Blogs

Can Newcastle and Sunderland navigate through these tough times?

|
Image for Can Newcastle and Sunderland navigate through these tough times?

Last season Newcastle United finished 5th in the table and Sunderland survived a terrible start to end in a respectable 13th position thanks largely to the appointment of Martin O’Neil. The end of season happiness surrounding Newcastle United would have made the cast of Auf Wiedersehen Pet very happy but so far this season, the regulars on the much loved sitcom would rather watch Geordie Shore than their beloved Toon Army.

At least Sunderland are playing just as badly, but with two points separating the clubs from 14th and 16th respectively, the mid-week games could prove vital in how each teams season progress’s from here.

Today, Sunderland take on QPR who have had a sprinkling of new manager syndrome and this just isn’t some of the basic syndrome you can get from Netto, this is the plush Arry syndrome that you can only buy from a bloke in a flat cap selling goods out the back of his Reliant Robin. On Wednesday, Newcastle face the trip to Stoke City who’ve won 3 of their last 4 at home and have been re-energized by the reborn Charlie Adam. Both games will be tough, but the result could have an everlasting effect on team moral in the build up to a busy winter schedule.

It’s hard to say where things have gone wrong for Newcastle, but Alan Pardew believes that a lack of confidence is playing a strong part of it, as reported on Football.co.uk. With only 6 points from a possible 24 in recent games, injuries to key creative players and a truly dire performance against Southampton recently, Pardew is facing the toughest period in his tenure at St James Park.

Southampton’s Gaston Ramirez tore Newcastle a new one with Lambert, Lallana and Puncheon all joining in. The fact the 2-0 scoreline made Newcastle’s performance look better just goes to show how uselessly they play at the moment. Even with Cabaye, Tiote, Gutierrez, Ba, Taylor, Santon and Cisse in the starting eleven the defence looked lost without their Argentine Bobby Moore and they looked as Blunt as the You’re Beautiful singer without Ben Arfa going forward.

1 win in 8, which was thanks to a fluke goal by Cisse against West Brom, is a statistic that needs to change. Another one that Pardew will hope does change tomorrow night, is that they haven’t won away from home all season.

Something that their rivals Sunderland did last weekend at Fulham and many were suggesting the possibility of it being a ‘turn the corner’ moment. So when West Brom carried on gaining more admirers than Kate Middleton did in a white dress during the summer, it was rumoured that Martin O’Neil offered to resign after the game, or so says the Guardian.

It’s plain to see where it’s all gone wrong for Sunderland and it’s in the part of the field where it matters most. With 9.8 shots per game, 2.7 shots on target per game and only 23% of attacking touches on average per game they have the worst attack in the Premier League. It’s something we all knew but these stats were too good not to use, thanks whoscored.com.

With this in mind Sunderland have scored 5 goals in their last 2 games and play a team that have conceded 6 in two games so new manager or not there will probably be goals in this one.

Many were surprised by Sunderland’s poor start to this season but the warning signs must have been noticed by someone. An over reliance on the below par Stephan Sessegnon has been one downfall and so has a lack of depth to a team that rarely seems to change.

This is when complacency is more widespread than a whores legs, when players know they are playing week in, week out. Their final win of last season came at home to QPR in late March and was followed by a 3-3 draw with champions Manchester City but after that 4 draws and 3 defeats meant that Sunderland’s season ended with a quieter version of this noise, heard by a small child on a hill somewhere who has better things to worry about.

Past results and stats show a bleak picture for Sunderland and Newcastle United but both teams will be wanting to change it mid week. After these fixtures some big clubs with heavy hitters lay waiting on the horizon.

Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:

ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.

Share this article