Of all the Newcastle players who have allegedly been "Pardewed", Yoan Gouffran's fall from grace in the past year or so has been particularly frustrating. Signed as a bargain, the wide attacker was a very useful addition in the first half of last season, adding pace, hard-work and goals to the team. He might not have been massively prolific, but he was good for easing the burden on Loic Remy and Yohan Cabaye. But then Cabaye was sold and Pardew struggled to change the system, adapting player roles to try and protect the defence as the midfield and attack stuttered and failed to chalk up the goals needed to hide frailties at the back. Part of that change of system meant reining in Gouffran, who is a victim of his own willingness to run. Instead of being allowed to play as a wide attacker, the Frenchman is asked to patrol the entire flank, helping out in defence at the same time as linking up with midfield. In short, he has too many responsibilities and ends up looking like he's running around aimlessly. In stark contrast, the brief cameo appearances of Rolando Aarons showed him to be far more incisive in attack - probably because he hasn't had time with Pardew to tell him he's supposed to track back and cover - and he looks like he could be Newcastle's answer to Raheem Sterling. As he gets back to fitness and training with the first-team, Aarons should be given his chance in the first-team, and unfortunately for Gouffran, it should be at his expense. Gouffran should be reconsidered as a striker as he initially was, and freed from his limiting defensive duties, so that his pace and industry can be used more where it can hurt opposition teams. Sadly, there is no way Pardew will give up that industry in favour of a wildcard option: his form suggests he will use Aarons more from the bench, and persist with Gouffran. He's done the same with Shola and Gutierrez (for a period) - keeping them in the first team picture because of their perceived work-rates. Above anything, Pardew values players who will "die for the cause", and flair players should be considered rough drafts who need to be disciplined and brought into his bland, terribly English style of play. Gouffran will only be dropped when he is injured, and Pardew will simply shuffle his team around if and when he finally decides to give Aarons his chance And that won't come quickly, judging by his call for "experience" recently.
