Tactical analysis: Newcastle 0 Swansea 0 in 5 key points

17.12.11 – Saturday 3pm
St James’ Park
Barclays Premier League

Newcastle 0

Swansea 0

Having suffered defeat against Premier League new boys Norwich last weekend Newcastle fared better against league debutants Swansea, but were unable to convert one of the many chances that their play merited and had to settle for a 0-0 draw against the hardened Welsh side.

1. Team selection and tactics

Newcastle, boosted by the return of captain Fabricio Coloccini and Cheick Tiote, made 3 changes to the side that had lost 4-2 away to Norwich last weekend. The aforementioned Coloccini and Tiote replaced Ryan Taylor and the suspended Dan Gosling in the starting line up. Coloccini lined up alongside James Perch in central defence, which allowed Danny Simpson to return to his usual right back position. The only other change saw Leon Best preferred over Shola Ameobi up front, who dropped to the bench. Swansea made 2 changes to the side that had defeated Fulham 2-0 at the Liberty Stadium, with Joe Allen and Danny Graham replacing Luke Moore and Leroy Lita.

Newcastle, as they had done against Norwich, used a 4-4-2 formation with two willing and powerful strikers – Demba Ba and Leon Best – and an emphasis on attack. Swansea lined up in a rough 4-2-3-1 formation, although it could have been interpreted as a 4-5-1 formation at times such was the gap between the midfield and lone front man Danny Graham. Brendan Rogers’ side set up to defend, and break on the counter, but rarely threatened when in possession of the ball which made for a very one sided game of football in Newcastle’s favour.

2. Newcastle press to prevent Swansea’s possession play

Top; Vorm passes vs Newcastle. Bottom; Vorm passes vs Fulham.

Much has been made already this season about Swansea’s style of play and their penchant for patient possession football – keeping the ball on the ground and retaining play in the defensive and midfield thirds of the pitch through quick, often backwards or sidewards, passes – encouraging the opposition to step out of position and to exploit the spaces that appear. This had not gone unnoticed by Alan Pardew, who set his side up to press high up the pitch and guard against the opposition’s preferred style of play.

Newcastle were work-man-like in their game plan when without the ball with each player putting their Swansea counterpart under pressure to restrict their time on the ball, space and options, whilst also keeping their positional discipline. This tactic was executed very well by the well-briefed Newcastle players and effectively nullified Swansea’s attacking game plan. Perhaps the most notable example of Newcastle’s high pressing was when Swansea had a goal kick. Rather than allowing goalkeeper Michel Vorm to play a short ball to a teammate, as is his preference, the Newcastle players marked their opponents tightly and regularly forced the Swans’ keeper to instead play a long ball and thus often surrendering possession.

3. Tiote and Cabaye control crowded midfield

Tiote spreads the play - 61 of 70 completed passes shown

Despite being outnumbered against Swansea’s central midfield trio of Joe Allen, Leon Britton and Mark Gower (replaced by Kemy Agustien in a like-for-like swap at half time), Newcastle’s central midfield pairing of Cheick Tiote and Yohan Cabaye overcame their numerical disadvantage to control the central midfield area. Both players performed their defensive and attacking duties well. They were determined in their work rate to break up play and positive in their distribution to maintain Newcastle’s attacking momentum.

Tiote, returning from a 6 game absence through injury, had 84 touches of the ball, more than any other player, and won all of the 4 tackles that he competed for. He also attempted more passes (70) than any other player with an impressive 87% finding a teammate. Cabaye, meanwhile, had 78 touches of the ball, more than any Swansea midfielder, also made 4 tackles and achieved an 80% pass completion rate. The figures highlighting both players’ authority on the game.

4. Santon surges forward to support

Santon passing heat map. 64% in Swansea half.

Up against the quick-footed former Newcastle winger Wayne Routledge, Davide Santon, making only his 2nd league start for Newcastle, read the game well making 4 tackles, and won his individual battle with the diminutive winger who was later switched to the opposite flank. However, it was going forward that Santon impressed. The young full back regularly looked to get forward to support and overlap Jonas Gutierrez, with 64% of his passes taking place in the opposition half, and would be a worthy contender for man of the match.

For the opening 13 games of the season, Gutierrez has played in front of Ryan Taylor. While Taylor has filled in admirably, he is not naturally a left back, which has regularly lead to Gutierrez selflessly playing deeper to offer protection to his teammate, and in the process almost sacrificing his attacking duties. With the more accomplished Santon at left back, Gutierrez’ defensive shackles were lessened which lead to him attempting 12 crosses into the box in open play, more than any other Newcastle player. In fact, to highlight Santon’s attacking impact, 42% of Newcastle’s attacking play was on their left against Swansea, far higher than their seasonal average of 33%. Although two right footers on the left aren’t ideal in the long term, Santon’s introduction at least gives Newcastle another attacking option in the short term.

5. Newcastle encouraged to attack the flanks

Newcastle open play crosses. Top: successful. Bottom: unsuccessful

When without the ball, Swansea typically reverted to a 4-5-1 formation with the central midfield trio – Mark Gower, Joe Allen and Leon Britton – joined by wingers – Wayne Routledge and Scott Sinclair – in dropping deep to close the space between defence and midfield for Newcastle to play into. With space restricted in the middle, and with central playmaker Hatem Ben Arfa merely a spectator from the substitutes’ bench, Newcastle instead looked to attack on the wings.

In total, including free kicks and corners, Newcastle attempted 41 crosses into the box, almost 5 times the 9 that Swansea attempted, as they looked to provide ammunition for their front men Demba Ba and Leon Best (replaced for the final 20 minutes by Shola Ameobi). However, of the high quantity of crosses, only a third (14) found a teammate, although the Newcastle attackers were often outnumbered by Swansea bodies who defended well and, alongside Vorm in goal, thwarted Newcastle’s many deliveries from wide areas.

At the end of the day…

It proved to be a disappointing day for Newcastle, who had to settle for a point in a game which they created enough chances and played well enough to take all 3.

In fact, to highlight Newcastle’s dominance in terms of chances, they had 22 shots, 7 times that of Swansea’s 3 shots. Yet, their aim proved to be out with only 3 of those 22 shots being on target which Vorm was ultimately equal to.

Although the outcome is frustrating, it is difficult to be too disheartened by the Newcastle performance. The defensive tactics worked well to stifle Swansea’s attacking game plan and on another day, with a bit of luck and better accuracy in front of goal, Newcastle could well have been celebrating the 3 points. Sometimes you don’t always get what you deserve…

The point moved Newcastle up into 6th place in the table and now means that they will go into Christmas in the top 7, having played 5 of the other 6 sides also occupying the top 7, which is a measure of their excellent start to the season.

Next up for Newcastle is a home fixture against inconsistent West Brom at St James’ Park on Wednesday night, 7:45pm kick off. Newcastle will be hoping to face the Baggies on one of their off days as they look to end a stretch of 5 games without a win and go into Christmas on a high.

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Newcastle vs Swansea: Tactical Preview

17.12.2011 – Saturday 3:00pm

Location:  St James’

Early prospects: Cautiously positive

Newcastle United take their injury ravaged squad back home this weekend to face Premier League new boys Swansea, looking to return to winning ways after a rough sequence of fixtures.

Home comforts are certainly needed with the exertions of the previous weeks being fully exploited by a brutal and ruthless Norwich side last weekend in their own back yard.  A run of four games without a win may be understandable when put into the context of the games played, but it is still a run of which has only gathered one point and a return to winning ways this weekend is certainly needed to hold up confidence and self-assurance.  

Team Line-ups:
Our opponents today travel to St James still looking for their first Premier League away win, having only managed two draws on the road so far.

Despite taking a physical pounding on the field, NUFC miraculously managed to leave Carrow Road with no new injuries to report.  Dan Gosling’s straight red however appears not to have been appealed against despite it having a strong case of it being downgraded to a second yellow rather than a three match ban inducing straight red – either way he’s banned for this one.  Mike Williamson played 45mins of a reserve fixture midweek and subsequently declared himself fit – although NUFC still rate him as doubtful to start.  Captain Fabricio Coloccini and midfield attack dog Chieck Tiote are equally on the fringes and their potential participation is likely to go to the wire. Worst case would see the same line-up that faced Norwich but with Mehdi Abied or Alan Smith replacing Gosling – best case would see the aforementioned trio of injury doubts all pass fit to play. Let’s stay positive…

Swansea also come into this game with no new injuries of note, and can welcome Joe Allen back from suspension to the midfield.  Following a very welcome home win against Fulham, it’s likely the talented Brendan Rogers will keep a similar line-up for this game in a midfield centric 4231 formation, with Danny Graham and Nathan Dyer also possibilities to return to the starting XI.

Opposition strengths and notable dangers:
After gaining promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, the Swans have taken little time to adapt to the top league – retaining confidence largely in the squad that brought them there.

•    Ball hogs! : The most obvious and well documented strength of Swansea City this season, and indeed a fair few seasons previous.  A very impressive average possession of 56% and pass competition rate of 85% allows Swansea to play a very patient and methodical style, building up pressure to create scoring chances whilst also providing reasonable protection against exposure to a defensive line largely unfamiliar to Premier League life.

•    Michel Vorm:  Another well documented strength and success of Swansea this season has been the performances of their Dutch ‘keeper (sounds quite familiar…).  The act-like reflexes of Vorm ensure that any breach of the Swans defensive line will still require some serious work produce a goal – Vorm proving this as recently as last week keeping Fulham at bay, even from the penalty spot.

•    Sinclair / Graham:  Particularly in their places within the 4231 formation.  NUFC have often struggled to deal with this formation when fielding a 442, regardless of the opposition, with the numbers in midfield and free movement from wide positions causing us defensive and attacking headaches.   The explosive Scott Sinclair operating from the left flank in particular will be one to pay heavy attention to going forward, as will the poaching Danny Graham working solo between the central defenders.

Tactical suggestions:
Nothing too expansive required for NUFC in this one – just pay proper attention to the simple things.

•    Press high up the field…:  Swansea setting out to play possession football is a given and through the stats shown earlier it’s equally obvious that they are competent at playing it.  With home advantage, NUFC should look to take the game to our visitors and press them highly up the field, attempting to corner them and pick up on loose balls.

•    …and keep it:  The second part of that strategy is to ensure we don’t surrender possession back to the pass-masters easily.  Against Norwich, NUFC on the whole treat the ball like it was a live hand grenade with a number of very clumsy passes making life on the whole greater more difficult for ourselves – Dan Gosling’s disastrous ‘through ball’ that lead to the Canaries crippling third goal being the most high profile.  As a prioirity, this needs to change this week.

•    Make most of the aerial advantage:  Expecting another physical forward line of Ba and Ameobi, NUFC should look to use their expertise in the air both to build attacks and to directly attack.  The familiar strategy of one of the strikers dropping off to support the midfield in the build-up should be beneficial against an opposition who are heavy in technical ability, but not so in muscle.

Final thought and gut feeling:
Regardless of opposition or injuries, there is still a sense of shell-shock at the number of goals NUFC have conceded (11 in the last four, compared to eight in the first 11 games).  The perception of losing the steady base upon which has undoubtedly resulted in NUFC’s excellent start to the season can have a pretty un-nerving effect on the remainder of the team and with that in mind could easily lead to an uneasy game this weekend.  I still expect a result with home advantage, but not an easy or convincing one at present: narrow home win.

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Tactical analysis: Norwich 4 Newcastle 2 in 5 key points

10.12.11 – Saturday 3pm
Carrow Road
Barclays Premier League

Norwich 4
Hoolahan 39
Holt 59, 82
Morison 63 

Newcastle 2
Ba 45, 71
Gosling sent off 66 

A depleted Newcastle side suffered their 3rd defeat of the season in a 4-2 defeat to Premier League new boys Norwich City at Carrow Road.

The game’s opening goal came 6 minutes before the half time interval. A debatable corner was awarded to the home side – when Tim Krul was adjudged to have carried the ball over the line – who profited from the decision when Andrew Crofts’ header ricocheted in off Wes Hoolahan. However, Newcastle were level on the stroke of half time. Yohan Cabaye’s perfectly weighted chipped through ball was well controlled by Demba Ba who side footed past John Ruddy to make the score 1-1 at the break.

Newcastle started the second half brightly and had good chances to take the lead, but were behind again when a Norwich corner was headed home by Grant Holt - the striker quickest to the rebound after his initial header was stopped by Krul. And it was 3-1 only 4 minutes later, Steve Morison powerfully heading Crofts’ cross past the helpless Krul. Newcastle were reduced to 10 men in the 66th minute when Dan Gosling, having already been booked, was shown a red card by referee Martin Atkinson for a slightly rash challenge on Russell Martin. Yet, refusing to give up, Newcastle reduced the deficit 5 minutes later when Ba hit a left footed effort past Ruddy following good work from Shola Ameobi. But the game was ended as a contest 8 minutes from time when Holt was found in the penalty area by Bradley Johnson’s free kick to head his 2nd and Norwich’s 4th of the afternoon.

1. Team selection and tactics

Newcastle, hampered by injuries, made 5 changes to the side that had lost 3-0 at home to Chelsea last weekend. With no fit senior central defenders available – first choice pairing Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor joining Mike Williamson on the sidelines – Newcastle were forced into a defensive reshuffle. James Perch came into the side to partner Danny Simpson in central defence, while Ryan Taylor moved to right back with Davide Santon making his full Premier League debut at left back. Jonas Gutierrez returned from suspension to replace Peter Lovenkrands on the left wing, Dan Gosling took up the place of the injured Danny Guthrie in central midfield and Shola Ameobi was preferred to Hatem Ben Arfa to complete Newcastle’s changes. Norwich manager Paul Lambert made 4 changes to the side that had lost 5-1 at Man City the weekend previous with Zak Whitbread, Wesley Hoolahan, David Fox and Grant Holt replacing Leon Barnett, Elliott Bennett, Bradley Johnson and Anthony Pilkington in the starting line up.

Having used a 4-4-1-1 formation in their last 3 games, to accommodate Hatem Ben Arfa in the ‘number 10′ role, Newcastle returned to a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation as Alan Pardew looked for his 2 front men – Shola Ameobi and Demba Ba – to hold the ball up in the opposition half and reduce pressure on the makeshift defence. Norwich, after adopting a more cautious 4-5-1 formation at City, also used a 4-4-2 formation; Lambert sensing an opportunity to profit from Newcastle’s defensive frailties. With both sides adopting similar styles and attacking intent it made for an open and entertaining game of football.

2. Newcastle switch off at set pieces

Headers: Perch and Simpson

A common feature of the game which ultimately proved to be Newcastle’s undoing was their inability to defend set-pieces. The makeshift central defensive pairing of Simpson and Perch simply struggled to deal with the aerial power and movement of Norwich strikers Holt and Morison, and it’s telling that neither Newcastle defender won a header in their own penalty area.

Up until this fixture Newcastle had started with the same back 5, including Krul, for every other league game this season and had built a reputation as one of the league’s meanest defences. However, the absence of Coloccini and Steven Taylor proved to be a major disruption and setback for Newcastle against Norwich. Playing with 2 full backs at centre back, the understanding and organisation was naturally missing and proved to be Newcastle’s downfall. Not surprising then that 3 of Norwich’s 4 goals came from set piece situations, with the other a header from open play.

3. Newcastle defend deep and narrow

Unable to rely on their formidable central defensive partnership Newcastle instead attempted to deal with Norwich’s attacking threat by defending deep, to restrict the space centrally for their opposition to play into and to provide additional support for stand-in centre backs Perch and Simpson. Perhaps wary of the danger of giving away set pieces Newcastle also looked to win the ball back by anticipating the ‘next pass’,  highlighted by the fact that they made 22 interceptions compared to only 6 tackles.

By defending so deep and narrow, however, only played to Norwich’s strengths, encouraging the Canaries to play down the wings to exploit the space and to play crosses into the box for the forwards to attack, which they did on no less than 21 times. In hindsight, a better defensive strategy may have been to adopt a high line so as to not allow Holt and Morison space and opportunities to attack the ball in the penalty area, although this is easier said than done with no natural leader in Coloccini’s absence to co-ordinate the defence.

Average positions - Newcastle defend compact and narrow. Left: Norwich, Right: Newcastle

4. Norwich nullify Newcastle wingers

Norwich tackles, almost all in wide areas

It was a fairly unproductive afternoon for Newcastle’s wingers – Jonas Gutierrez and Gabriel Obertan – who were unable to getter the better of their respective full backs – Kyle Naughton and Marc Tierney. Gutierrez, as has been the case of late, generally took up a more defensive position, while Obertan tended to cut inside rather than to take on his marker. As such, neither managed to put in a single completed cross to a team-mate with wide play quality generally lacking for the Magpies.

Newcastle instead looked to Ryan Taylor and Davide Santon to provide attacking support from full back, which they did well. Taylor was Newcastle’s most involved player with 81 touches, while he also put in 8 crosses from normal play – more than any other Newcastle player. Santon, meanwhile, showed a willingness to get forward, run with the ball and had the 2nd highest amount of touches for Newcastle, behind Taylor, with 77. The high involvement of both players adding weight to the suggestion that full back has became the most important position in the modern game.

5. The Magpies retain attacking intention with 10 men

Newcastle switch to 4-3-2

In the space of 7 second half minutes to forget for Newcastle – from the 59th to the 66th – they conceded 2 goals and were reduced to 10 men. Following Gosling’s dismissal, and with heads possibly dropping and discipline starting to waver, the thought may have crossed Alan Pardew’s mind to take a damage limitation approach by withdrawing a striker for a midfielder and settling for not conceding any more goals rather than chasing the game. Former Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has spoken of employing these tactics when his sides have been 2 or 3 goals behind, thankfully Pardew is not of the same school of thought.

Pardew, instead, retained faith that his side could get back into the game and kept his 2 strikers – Ba and Shola Ameobi – on the pitch and switched to almost a 4-3-2 formation with either striker expected to drop back into the midfield when required, still giving Newcastle 2 options to aim for up front. Pardew’s belief in his side appeared to give the Newcastle players a lift and only 5 minutes after going down to 10 men they were back in the game at 3-2. The admirable effort and work-rate of Newcastle’s 10 men was unfortunately unable to yield an equalising goal, yet, surely better to go down fighting than without a fight at all.

At the end of the day…

Those who have been uncomfortable with Newcastle’s presence near the top of the table, reserved by Sky Sports for ‘the big 6, will no doubt take joy in their points return of 1 from the last 4 games. However, much like against Chelsea last week, Newcastle could well have taken something from this game and can take some solace in their determined performance, particularly Demba Ba who impressed again up front.

Any Premier League side would arguably struggle without their 3 first choice centre backs and had one or even two of Coloccini, Taylor or Williamson been fit it’s not inconceivable that Newcastle could have taken 3 points home from the trip to East Anglia.

As it was, even with Newcastle down to 10 men for the remaining 24 or so minutes, it was a fairly even game with Newcastle just edging Norwich for shots on target; 6 to 5, and Norwich narrowly leading Newcastle for passes completed; 315 to 301. Most importantly, though, it was Norwich who were more clinical in front of goal and who are therefore deserved of the 3 points.

The defeat saw Newcastle drop down to 7th place in the Premier League table, however still with a healthy 5 point lead ahead of 8th placed Stoke. Not quite the ‘crash to earth’ or ‘bubble bursting’ that some would like to claim…

Next up for Newcastle is a home fixture against another Premier League newcomer – 11th placed Swansea – on Saturday 17 December, 3pm kick off. It is hoped that at least one of Coloccini or Williamson will be fit to return, while better news is hoped for on the prolonged injury of Cheick Tiote as Newcastle look to get back to winning ways on home turf.

As always, if you want our instant news and (kneejerk) reaction to anything Newcastle United or football related then follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/leazesterrace or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/leazesterrace

Norwich vs Newcastle: Tactical Preview

10.12.2011 – Saturday 3:00pm

Location: Carrow Road

Early prospects:  Last man standing.

Newcastle United take their injury ridden squad to Premier League returnees Norwich this Saturday, looking for a first win in four games to maintain an unexpected lofty position.

Naturally, there have been many falling over themselves to shout about how Newcastle’s ‘bubble has finally burst’, but the performance against Chelsea, and indeed those of the previous two games only served to provide great encouragement all round, and notify the potential of this current squad should it be built upon intelligently.  Adversely, the critical injuries suffered during this recent period (more on this later) have only highlighted the thin line between prosperity and potential stagnation – the very clear warnings have to be heeded by those in power…

Team Line-ups:
Despite some erratic form, the Canaries come into this game looking to build upon their steady 16 points gained so far.

For the first time this season NUFC are feeling the effects of a very serious injury crisis – the brutal news of Steven Taylor’s injury being likely to keep him out for the rest of this season, combined with the less lengthy spells out faced by fellow centre backs Coloccini and Williamson mean NUFC travel to Carrow Road without a recognised senior central defender.  Both Pardew and Coloccini have down played the seriousness of his injury, and have stated that the Argentine has an ‘outside chance’ of making the game – although a more realistic proposition is for him to return a week later against Swansea.  Cheick Tiote remains side-lined and Danny Guthrie has since picked up a groin problem (popular in the squad these days…) and will be out until Christmas at least – just when he was staking a very serious claim for a regular first team place.  Gosling should come in to replace Guthrie, however big questions remain over who will deputise in central defence – having an array of full-backs to choose from along with untested centre back Tamas Kadar.  Your guess is as good as mine…

Our opponents Norwich, on the other hand, have no fresh injury concerns for this game and in fact have Daniel Ayala and Zak Whitbread available after injury.  Talented young manager Paul Lambert has rotated his squad fairly freely this season and has recently adopted a 451 formation for a number of games, however with NUFC’s defensive looking very frail it’s expected that Lambert will look to attack aggressively and choose a line-up and formation to suit that.

Opposition strengths and notable dangers:
Given our obvious defensive frailties, the notable dangers to NUFC pretty much write themselves.

•    Aggressive attackers:  Far from being a team who look to grind out points and ride out their first season in the top tier, Norwich have taken the game to all opponents – showing no respect for reputation, and rightly so in my opinion.  Their 13 shots on goal per game average may not be as gung-ho as Blackpool last season, but is nontheless impressive for a side that was in League One very recently.  Norwich attack using plenty of width (as the diagram right shows) and look to provide plenty service to the front line.

•    Muscle up front:  Combined with the previous, Norwich have adopted a style very familiar to that of NUFC’s early last season by using physical dominance in up front both attack and build pressure.  A 57% win rate in aerial duals at home this season gives a decent indication of their presence – 19% of passes being long balls give a clear indication of their direct nature.  Encompassing both points is the Canaries’ set piece threat, with eight of their 20 goals so far having come from set pieces.

Tactical suggestions:
Again, with NUFC’s defensive weakness in mind, this game will be one in which tactics will have to play a huge part to produce an effective performance.

•    Attack…:  Norwich coming out to attack is a given, and with our first choice defence I would have felt quite confident in repelling them.  However, lacking physical presence, familiarity and (crucially) leadership our prospects of keeping the home side out for the full 90 are unconvincing, even with the superhuman Krul in goal.  This game may be better suited to the archetypical ‘Kevin Keegan style’ of football – outscore your opposition.  And with the attacking talents of Ba, Ben Arfa and Cabaye we have enough in our own locker to trouble a defence that has already conceded 26 goals in 14 games.

•    Battle for midfield:  Key to the previous point is involving our better players – Cabaye arguably the key man.  If our talented Frenchman, alongside the ever improving Dan Gosling, can provide battle energy and style in midfield (which both are more than capable of doing on their day) then we stand a far better chance of returning with a share of the spoils than if we allow our opposition to dictate the midfield.  Norwich’s average possession of 42% and average pass completion of 74% highlights a very palpable weakness which NUFC should look to exploit in a key area of the field.

•    Keep a fairly high line:  Easier said than done with the lack of a natural leader in the defence (working on the premise Coloccini doesn’t make the start XI this week), keeping a fairly advanced line could go some way to minimising Norwich’s aerial presence – inviting the home side to play more through the middle and on the floor, or attempt more precise and difficult balls over the top.

Final thought and gut feeling:
Even with a first choice XI there would be a feeling of apprehension with this game – Norwich being the very typical kind of place that NUFC tend to slip up / under perform.  With the well documented frailties to pile on top of this that feeling of apprehension gets no better, but with our attacking options relatively unscathed we still hold enough to take a share of the spoils: score draw.

As always, if you want our instant news and (kneejerk) reaction to anything Newcastle United or football related then follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/leazesterrace or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/leazesterrace

Tactical analysis: Newcastle 0 Chelsea 3 in 5 key points

03.12.11 – Saturday 12.45pm
St James’ Park
Barclays Premier League

Newcastle 0

Chelsea 3
David Luiz sent off 4
Drogba 38
Kalou 89
Sturridge 90

Newcastle suffered their first home defeat of the season, and indeed their first since March, at the hands of Andre Villas-Boas’ Chelsea side who left St James’ Park as 3-0 victors.

The first half was certainly entertaining and incident filled with the first talking point coming in only the 4th minute. As Demba Ba ran forward to meet Peter Lovenkrands’ through ball on the edge of the area he was clumsily brought down by last man David Luiz, yet astonishingly referee Mike Dean only showed a yellow card rather than the expected red. And Dean was again centre of attention in the 13th minute when he correctly awarded a penalty to Chelsea after Daniel Sturridge was tripped by Yohan Cabaye in the area. However, ‘Super Goals’ resulting spot-kick was expertly saved by the excellent Tim Krul. There were more good opportunities for both sides before Chelsea took the lead in the 38th minute; Didier Drogba powerfully heading Juan Mata’s cross into Tim Krul’s net to send the away side into the half term interval with a 1-0 lead.

The second half saw good chances for both sides. Newcastle hit the woodwork twice courtesy of a long range effort from Shola Ameobi and Didier Drogba, having already scored at the Leazes End, heading a Newcastle corner against his own crossbar at the same end. Sammy Ameobi also saw his left footed shot cleared off the line by John Terry. Tim Krul continued to prevent Chelsea from scoring a 2nd until 2 minutes from time, but as Newcastle pushed for an equaliser they became further exposed to the counter attack, and this proved to be the source of Chelsea’s 2nd and 3rd goals late on, Salomon Kalou and Sturridge the scorers, to help secure a much needed 3-0 victory for the Blues.

1. Team selection and tactics

Newcastle made just 1 change to the side that earned a point in the 1-1 draw against Man United at Old Trafford last Saturday, with Peter Lovenkrands replacing the suspended Jonas Gutierrez on the left of midfield. A surprise inclusion perhaps given that Sammy Ameobi had been preferred to the Dane on the wing for Newcastle in recent weeks. Chelsea manager Villas-Boas also made 1 change to the side that beat 3-0 Wolves at Stamford Bridge last Saturday, Raul Meireles dropping to the substitutes’ bench to be replaced by Frank Lampard in central midfield.

For the third game in a row Newcastle used a 4-4-1-1 formation with Hatem Ben Arfa playing just off Demba Ba in attack, and showed more attacking emphasis than seen in recent weeks as they looked to seize upon their opponent’s below-par form of late. Chelsea used a 4-3-3 formation and mainly looked to exploit Newcastle’s attacking tendencies on the counter through the pace and movement of wide men Mata and Sturridge.

2. Newcastle struggle to stem speedy Sturridge

Although a left footed centre forward by default, Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge has found himself being used as the right sided forward in Villas-Boas’ 4-3-3 formation and this was his role again against Newcastle. When Newcastle looked to go forward Sturridge was responsible for holding his position high up the pitch and to use his pace to exploit the space left by Ryan Taylor, who often ventured forward to support Newcastle’s attack, a tactic which caused Newcastle endless problems.

Sturridge's 8 shots

The first half in particular saw Chelsea and Sturridge regularly taking advantage of the space in behind Ryan Taylor, who also missed the protective nature of Jonas Gutierrez, on the counter attack. In the first half alone Sturridge had 5 shots and, of course, his pace and trickery lead to him winning a penalty for his side. On another day, and up against a lesser keeper than Tim Krul, Sturridge’s relentless attacking and attempts at goal could have yielded a better return. However, the striker did eventually get the goal that his fine play warranted with a well taken finish in injury time.

3. The movement of Mata

Mata's completed passes

Starting on the left of Chelsea’s attack, Juan Mata was given the freedom to roam from his starting position and he regularly did so. Much like Samir Nasri and David Silva a fortnight ago, Juan Mata caused Newcastle problems with his movement from the flank proving more difficult to track and defend against than a more orthodox winger who would be more likely to hold his position.

Mata was all over the pitch (as demonstrated by his completed passes chalkboard) and, to highlight this, he played 2 through balls from central areas for Sturridge to run onto in the first half. However, it was from his starting position on the left that he ultimately demonstrated his impressive movement and passing accuracy (97%) with a fine run into space and cross for Chelsea’s opening goal.

4. Half time sees Newcastle revert to plan A

Although Newcastle had fared reasonably well against their opponents in the first half, at half time Alan Pardew opted to revert to his favoured 4-4-2 formation with Shola Ameobi replacing Ben Arfa to line up alongside Demba Ba in attack. This change could have been to give Newcastle more aerial strength and power up front to trouble the defensively shaky David Luiz, however, another plausibility is that Ben Arfa was substituted as he wasn’t having as much of an impact as would have been hoped up to half time.

Ben Arfa struggles to find space in crowded midfield. Romeu shown playing close to his centre backs

With Chelsea using 3 central midfielders and the base of the midfield – Oriel Romeu – playing so deep that he was almost a 3rd centre back at times, Ben Arfa was unable to find as much space as he would have liked in a 45 minutes that saw him complete only 7 passes. Although Ba played the lone striker role well in the first half, the introduction of Shola Ameobi naturally gave Newcastle 2 options to hit up front as they chased an equaliser, and almost paid off when the much maligned striker’s shot looked to be heading for the top corner of Peter Cech’s goal only to cannon back off the crossbar. One criticism, however, is that with 2 tall strikers on the pitch in the second half that Newcastle didn’t deliver more crosses into the box to be attacked with Gabriel Obertan, in particular, being constantly outthought by Ashley Cole and failing to provide a single cross into the box in 90 minutes.

5. Guthrie stakes his claim

Guthrie's completed passes

With Newcastle’s wingers failing to get the better of the Chelsea full backs, and Ben Arfa unable to find the space to create anything of note in his 45 minutes, the attacking impetus fell to central midfielders Yohan Cabaye and Danny Guthrie. And it was the latter that shone with his varied and accurate passing and willingness to get on the ball.

Guthrie regularly dropped deep to receive the ball off the Newcastle defence and showed an ability to hit long and accurate passes, in the ilk of those displayed by Joey Barton in a Newcastle shirt last season, to either wing. Guthrie was also comfortable in the attacking third and demonstrated a sound understanding and awareness of his surroundings and options. Arguably Newcastle’s strongest outfield player against Chelsea, Guthrie impressed with 92% of his passes finding a teammate and is perhaps not the player who will make way for Cheick Tiote on his return from injury…

At the end of the day…

The 3-0 score line gives the impression that it was a walkover for the away side and slightly flatters Chelsea. However, this was far from the case with Newcastle more than matching their opponents for the majority of the game and conceding the 2nd and 3rd goals while effectively down to 10 men after losing both first choice central defenders – Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini – to injury.

In fact, had referee Mike Dean took the right course of action and sent off David Luiz in the 4th minute it could have lead to a different outcome, and Newcastle will likely feel aggrieved that they haven’t taken anything from this game, in particular Tim Krul who was outstanding in goal for the Magpies.

Perhaps this was Newcastle’s retribution for benefitting from a generous penalty decision at Old Trafford last weekend, but the frustrating aspect of the decision not to send off Luiz is that Mike Dean clearly seen the incident but unacceptably failed to punish it as he should have done. Having said that, a visibly fired up Chelsea, in the wake of recent poor form, deployed their counter attacking game plan well on the whole and will feel that they were worthy of the 3 points.

After 14 games Newcastle now find themselves in 6th place in the Premier League table, having also played all of the top 5 teams above them and giving each a tough game, although they could drop to 7th position if the ever improving Liverpool beat Fulham at Craven Cottage on Monday night.

Next up for Newcastle is a trip to Carrow Road to face Premier League newboys Norwich City on Saturday 10 December, 3pm kick off. The injuries to Steven Taylor and Coloccini have caused a crisis in central defence, with Mike Williamson also still out injured, which will perhaps see Danny Simpson or David Santon partnering James Perch in a makeshift central defence. No return date has been given to Tiote as yet, but Newcastle will at least be able to call on the returning Gutierrez and Leon Best, from suspension and injury respectively, for the Magpies’ tricky trip to face the 10th placed Canaries.

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