Steve McClaren’s return to the promised land of the English Premier League at the helm of Newcastle United has been nothing short of disastrous.
The Magpies are staring down the barrel of relegation for the second consecutive season, as they languish in 18th place on 24 points.
With rumours circulating of McClaren’s dismissal sometime over the next 48 hours, Outside90’s Brendan Simpkins takes a look at five of the reasons why Newcastle are firmly in the middle of this year’s relegation dog fight.
Persistent use of a failing formation
The manager’s formation of choice for the majority of this season has been the ill fated 4-3-2-1. Earlier in the season he tried a 4-4-2 to some degree of success, but lacked the wide players to pull it off.
The 4-2-3-1 requires a striker that is able to play in isolation up top and create chances for himself, things Aleksander Mitrovic has so far proved incapable of doing. The Serbian has demonstrated some stellar hold-up play over the course of the season, yet it is something that does not particularly suit the formation.
Georginio Wijnaldum was deployed on the left-wing early in the campaign, a position he clearly is not suited to while Moussa Sissoko is still, shockingly, being played out-wide.
The additions of Andros Townsend and Jonjo Shelvey have added balance to the side, allowing Wijnaldum to be played as a No.10 as the ex-Swansea midfielder adds creativity and protection in front of an average back four.
There have been points in the season were Newcastle have looked deadly when they move the ball around and take it to the opposition, but those performances have been few and far between.
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Negative tactics away from home
While at times the Geordies have pressed high up the pitch and connected with style, this has only occurred at home fixtures. Newcastle have won away from St James’ Park just once all season, the third worst away record in the whole of English football.
When they play away, McClaren has instructed his side to sit back and absorb the opposition’s attacks while playing on the counter-attack. A team could get away with this with a rock solid back four, but Newcastle simply do not have enough quality in defence.
They have conceded 53 goals so far this season, so it is baffling why there would be an over-reliance on the defence. Is it any wonder why Wijnaldum goes missing so much away from home when the creativity is sucked out of the team by playing defensively?
Lack of personnel at the back
Newcastle have been paying the price for not adding to their defensive stocks since the January transfer window slammed shut. Fabricio Coloccini, Paul Dummett, Massadio Haidara, Chancel M’Bemba and Kevin M’babu are all currently missing for the black and whites as they recover from injuries.
That is three left-backs and McClaren’s preferred central partnership absent from the starting lineup.
This has forced the Toon to dabble in an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation, as well as converting young winger Rolando Aarons into a makeshift wing-back.
This experiment was poorly receieved, as Aarons was torn to shreds in a 5-1 thumping against Chelsea and was consistently caught out of position.
Coloccini and home grown product Steven Taylor were left to control the defence when M’bemba went down with a thigh injury, which is the same centre-back partnership when Newcastle was last relegated in 2008-09. In that season, Damien Duff was also asked to fill in at the unfamiliar left-back position.
A sense of déjà vu that no Newcastle fan wants to have.
Newcastle have conceded 14 goals in their last 7 Premier League games. Serious problems at the back. pic.twitter.com/kXVaiR69Bi
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) March 5, 2016
No leadership
Since the departures of Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton, the St James’ dressing room has been sorely lacking an authority figure.
Alan Pardew and McClaren have struggled to motivate their players during their reigns, while Coloccini has been nowhere near vocal enough for a captain.
Countless time this year fans have seen Newcastle concede and none of the players show any emotion as a result.
Shelvey has attempted to light a fire in his teammate’s bellies and has not been afraid to call out those that are underperforming on match day – even Siem de Jong has been something of a marshal when given playing time, ordering player movement off the ball.
The Magpies desperately need someone to come in and inject some motivation into the squad.
Failed transfer windows of seasons past
Mike Ashley is a loathed figure on Tyneside, and though he cannot directly be blamed for this season’s shortcoming after shelling out £81 million across two transfer windows, the current situation at the club has been a culmination of neglect from time gone by.
It is crystal clear the areas in which Newcastle have been desperate for reinforcements, but for whatever reason the club’s hierarchy has deemed these improvements unnecessary.
The Magpies are now paying the price for this lack of investment, as fans have seen this campaign with the struggles in front of goal, the injury crisis at the back and the lack of production on the wings.
It has taken two years for Yohan Cabaye’s replacement to be brought in after all.
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