Newcastle United bounced back from their dismal performance at the Etihad by hitting Norwich City for six yesterday, to secure their first Premier League win of the season. While the Magpies remain in the bottom three, the Geordie faithful are certainly more hopeful about this season following the 6-2 win.
Here’s what we learnt from the exciting eight-goal thriller:
Aleksandar Mitrovic is an improved version of Andy Carroll
Now he’s channeling his aggression in a more controlled and composed fashion, the Serbian centre-forward is adapting to the physicality and pace of the Premier League. His ‘little and large’ partnership alongside Ayoze Perez is evidently developing, with both forwards constantly grafting at the back as well as pressing the back line of Norwich’s suspect defence.
He’s already being taken to heart by many of the Geordie faithful, and more performances like today will see his bond with the fans grow stronger, especially if he bags a goal next week 13 miles down the road.
Sissoko was fantastic – through the middle
On what was his 100th appearance for the club, Moussa Sissoko managed to epitomise the entirety of his Newcastle career in 90 minutes. While bombing forward one end and claiming three assists, as well as being involved in the other three, he also managed to show how ineffective he is defensively as a winger.
Whilst he was at fault first half not tracking back, he rectified this in the second half by doing exactly that – grafting and supporting Janmaat.
With that said, the majority of Sissoko’s most effective play came through the centre of the park. If he has such ambitions to play in the Champions League, the Frenchman has to deliver like this more consistently, not as sporadically as he has. He has the ability to dictate the tempo of a game and strike fear when bombing forward through the middle, instead of running into dead ends down the right.
Gini Wijnaldum is simply wonderful
Not since Demba Ba just under four years ago have we seen a Newcastle player bag a hat-trick for the Magpies, to notch one extra proves to doubters that Gini can hold his own in the Premier League.
Again like Sissoko, Wijnaldum was far more effective driving through the middle, with Mitrovic holding up the ball or Sissoko playing through on goal. If McClaren insists on playing these two out wide he’ll have to take the risks of Dummett and Janmaat playing as wing-backs and potentially leaving his defence exposed if the front four aren’t able to perform at top level like they did today.
Chancel Mbemba is improving continuously
It’s hard to blame him for either goal as Janmaat didn’t push out to close down the cross, nor did Sissoko track back. According to OptaJoe, Mbemba has made the 4th most interceptions in the Premier League, and today’s showing backed this stat keeping Mbokani relatively quiet and another solid defensive display.
Steve McClaren has finally found his best team
The 6-1 decimation in Eastlands two weeks ago and the effortless display from Yoan Gouffran must have made Steve’s decision to drop the Frenchman from the 18 man squad that bit easier.
Not seeing the likes of Gouffran & Williamson, and having the likes of younger players prepped to be given a chance, such as Lascelles, is refreshing that this club may actually be looking to take this team forward by looking to the future.
Tim who? Rob Elliot was solid
The Irishman has taken a lot of stick on social media since it was announced Tim Krul would miss the rest of the season with a knee ligament injury. However, whilst Elliot stayed relatively untested today, he held his own with the basics well and even had distribution that found Mitrovic more often than not, instead of out into the East Stand.
He also took a brutal elbow to the side of his head from former Newcastle centre-half Sebastien Bassong, but soldiered on regardless.
I’ve never understood the flack Elliot’s taken for his alleged lack of ability, but I hope this run in the Newcastle XI may give him a chance to not only prove himself in the Premier League, but also for his country ahead of Ireland’s Euro qualifier play-offs against Bosnia.
Tiote and Dummett returned, but seriously lack match fitness
It was expected, but the pair seemed to be flagging as the game dragged on, with McClaren rightly taking off the pair at half time and on the hour respectively. Dummett’s been missed from that back four, and hopefully he’ll be able to hold down a place regularly when he regains full match fitness.
Colback didn’t put a foot wrong today, when he easily could have
With the Wear-Tyne derby coming up next week, Colback would have had the fear of picking up a booking and missing the opportunity to get one over his former side through suspension. Luckily, he was lenient and calculated in midfield today, protecting his centre halves with some crucial blocks, one of which leading to a counter attack for Perez’s goal.
Anita coming on regalvanised the team – eventually
It’s not entirely his fault, but Tiote’s match sharpness (or lack of) was highly evident today, picking up a booking after six minutes and being hooked off at half time. Anita entering the fray and Norwich not scoring second half is no coincidence, he was able to track the runs from the likes of Hoolahan and Redmond to help Newcastle break on the counter.
If we play like this next week…
I say it every time before a derby, and we always tend to lose, mainly because a performance like today is not replicated against that lot from down the road.
If we see a performance like this going forward, Newcastle should brush Sunderland aside. However, it NEVER seems to turn out that way. Sunderland always do us the flattery of upping their game just for us and no one else. It’s an honour in some respect, just not the ideal one.
