I have to laugh at what all these football 'experts' are now saying ...

It is great to get this brilliant insight from the ‘experts’ after every match, you know, the Newcastle United fans who tell Eddie Howe and the rest of us all the ‘obvious’ massive blunders he is making.

Watching on as United lost against Arsenal, I knew exactly what the reaction would be.

Especially when it comes to those Newcastle United fans who are so desperate for attention, certain characters on YouTube / social media springing particularly to mind.

We are told that the 4-1 defeat and performance to Arsenal was ‘a disgrace’, that it was ‘unacceptable’, that this was simply further proof supposedly of how badly Eddie Howe is getting it so wrong on an ongoing basis and SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE!

When it gets to what has to change, this is where it all falls down a ‘little’ bit with these Newcastle United fans / experts, who once managed to Newcastle United to win the quadruple on Football Manager or whatever.

I could have sworn that these very same characters were screaming at Eddie Howe, telling him how appalling it was that he was so stupid to keep on playing Dan Burn, that if only he would play Tino Livramento then we’d win every match, it was so obvious.

The thing is though, these exact same Newcastle United fans / characters were screaming the same thing at Eddie Howe only weeks earlier, except back then it was Eddie Howe and Kieran Trippier that were in their sights. That if only Tino played on the right instead of the Captain, then everything would be absolutely fine. All we needed was Eddie Howe to bend to the expert knowledge of these bedroom / sofa / pub management experts.

It isn’t that I think ALL is right with NUFC currently but I do find it embarrassing the way so many Newcastle United fans are going on.

Bottom line is that Newcastle United these last 50 days have played eight matches, winning four, drawing two and losing two. The two defeats having been last night away at title chasing Arsenal and up against best team in the world Man City, who NUFC led against until 16 minutes to go and were undone by two moments of world class magic from off the Man City bench against a Newcastle side who had no realistic options off the bench.

Yes Newcastle United HAVE been conceding a canny few goals BUT they HAVE been scoring even more. With 19 scored in these last eight games and 13 conceded.

Eddie Howe going into the Arsenal match had a team that were five matches unbeaten and who had won their last four away matches.

I find the attention seeking hysteria from certain Newcastle United, beyond embarrassing.

We are all gutted and frustrated when we see our team so second best as was the case last night BUT then doesn’t have to equal chucking all the toys out of your pram.

When it comes to the ‘obvious’ things / changes that Eddie Howe should surely have done this time, they are a bit thin on the ground now that the genius all problem solving ‘obvious’ solution of playing 21 year old Tino Livramento out of position on the left and dropping Dan Burn didn’t work.

Now I am seeing some of these very same Newcastle United fans saying that actually what Eddie Howe should surely have done is play Tino Livramento AND Dan Burn. Apparently playing three / five at the back with Tino and Trippier overlapping would have made us for sure much better in defence and attack. Hmmm, if Eddie Howe had done that, my guess is it would simply would have led to NUFC having five defenders so deep and Arsenal encouraged even more to attack and for sure, in my opinion, create far more opportunities in open play AND have far more set-pieces, more goals conceded for sure in my eyes.

One thing these Newcastle United fans love is formations, how if only you use the correct one then that will crack it. Apparently if instead of 4-3-3 Eddie Howe had used any of the following, it would have left Mikel Arteta beaten and tactically outdone on the sidelines, if only Newcastle United had played in a 5-3-2, or maybe a 3-4-1-2, how about a 3-5-2, or a 3-4-2-1, or a…

Honestly, it is painful.

Yes, sometimes playing a certain formation can make a difference, but I would suggest in the vast majority of cases such as last night’s, then it is irrelevant.

Against Arsenal, basically all the Newcastle United players, even Alexander Isak, were just constantly defending in the first 35-40 minutes when the damage was done and the game lost. They had no choice and that would have been the case whatever formation Eddie Howe had used. Arsenal were playing so well and pressing so high, the home side basically had the ball pretty much all the time and when Newcastle did have it, they found it impossible to keep it. Losing possession when trying to retain the ball or losing possession when trying to pick out our lone striker with Isak up against three or more defenders.

Whenever I have played football, at an admittedly ‘slightly’ lower level, I can give you the exact number of times I and my teammates have declared, ‘Look at that formation they are using, we stand nee chance!!!’

Instead, it would be all about how good, or not, the opposition players were.

Last night, all the Arsenal players were better than their Newcastle United counterparts. That essentially, is why Newcastle lost, it wasn’t because of the wrong formation, nor of course, the wrong team selection.

I’m not saying in every case all these 11 Arsenal players have more ability than those Newcastle ones in the same positions. Bruno is in the same ball park as the Arsenal midfielders in terms of ability, Gordon is rapidly improving and likewise this season could be put up there with Martinelli and Saka for what he has produced, whilst obviously Isak is a much better player / striker than Havertz but was clearly not 100 per cent last night after his latest injury absence and as a striker you do need to get the ball more than two or three times in a match usually to make an impact. Trippier also, is at least as good a player as Ben White.

However, you often are only as good as your weakest link and unfortunately that was very clearly the case against Arsenal, whether you are talking about the form last night of certain players and/or how exactly high their level of ability is.

In midfield you had Bruno desperately trying not to get that10th yellow card and ban and defending isn’t his strongest asset, alongside Sean Longstaff and a 17 year old who has responded in an unbelievable way but this has just become, as The Specials told us, too much too young.

They were up against probably the best midfielder in the Premier League in Odegaard, multi trophy winning (Including Champions League and European Championships) Jorginho, then the player who many regard as England’s best and one of the best in the world, Declan Rice.

If you can’t control the midfield then you can’t control the game and if you have an Arsenal midfield playing so well and keeping the ball as they were last night, you are in big trouble.

I would say that these Newcastle United options for midfield and attack are clearly our strongest – Isak, Joelinton, Willock, Barnes, Gordon, Wilson, Tonali and Bruno.

Three of them were unavailable, three of them clearly not 100 per cent as coming back from injury absences, only Gordon and Bruno of the eight could in any way be seen as potentially able to be at their best last night. Though both of them massively reliant on having the right teammates around them to allow them to perform at their highest levels.

Newcastle’s missing players aren’t an excuse, they are a reality.

If a fully fit and available Joelinton, Tonali, Bruno, Gordon, Willock, Isak had been the most forward six last night, it would have been a very different contest.

Arsenal might still have won but it would have been a far different tougher match for the home side and the drop in levels from some of our very best players to their replacements is just too much most of the time, when you play high class opposition in these kind of circumstances.

When you add a third choice keeper playing instead of one of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers, a young inexperienced defender playing out of position at left-back and a central defensive pairing who for whatever reason(s) are not gelling like they did to such brilliant effect last season and earlier in this one (pre-Botman injury), then you are up against it.

The way some Newcastle United fans are going on, you would think that Eddie Howe last night had available a totally fully fit squad and that it was say Championship Blackburn who had just done that to NUFC. As opposed to one of the best teams in the country / Europe who have the best home record in the Premier League, apart from top of the table Liverpool.

Be frustrated, be gutted, even be angry, however, Newcastle United fans need to keep things in perspective.

Stats via BBC Sport:

Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1 – Saturday 24 February 2024 8pm:

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Willock 84

Arsenal:

Botman OG 18, Havertz 24, Saka 65, Kiwior 69

Possession was Arsenal 55% Newcastle 45%

Total shots were Arsenal 18 Newcastle 3

Shots on target were Arsenal 8 Newcastle 2

Corners were Arsenal 9 Newcastle 0

Referee: Paul Tierney

Attendance: 60,298 (3,000 Newcastle)

Newcastle team v Bournemouth:

Karius, Trippier, Schar, Botman (Lascelles 73), Livramento (Burn 73), Longstaff, Guimaraes (Willock 73), Miley, Almiron (Murphy 64), Gordon, Isak (Barnes 64)

Unused subs:

Gillespie, Ritchie, Krafth, Hall

(Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1 – Match ratings and comments on all Newcastle United players – Read HERE)

(Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1 – Instant Newcastle United fan / writer reaction – Read HERE)

(Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1 – A bad night at the office must be followed by a better one in Blackburn – Read HERE)

Newcastle United confirmed matches to end of March 2024:

Tuesday 27 February 2024 – Blackburn v Newcastle (7.45pm) BBC1

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 this weekend instead.

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