Toon’s tactical demise: Pardew should have paid Sunderland more respect

It was the day many Newcastle United fans expected their side to rub salt in the wounds of their arch-rivals, condemning them to an eighth defeat out of nine by beating them in their own backyard. Unfortunately, the Toon Army suffered another setback in their attempt to establish themselves as a European contender in the Premier League, with most fans blaming Alan Pardew for the side’s disappointing performance.

The Newcastle manager has come under pressure in recent months due to his transfer failings and then the unconvincing interviews he has given regarding the executive positions at the club. This time though, he’s under the microscope for his poor tactical decisions in what is considered their biggest match of the season in the north east, regardless of the surrounding circumstances.

The former West Ham, Southampton and Charlton boss continued with the same front three that started in the draw against Liverpool last week, and rightly so. Papiss Cisse is still going through his rough patch that is, despite his denial, looking more and more like his usual form than that we all saw during the early days of his stay on Tyneside. It saw him start on the bench for the second game running, but strangely Pardew asked his attackers to get the crosses into the box despite the side lacking an out and out striker.

The decision to get the ball into the box from the wings seemed odd considering Cisse was missing from the starting line-up and despite Sunderland sitting back after opening the scoring early on, Pardew should have allowed the game to come to them instead of trying to force the ball into the box against Newcastle’s strengths.

Sitting deep and letting Newcastle come at them saw the home side reveal two of their opponents weaknesses: lacking creativity and slow central defenders. Lacking in creativity saw them force the ball out wide and put the ball in the box, with no recognised frontman to get on the end of the 10 crosses they put in during the first half and only 1 successfully reaching a team-mate.

The second half came and on came Cisse. However, instead of looking to continue their method of putting crosses in the box, Pardew switched things up resulting in just 3 crosses being made in the second half. It’s hard to see what he was trying to do, but most would believe that with Cisse on the pitch they would concentrate on putting more balls into the box, not the other way around.

The away side continued to control the play, but a shocking 73% pass completion rate meant they struggled to break down a solid Sunderland team. Gus Poyet tactically outwitted his opposite number, allowing a sloppy Newcastle side to press up the pitch, creating gaps in their own formation. With Davide Santon andMathieu Debuchy getting high up the pitch it left the inexperienced Paul Dummett and Mike Williamsonisolated in defence and vulnerable on the break. The high line saw them have plenty of shots at goal, but other than Debuchy’s goal, they only had one from inside the area.

Yohan Cabaye is often lauded as Newcastle’s star player, but registered only 2 assists last season and is yet to open his account so far this campaign. His final ball is poor for a playmaker, and although it could partially be blamed on the attackers’ movement, Cabaye rarely makes a killer pass from the edge of the box that can split the opposition defence.

Being so poor on the ball when given time to pick a pass suggests Pardew should revert to a counter attacking system where Newcastle soak up pressure before unleashing Loic Remy and Hatem Ben Arfa’s pace on the opposition defence. Instead of Williamson and co. being isolated, Newcastle should try to turn the system on its head and play to Remy and Ben Arfa’s strength, which is clearly hitting the team on the counter attack. It would also benefit Moussa Sissoko‘s style of play, the France international loves to carry the ball and is reminiscent of the box-to-box midfielder of yesteryear, successfully completing 19 take-ons this season.

After last week’s impressive performance against Liverpool you would be forgiven if you believed that Pardew knew what he was doing in the dugout. This game shows just how far he has to go if he is to make himself a legend at the club and looks to be leading a charmed life at the club, even with a close relationship with Mike Ashley. If he is to win over the fans rather than just play puppet to the Ashley regime, he must adapt his tactics to suit the opposition rather than trying to control the play with barren midfielders and play a high line with a sluggish defence.