16 Things We Learned From Newcastle Vs. Sacramento Republic

16. The "Double Six" Is The Steve McClaren Way

While many managers use pre-season to experiment and see what is best for the players at his disposal, Newcastle's new head coach has stuck with the same formation, and largely the same 11 starters, thus far. The Magpies will be playing one way and one way only next term, and there doesn't seem a lot that could change Steve McClaren's mind. A double six, according to Google at least, is a 4-2-3-1 formation that focusses heavily on the two defensive midfielders in the side. And from what WhatCuluture.com/NUFC gathered last Friday at Gateshead, those two central midfielders will be new boy Georginio Wijnaldum and one of Jack Colback or Vurnon Anita. It would be nice to see United practising a plan B, just in case anything were to go wrong when the new season gets under way.