A deserved late equaliser for Villa

The draw against Aston Villa for Newcastle United felt like a defeat. I was gutted when they equalised and have woken up today with that hangover like feeling of when your club has lost a game of football the day before - it is a feeling I became pretty familiar with last season but it doesn’t get any easier!

We weren’t unlucky though, Aston Villa fully deserved the draw and given our non-existent second half performance, they could even argue that they deserved all 3 points.

In the first half we dominated and played exceptionally well and despite our goal being scored by the Aston Villa defender, we looked good for our lead. The commentators were singing our praises and the game looked like ending in a convincing victory for the magpies.

But then, as is often the case with Newcastle United, we simply failed to turn up for a complete 45 minutes and a bit of football - it is a worrying habit we seem to have.

Newcastle United did have their chances to kill the game; Dwight Gayle hit his shot straight at the keeper in the first half when clean through on goal and Mohammed Diame missed what could be classed as a sitter in the second half.

I don’t want to tear in to individual players though or certainly not without some thought or reason. I do have my own opinions on the team selection but I am also wary that I will just come across as a “moaning, deluded geordie” if I question Rafa’s picks.

That said, I will let you know what I think! After his EFL Cup performances it might be time to give Karl Darlow a shot between the sticks in the league games. It was very interesting to see Jamaal Lascelles gesturing wildly towards the bench when Matz Sels missed yet another cross for the equaliser. The defence clearly do not trust him and that is making defending set-pieces an absolute nightmare, the evidence of which was pretty damning yesterday.

I also think Mo Diame in an attacking midfield role is a non-starter. I want to see Dwight Gayle given some support up front and feel he needs a more attacking partner in either Mitrovic, Perez or Murphy. Diame behind Gayle is just doomed to fail in my opinion. Diame is actually reminding me of Moussa Sissoko a whole lot; which for a Newcastle United fan is a really, really bad thing. He seems a bit lost in the side, when he gets the ball he rarely does anything with it and, in my opinion, he looks very slugglsh, very slow and a bit of a waste of a position. I hope he proves me wrong.

On a positive note, DeAndre Yedlin, despite a shakey start, had a very good game. He provided an excellent attacking outlet on the right hand side and I would really like to see him in the same side as Lazaar on the left hand side of defence. Having two attacking full backs in this league could well give us the edge over a lot of sides as so far, again in my opinion, we have been a little unbalanced with the very defensive (some would say scared of the ball) Paul Dummett on the left and the lively and energetic Vurnon Anita on the right.

Still, looking on the positive side, this is only September and we sit near the top of the league. We have a run of games coming up that could show a glimpse in to how the rest of the season is going to pan out. On Wednesday we face top of the table Norwich City at home which is already turning in to a must win game if we want to keep pace with the leaders. Norwich City were the other side relegated from the Premier League last season and have so far managed to avoid the limelight that Villa and Newcastle have attracted. They have gone about their business quietly and comfortable and without a doubt, this will be Newcastle’s toughest game of the season so far. Following the Norwich match we have Rotherham away and then Brentford at home. I want 9 points from the next 3 games and I don’t think that is me being too unrealistic.