As attacking reboots go, it was not exactly an unqualified success. Four shots, only one of them on target, 34 percent possession and a 3-0 defeat hardly marked the glorious start of a new era. Perhaps, as Newcastle habitually lose away at Arsenal, systems, personnel and intentions may not matter as much as a bigger, broader trend.
Maybe they can chalk Monday’s setback up to the youthful verve of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe and an unwanted reminder that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang remains a high-class finisher. They can argue change does not come overnight. Steve Bruce is entitled to say it was better than the previous week’s diabolical display at Sheffield United. Then again, what isn’t?
And yet there was a fundamental flaw in the masterplan. There often is where Newcastle are concerned. Bruce played 4-4-2 and if the formation can feel outdated anyway, it requires certain types of footballers. In particular, it necessitates two central midfielders who – especially if the wingers adopt a wide or high starting position – have the athleticism to cover plenty of ground.
And instead Newcastle had Jonjo Shelvey. Shelvey is both Newcastle’s best and worst central midfielder. He is their outstanding technician, the one with the greatest passing range. In a team who struggle to retain the ball, he averages the most passes. Only the wide man Matt Ritchie averages more crosses and key passes. Shelvey was their top league scorer last season.
Their finest midfielder on the ball is also the worst off it. He is the most immobile, and the second half was notable for Arsenal’s eager young adventurers galloping into the open space at the Emirates Stadium. Newcastle’s defence was left unprotected, and not merely when Shelvey conceded possession with poor corners.
The case for Shelvey lay in who he is not. As Jeff Hendrick has spent most of his minutes in wider roles, Newcastle’s band of central midfielders are approaching the half-way point of the league season with no goals and no assists between them in the Premier League. Their midfield can be a wasteland: all graft and no craft. Sean Longstaff has regressed. Isaac Hayden offers nothing in the final third.
And yet Shelvey’s limitations demand he plays in a trio, with two others to do his running. It is an issue in itself. It is one that is compounded by Newcastle’s unbalanced squad. Too many are defined by what they are not. Camouflaging weaknesses becomes a difficult juggling act.
There are players who need a side and a shape built around them when it is a moot point if they belong in the strongest side. Some of their centre-backs are better in a trio than a duo. They prefer playing in a three, whereas Bruce likes a two. Andy Carroll’s own issues with mobility means he needs a strike partner, and yet a team playing 4-4-2 can scarcely close opponents down when one of the forwards is static. One with Carroll and Shelvey only actually has eight players who cover enough ground at sufficient speed.
One flagship signing, Joelinton, was bought as a striker but is not really a striker. Another, Miguel Almiron, has only really impressed alongside Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon, both since long gone. The notion that Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin, Ryan Fraser and Almiron could form an exciting front four has been dented by the reality that they have only started one league game together. Even removing Saint-Maximin from the mix, as coronavirus has sidelined him for eight weeks, and the other trio have only begun three Carabao Cup matches – the wretched defeat to Brentford amongst them – plus the draw at Wolves. And, rather than in a 4-2-3-1, that was in a rather illogical 3-4-3 formation.
A defensive variant of that, with Hendrick in front three and Paul Dummett as a wing-back, was a cautious move that backfired at Bramall Lane. Hence Monday’s more ostensibly attacking 4-4-2. But Newcastle find themselves with one goal in seven games, after starting 19 different players in their last two matches, no nearer to finding a system or style of play that suits everyone. Which is, in part, because there is not one.
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