First half was so full
...BUT THEN THEY REVERTED TO TYPE, SAYS MANAGER
STEVE Bruce felt his side were half way there against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, but then they seemed to revert to type.
Much has been made about whether the black and whites can only play one way – the Rafa Benitez way, which involves parking the bus and trying to grind out points.
Don’t get me wrong, it was massively effective at times, to the point that United staved off relegation comfortably in successive seasons after promotion from the Championship.
But even for Benitez there was a frustration at times when United were happy to sit back and accept a point rather than kill the game off.
That definitely seemed to be the case against Wolves once it got to 1-1 last weekend.
Bruce tried to abandon a back five at Leicester but there were disastrous consequences as the players couldn’t settle down and ended up losing 5-0.
Bruce’s other big issue has been whether to stick or twist with his front men.
The stats make from grim reading, no goals or assists for Miguel Almiron, nothing on the board for Allan Saint-Maximin and Joelinton sitting on just one goal.
Speaking ahead of the trip to West Ham, Bruce said: “There’s two solutions, either change the system or change the personnel.
“We will see how we go tomorrow, that’s obviously the conundrum we have.
“I was pleased with the first half against Wolves, we created chances and scored a goal but we needed to take it on.”
So Bruce has to ponder whether to wield the axe and drop Joelinton or Almiron or whether to bring an extra body into midfield with a change of system.
As so often is the case in the Premier League, the Magpies have been finding the net with regularity in training.
Bruce said: “It’s an issue. It’s something I’ve tried to work on at the training ground.
“It’s a different ball game when the real ball comes out though. I still think the front three in particular are still settling in.
“Saint-Maximin has only played three or four games. We’re aware of it and have to improve, but I think we’ll