5 Possible Systems Pardew Might Use To Accommodate Newcastle's New Signings

4. An Old Fashioned 4-4-2, With The Geordie Rivière

In the past - usually when he hasn't known what else he's supposed to do - Pardew has flirted with the fish 'n' chips of football formations, the 4-4-2. While the result has seemed very flat and outdated in recent seasons, some teams inadvertently employed it recently by simply having their number 10 run beyond the striker and their wide players show a little restraint: Man City, for example, were pretty much two banks of four whenever Agureo was on the field. Brendan Rodgers used it at Liverpool as well, or at least I'm assuming he did as he used everything else.

Now that we've been spared the possibility of starting the season with a strike-force of Pappis Cisse and two lads who can still count their pitch time on their fingers, there's a chance Pardew could look to get on the front foot in games (and probably with the fans as well) by setting up this way. Indeed, rumours that another senior striker is on the shopping list, would seem to support this further.

Emmanuel Rivière is young, quick, dynamic, and similar to Loic Remy in many respects, but he's been used upfront to great effect with Falcao at Monaco last season and seems well suited to playing in a pair. But as we saw with Demba Ba, Shola Ameobi, and Luuk De Jong, Papiss Cisse isn't, and a strong, mobile attacker would be required to really make this system work.

It would also mean sacrificing Pardew's coveted number 10 role, with either Siem De Jong sitting deeper in midfield, most likely partnered with Tiote to allow him maximum freedom to support the front two. Remy Cabella would again contest the left side position with Gouffran, as the balance between providing service to the strikers, whilst not leaving the fullbacks exposed, was inevitably fussed over for a few months.

Note: I'm assuming, as you now all are, that Ayoze Perez is probably already googling "bars and restaurants in St Mirren".