McClaren: Obertan Dealt Well With "A Hell Of An Attacking Full-Back"

Gabriel Obertan dealt with a "hell of an attacking full-back" in Cedric Soares - perfectly vindicating the "tactical reasons" behind why he was selected against Southampton, Newcastle United boss Steve McClaren believes. Many eyebrows were raised among certain sections of the St James' Park crowd when Obertan was selected on the left ahead of the likes of Rolando Aarons and Ayoze Perez on Sunday. However, not only did Obertan provide an assist for Georginio Wijnaldum's debut goal during the 2-2 draw, McClaren also believes the Frenchman's defensive contribution helped force Southampton into hooking Soares at half-time.

The Saints full-back was booked during the opening 45 minutes and struggled to get the better of Obertan, even if former Sporting Lisbon defender Soares did give Massadio Haidara and Fabricio Coloccini the run-around on a couple of occasions. Speaking after the Magpies' Barclays Premier League opener on Sunday, McClaren told The Chronicle his logic behind starting Obertan. He said:

"It was tactical really in aspect to Cedric Soares, who is a hell of an attacking full-back and we wanted somebody to stay wide and curb that. "I think he (Obertan) did it (his job) that well. Southampton took Soares off at half-time and changed him. "We have been trying to get him to do that a bit more."

Obertan was arguably one of United's star performers against the Saints, and McClaren was effusive in his praise of the 26-year-old winger. Alongside stating that Obertan has "great pace and strength", McClaren continued:

"He has got great pace and strength. Sometimes you have to run beyond people. "He did that towards the end of the first-half, and the second goal was fantastic. "It was good that Papiss (Cisse) scored, that Gabby (Obertan) did that and Gini (Wijnaldum) also scored."

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