Vertical Football, the word relaying the mouth of the Tyne since Newcastle United exemplified a hope crumbling tactical breakdown against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Matthias Jaissle, the forefront of question as to how he will turn this around.
His fate seemingly written off by some of the fanbase but after only three defeats are we able to decide if he is the man for the job?
“Intense football. Vertical, front-foot approach. I want to go as quickly as possible towards the opponent’s goal.”
Some of the gaffer’s pledges when he arrived to conquer the blaze that burnt the squad’s bridges over summer. But is there any hope for Jaissle to turn naïve, long balls into high energy line breakers?
If we look at Saturday, there is a multitude of mistakes that employ a ripple effect straight down our lines. The isolated shape across midfield is an effort to pin opponents back, but leaves a central gap; totally exposing Gonzalez to bypass.
When these long balls are pumped in, our out wide players are inextensible to winning this second ball.
The solution?
A fluid 4-2-3-1 notion is required to weave our lines into action and knit the Newcastle United midfield closer together.
Enter Sean Steur, illustrating a double pivot with Gonzalez denies an easy route for opposition, his ambidextrous execution delivering a seamless line breaking pass; eradicating the need for aimless Hollywood balls or screaming for Willock to stop walkabouts. Similarly, Aladji Bamba remains unused, and with Palace looming, this may be the physical bite that Newcastle United need to disrupt Whartons transitions.
Let’s address the key to high press football, goal scoring forwards.
Our £51 million summer star Matias Fernandez-Pardo is yet to score and frankly I find myself with sympathy for him. Posed as a lone central striker, Fernandez-Pardo lacks the strength to hold up long balls and with Wissa victim to chasing the flat midfield, it frames him as totally lost.
With Will Osula edging back to full fitness, we can free these naturally wider players to triangulate our focal point in the blueprint. But is Osula your answer? The 35-minute runout against Villa was nothing short of lacklustre, unsettling fans to the wider philosophy of whether the Danish hurricane is enough to structure the herding cats of midfield.
Ultimately, it broadens Newcastle United fans to the harsh reality that we simply don’t have a choice now. Earlier this week the senior players were reportedly consulted and came to unite in Jaissle’s tactical choices, meaning we aren’t in a position to hit the panic button.
All eyes lie on Selhurst Park this Sunday but with minimal changes vertical football has the potential to shatter a glass ceiling.
Abandoning the man with the plan won’t magically bring new players, and although we know the Premier League doesn’t allow growing pains amongst Ross Wilson’s sought out talent, these elite prospects may be the spark to the flame of Newcastle 2.0.