What on earth is going on with Newcastle United?

However, what on earth is going on with Newcastle United?

Before I go any further, I want to say Martin Dubravka was absolutely fantastic this evening. If not for him, the game would’ve been over way before the shootout.

In the last two articles I wrote, I received a fair bit of criticism for pointing out what I believe are a couple of objective points. The main points being – over the last five or six games, it has been clear we have no plan B and the 4-3-3 is not working.

Against Blackburn that was as clear as day.

We were absolutely horrendous, no ifs or buts about it – not even blaming the injuries.

The 4-3-3 did NOT work. There was NO formation change and NO plan B.

The substitutions were like-for-like AND predictable (on the 60th minute, Barnes and Almiron on, Isak and Murphy off). Copy and paste, rinse and repeat.

Now, the difference against Blackburn was that that our bench was strong and we fielded a strong team.

We should be beating teams in the bottom half of the championship. No question about it. Credit to Blackburn, in my opinion they were the better team.

Earlier on in the season, we were known for being the team who pressed for 90 minutes, outworked teams, bullied teams and we were dubbed the professionals of ‘the dark arts’.

Looking at our starting line-up last night, I felt confident that we could get the job done. However, that was not the case.

Blackburn outworked us, outplayed us and bullied us. Once again we were unable to hold onto a lead.

For anybody who watched, it was fairly clear to see our midfield was overran and pretty much non-existent. Our ‘game plan’ used very loosely was a poorly executed long ball over the top. I can’t help but ask the question (again) – why did we not try something different?

Even the ‘Anti-Newcastle‘ Danny Murphy expressed his disbelief that nothing was changing. Leading on from that, I sincerely feel sorry for both Tino and Krafth who can’t seem to catch a break.

When looking at where the issue and problems are, I am not one for singling out players, and there was a fair few questionable performances out there, but I am convinced everybody watching knows who falls into this category. If anybody wants a slight hint at my thoughts though, he plays in midfield.

Now I know what people will be thinking – ‘remember how poor we were and where we are now’. And I agree. However, that mindset and mentality has to change. We have to stop comparing ourselves to ‘Bruce-ball’ and look forwards.

Again, I must reiterate that we, until recently, have played the best football we have in a long time and enjoyed the most success in a long time, but we can’t just settle for ‘well it’s better than where we were’. We have to accept we have been shocking over the last five or six games. We have to accept the formation is not working. We also have to accept that Eddie is reluctant to change it.

With all of that being said, we did progress to the next round and I sincerely hope that the result provides a much needed confidence boost for the team. Winning on penalties is always difficult and the ‘luck of the draw’ as the saying goes. But I hope this is the start of a new run for us.

On a couple of more positive notes, it was great to see Elliot Anderson back in the team as well as Willock getting a solid run out.

And the best news is we are now only 90 minutes away from Wembley, that is of course until we draw Man City away!

Onto Wolves we go.

Stats via BBC Sport:

Blackburn 1 Newcastle 1 AET (3-4 on pens)

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Gordon 71

Blackburn:

Szmodics 79

Possession was Blackburn 38% Newcastle 62%

Total shots were Blackburn 16 Newcastle 19

Shots on target were Blackburn 9 Newcastle 8

Corners were Blackburn 2 Newcastle 14

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Attendance: 22,730 (7,200+ Newcastle)

Newcastle team v Bournemouth:

Dubravka, Trippier (Livramento 90), Lascelles, Schar, Burn, Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock (Miley 62 (Anderson 116)), Murphy (Almiron 62), Gordon, Isak (Barnes 62)

Unused subs:

Karius, Ritchie, Krafth, Hall

(Blackburn 1 Newcastle 1 AET (3-4 on pens!) – First thing next morning Newcastle United fan / writer reaction – Read HERE)

(Dubravka saves the day – Blackburn Rovers 1 Newcastle United 1 (NUFC win 4-3 on penalties) – Read HERE)

(Blackburn 1 Newcastle 1 AET (3-4 on pens) – Match ratings and comments on all NUFC players – Read HERE)

Newcastle United confirmed matches to mid-April 2024:

Saturday 2 March 2024 – Newcastle v Wolves (3pm)

Monday 11 March 2024 – Chelsea v Newcastle (8pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 16 March 2024 – Crystal Palace v Newcastle (3pm) ***If Newcastle beat Blackburn, NUFC will be playing in FA Cup sixth round / quarter-finals this weekend instead.

Saturday 30 March 2024 – Newcastle v West Ham (12.30pm) TNT Sports

Tuesday 2 April 2024 – Newcastle v Everton (7.30pm) TNT Sports

Saturday 6 April 2024 – Fulham v Newcastle (3pm)

Saturday 13 April 2024 – Newcastle v Spurs (12.30pm) TNT Sports