Man, it was good to see United loosen shackles
TEAM WAS REAL THREAT AT OLD TRAFFORD
I WATCHED Newcastle United’s defeat at Old Trafford and thought to myself ‘This does not look like a Rafa Benitez team.’
It was a good game for 30 minutes and Newcastle were right in it until the second Manchester United goal – but what struck me was just how open they were.
It looked like the most attacking and adventurous Newcastle awayday formation for a while and even though they lost it was all right by me.
I know Benitez is a manager who likes his teams to be solid and compact but there was so much more threat about Newcastle on Saturday, and it did make me wonder what might have been if we had set up that way in the games against Burnley, Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Brighton.
In those matches we did not look half as dangerous as we did for the first half against Manchester United. I am not too worried about the result even if it is only natural supporters start to get a bit edgy about the run of form.
There is a big gap between the rest of the Premier League and the top two or three and there will not be many teams who get anything out of Manchester United or City this season.
The performance was not the performance of a team feeling sorry for itself or one that collapsed under the pressure.
They have two big games coming up and they really need to be looking to take four points from Watford and West Brom. It is going to be edgy.
The big plus for me was the performance of Dwight Gayle, who looked as if he has a bit of that sharpness we saw last season back. If he can stay fit and firing he will be an important player for Newcastle between now and January at least.
I still worry about Joselu. Look, he does everything you would want from a striker in terms of his workrate and his running off the ball – and his movement is pretty good too. Yet he is paid to score goals and he has not looked like he is going to do that recently.
The top strikers in the division need one or maybe two chances – he needs five or six and even then you are not certain he is going to do it.
That has a knock-on effect on his confidence and at the moment Newcastle are carrying a striker who does not carry much threat.
Some fans might say Aleksandar Mitrovic is the answer but I would not go that far. I am in the ‘In Rafa We Trust’ camp – if he thinks Mitrovic is better on the bench that is good enough for me.
He is actually more of an impact player anyway. If he gets 20 minutes at the end of a game he can give defences something to think about.
Newcastle need another striker if they are going to stay away from relegation trouble this season – and I think there will be players available in January.
Daniel Sturridge might be available on loan and that would be a good deal for Newcastle.
He would be first choice up here, he would have opportunities to prove his fitness and he is a level or two above what Newcastle have at the moment.