Another frustrating afternoon for Newcastle United as the Magpies failed to score, accumulate any points and keep eleven players on the pitch during their fixture against Arsenal at St James' Park. Aleksandar Mitrovic's 16th minute dismissal quickly dismantled Steve McClaren's 4-2-3-1 tactics that had adequately matched Arsenal's similar system for the opening section of the game. The Toon boss switched to a 4-4-1 formation with new signing, Florian Thauvin playing as a solo striker and Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum providing width down the channels. McClaren limited Massadio Haidara and Daryl Janmaat's attacking contribution to a minimum as the Magpies attempted to park their relatively sturdy looking bus for 74 minutes. It almost worked, Newcastle not only contained Arsenal's flamboyant midfield but Chancel Mbemba and Fabricio Coloccini managed to shut out Alexis Sanchez as he continued to bang on Tim Krul's front door. The Magpies managed a few surging counter-attacks that worked well against Manchester United last weekend but without their £13 million Serbian frontman they struggled to maintain possession. Another positive performance from McClaren's side but the new boss is yet to win a Premier League game this season and the Magpies have failed to score in the last three matches. Here is ten things that WhatCulture.com/nufclearned from the Newcastle United press box...
NCTJ-accredited football writer with an MA in Sports Journalism. What Culture football editor. Write for the official Newcastle United programme. Former video reporter at North News. Featured and published in the Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette, Mail Online, The Mirror, The Sun and others.
