The start of the 2018/19 Premier League season has been far from kind to Newcastle United, but the next few weeks offer a perfect opportunity for Rafa’s boys to get back on track.
Recent weeks have been a difficult watch for Toon fans with Newcastle falling to four defeats in their first five league matches. Granted all four of those defeats have come against sides who finished in the top six last season, but there’s still an understandable sense of disappointment amongst the Toon Army as a final scoreline of 2-1 in each defeat has seen precious points narrowly escape the Magpies’ grasp.
Last week’s 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal held some promising signs, as particularly in the first half Newcastle really applied the pressure onto Unai Emery’s new-look Gunners until a disappointing second period saw the North London side triumph. It could be far worse for the Magpies though, as despite sitting in 19th, they have the best goal difference of any bottom five side. With some of the toughest fixtures of the season already out of the way, there’s a fresh opportunity for Newcastle to build some positive momentum and get back to winning ways – starting with an away trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday – a side Newcastle beat 1-0 at home last season and drew 1-1 at Selhurst Park.
Improvements needed
Whilst it’s important to not read too much into the early struggles of the team, there’s undoubtedly vast room for improvement as the team’s statistics make for dismal reading. Newcastle have the lowest average possession of any team in the Premier League with 37.4%, and an awful pass completion rate of 65% sees them only just above newly promoted Cardiff City who are widely expected to be relegated this season.
Of course with only 19% possession against Chelsea and 22% against Manchester City, it’s likely that the average possession of the team will slowly rise as the season progresses. Benitez has always favoured letting the opponent have control of possession during his time on Tyneside, but Newcastle must alter there approach and become more willing to control the ball if they are to start winning, particularly at home.
Most alarming however is the pass completion percentage. Given that the Magpies have very little of the ball compared to their opponents, the fact that they are unable to put together successful passing moves up the pitch results in less shots at goal, and ultimately less chance of securing three points on any given weekend. With only eight shots at goal a game and only four goals in five Premier League games, it’s evident that sticking to last season’s formula has so far been a fruitless endeavour for Benitez.
Whether it’s a minor tactical tweak or a complete rethink of the lineup, Newcastle will be expected to perform far better when they face teams such as Crystal Palace, Leicester, Brighton and Southampton in the coming weeks. Defensively, the new signings have settled into the side with surprising ease, but in the attack, Yoshinori Muto and Salomon Rondon have struggled to get into a rhythm with defense obviously Benitez’s priority so far this season.
If one thing is for certain, the Magpies must show on the weekend that they are willing to change what clearly hasn’t worked, and there’s no doubt the St. James’ Park crowd will respond if the team does the same.