Bruce wants changes to improve Newcastle threat
When Patrick van Aanholt’s howitzer of a free-kick sailed past Martin Dubravka to give resurgent Crystal Palace three points and surely bring closure on any thoughts of relegation, it felt like a watershed moment for Newcastle United.
Forty-six niggly minutes remained, but for all their stoic defending, Newcastle were incapable of fashioning a coherent attacking move. The one-sided 1-0 would end with Palace’s goalkeeper Vicente
Guaita being called into action just twice: first a dive to thwart Joelinton and, more meaningfully, when he had to twist in mid-air to foil Fabian Schar’s deflected drive.
Afterwards, Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce mused that things must change. Later, he expanded: “A change in formation and a change in personnel. Our Achilles heel all season has been that we haven’t scored enough. When we get in the last third, too often we miss the pass, overhit the thing or take the wrong option.”
The poster boy for the Premier League’s joint-lowest scorers’ lack of penetration is Joelinton. Hardly prolific in his native Brazil, Germany or Austria, the striker’s record of one league goal (as far back as August) is a meagre return on his club-record £40million fee. On Saturday, Allan Saint-maximin and Miguel Almiron struggled to add attacking ballast and, as Bruce pointed out, “strikers need service, we don’t cross the ball enough”.
Bruce’s 5-2-3 formation gifted midfield hegemony to Palace and that will surely be jettisoned for Burnley’s visit on Saturday, but elsewhere he has few cards to play, although he has no regrets over his barren transfer window. “There wasn’t anybody out there who would have made us any better, so what was the point?” he said. The fit-again Dwight Gayle, lethal in the Championship, less so in the Premier
League, is an option of sorts; the Andy Carroll experiment has failed and whatever the question is, the answer is unlikely to be Yoshinori Muto. None of the three has scored a league goal this season.
Given a 20-minute cameo against Palace, Matt Ritchie added bite. He also brings perspective. “Look, we didn’t perform. We need to create more and score more, but that’s down to the whole team,” the midfielder said. “All players can score goals, it’s not just down to Jo or any individual, it’s a collective thing and to criticise one player is unfair.”
Newcastle are seven points ahead of third-bottom West Ham United, whose game in hand is at Anfield tonight. The run-in for Bruce’s troops is mostly gentle and, as Ritchie noted, “we have games we can take something from”.