10 Things We Learned From Newcastle Vs Southampton

4. Georginio Wijnaldum Is A Box-To-Box Midfielder, Not A No 10

This was typified by the Dutchman's wonderful debut goal. He started from a position deep in his own area and ran the full length of the pitch to arrive late in the box and meet Gabriel Obertan's pinpoint cross with a bullet header into the top corner. The guy has bags of energy, but wasn't allowed to use them as he found himself lost in the shuffle playing behind lone striker Papiss Cisse. Even though Gini did show flashes of brilliance and proved United do have one of the more exciting midfields in the Premier League now, he went missing at times and looked a little bereft of ideas. Although it was his competitive debut so we can't be too harsh... WhatCulture.com/NUFC learned at the Gateshead friendly how Steve McClaren intended to slot Wijnaldum into his new United system. McClaren, at the time, saw him playing a huge part in NUFC's new 'double 6' formation. A double 6, according to Google at least, is a 4-2-3-1 formation that focusses heavily on the two defensive midfielders in the side. This is still the way forward for the former Middlesbrough boss but Gini, it seems, will be filling a different hole than what was initially intended for him. The 24-year-old was scheduled to occupy one of those central-midfield roles and be tasked with a lot of the running. Basically, he was bought to be Newcastle's Yaya Toure, starting from deep but getting forward to support the front men. It seems to club has very different plans for him now...