClaren hasn’t figured out his best team yet
The weakened line-up that swept Northampton aside on Tuesday night contained some of the strongest players Newcastle have played this season.
Siem De Jong brought a game-intelligence to the match on Tuesday night that Newcastle have not demonstrated in the Premier League so far. Cheick Tiote should be one of the first names on the team-sheet instead of the ineffectual Vurnon Anita — whose win percentage rate is abysmal — or Sissoko could play a deeper central role considering how well the club are off for wingers.
Gabriel Obertan has been unlucky to miss out and Rolando Aarons continues to make things happen and has done in every appearance since he joined the club since his stellar match-winning display at The Etihad in the League Cup.
Arsenal was tough and it is still early days yet McClaren, an increasingly popular boss among the Geordie faithful, must figure out a winning Premier League formula soon.
