10 Issues McClaren STILL Needs To Resolve At Newcastle Before The Season Kicks Off

3. Add Greater Urgency To The Magpies' Attack

As has already been mentioned, it's been refreshing to see Newcastle actually attempt to pass the ball out from the back and through their midfield during this pre-season campaign. The philosophy Steve McClaren and Ian Cathro have been attempting to instill into this Magpies side has been the complete antithesis of football a la Pardew or Carver. However, the new system and style still needs a bit of time to work and blossom - which is completely understandable given that 10 of the starting XI on Saturday (Georginio Wijnaldum aside) were at the club under both Alan Pardew and John Carver Newcastle have tended to start matches well but then fade quite quickly as soon as the opposition have gotten themselves ahead. A greater urgency needs to be added to the Magpies attack, so that the nice passing in midfield can be turned into a threatening move that can catch the opposition off guard. Given time, McClaren and Cathro will achieve this, but it is not quite there yet.