15 Things We Learned From Newcastle Vs. Portland Timbers 2

11. Set Pieces Are Still United's Achilles Heel

Those of both an attacking and defensive variety... In all fairness, Newcastle didn't have Mike Williamson on the pitch so they were always going to come up short in this area of the game... United need to spend the rest of pre-season making sure they can score a goal from a set-piece next season. Nothing has changed in this area of the game from the Alan Pardew era, which saw The Magpies go over three years without netting from a corner. Every single ball that was chucked into the box looked pretty decent to begin with but ultimately come to nothing against Portland, a theme that has once again reared its ugly head far too many times this pre-season. Things need to change and quickly. We were hoping that Georginio Wijnaldum's creativity could spark something earlier in the campaign, but the Dutchman didn't really go near the dead-ball all evening. Maybe that's where The Magpies are going wrong...