Newcastle: 5 Things Alan Pardew Clearly Doesn't Know About Bayern Munich

2. They Use Their 'Keeper's Distribution Well

One issue that Newcastle have had to overcome this season (and indeed since he became number one) is that Tim Krul's distribution is nowhere near as good as some of his other skills. Too often he kicks the ball into touch without any pressure on him, and he has sent way too many balls to the wrong players (Remy Cabella shouldn't be classed as a target for long kicks, as he was earlier in the season for some reason), and when he kicks into the right areas, it's invariably snapped up by a defender rather than an attacker. In failing to accurately pick out Newcastle team-mates, Krul is unwittingly limiting the number of ways his side can attack, taking route one out of the equation entirely. That's not to say that route one should be used all the time, but to have it as an option would be nice, and would mix things up at least. In contrast, Guardiola has spent time working on Neuer's distribution: his passing accuracy under the Spaniard has improved drastically, and he is used as a quarter-back like figure - the deepest of deep lying play-makers - and such is his ability on the ball that he spends a lot of time outside his box, presenting a passing option to team-mates under pressure. And when the ball comes back to him, it's not simply a case of whacking it long and hoping, or kicking it out of play, he actually picks out team-mates and starts attacks. When Neuer receives the ball, Bayern's full-backs push up the pitch, knowing he could pick them out, and the centre-halves spread wide, while Schweinsteiger drops deep (a la Tiote, but with more purpose to build an attack), which gives Neuer more options to pass, and to avoid the centre-backs being pressed as much. It also opens up space for Neuer to advance and pass from higher up the pitch - a valuable attacking option that Newcastle simply do not have.