1. The Style Of Play
KEEP THE BALL ON THE DECK. This was the obvious message from McClaren to his players, who rarely used one of those 'hoofs' forward that we had become so accustomed to seeing under Alan Pardew and then John Carver. Every time Karl Darlow or Freddie Woodman got their hands on the ball, the two centre backs split and the ball was given to them or rolled wider to the full backs. And then once Mike Williamson in particular got the ball, he would have no more than three touches before ferrying it to a full back or Vurnon Anita. It was clear that the centre back had been banned from playing it long and was under clear instruction to move it on as early as possible. It was great to see. On top of that, Ian Cathro's famed expertise in passing drills certainly have been paying off in the last week or so as some of the sequences United put together were very pleasing on the eye. Gateshead, at times, were chasing shadows. All in all it was a very positive start from Newcastle, who need that proven finisher to get the ball in the back of the opponent's net more often.
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