Qarabag vs Newcastle United: a 90-minute holiday.
As I said to my wife last night, it is a privilege to watch a football match involving Newcastle United without having to live on your nerves for 90 minutes.
I can’t remember the last time a game was this relaxing and enjoyable. Yes, Qarabag was despicable, but we were pretty good too.
Anthony Gordon up top gets a huge amount of credit, and rightly so, for his four-goal haul, but I think the game was won behind him. The ball use from our back line was much better than recently.
Tonali and Willock brilliantly blocked the space in front of the back four, limiting the transition threat, while Woltemade remained calm and constantly looked to keep our attacking play strong.
I have to say that I think Lewis Hall is my player of the season so far.
There’s very little the boy can’t do: bomb down the line, reel in fearsome deliveries, dance around the opposition as if they’re not there, and fill central midfield roles that free up one (or both) of the deeper midfielders to get forward.
If he isn’t the starting left-back for England at the World Cup, Tuchel will have to shake his head. Truly one of the great talents in the Premier League at the moment and I hope he stays with us for many, many years to come.
The way Qarabag set up the first half was suicidal. They had their front guys pressed high, with no one following them, which made it so easy for us to play through them. After breaking their lines – almost always through the middle – the centre-backs had to step forward to meet the marauding Toon player, creating a gap through which Gordon could be found.
In The Mag’s player ratings I saw that Davey gave Hat Trick Gordon a 10, and I would agree if he had scored the six that would have justified his chances in that first 45. To be honest, you couldn’t have argued if we had gone into halftime at 8-0. For me he was a fantastic 9.5. If he can take advantage of more of the opportunities he gets, he could really be the solution through the middle. And he seems much more comfortable with Woltemade nearby. Gordon really struggles when isolated from big defenders; Give those defenders one more thing to think about, and Gordon takes advantage.
The second half was a walk.
Newcastle United held the ball well and limited the transition threat after Qarabag finally made the decision to sit in. To be honest, I was a bit relieved when they put 10 men behind the ball. By the end of that first half, Qarabag’s defense had the energy of David Brent’s dancing – equally entertaining, but ultimately uncomfortable to watch. I’m still not entirely sure how their goal sneaked past Pope, and we should have had more in the second half, with Osula not quite finding their feet after Burn’s free header was saved. On such an evening, looking for holes feels unnecessary.
In short, I really enjoy this new system. It suits the players we have at our disposal, and it looks like we’re getting a few extra percentage points from performances that were missing for quite a bit of the season. The adjustment – pushing Gordon centrally with Woltemade close by and using Hall almost as an auxiliary midfielder in possession – has given us control and a lot more threat. It will be good to see big Joe back and I think Tino will do well too when he returns.
All in all, a class evening that yielded three away wins in one week. Hoodoo in London? Away. Villa Park? overcome. An 8,000 kilometer round trip, midweek, between Aston Villa and Manchester City? Managed without hassle. The team is growing nicely.
A fantastic week and it was heartwarming to see all those Toon fans who made the journey get the result that deserved their crazy support. Hats off to you guys and gals.
#energy #David #Brent #dancing #equally #entertaining #ultimately #uncomfortable #watch