Who said anything about a crisis?

I’ll be honest - I thought we were in for a right royal hiding today. I watched Liverpool annihilate Southampton in the cup during the week and when I saw Daniel Sturridge was back from (yet another) injury I had all but given up any hope for Newcastle United this weekend. Sturridge has scored 6 goals in his last 6 games against Newcastle United and I was amazed to not see him starting. A 50% fit Daniel Sturridge would destroy our defence. Liverpool seem to have clicked under Jurgen Klopp; they’re playing some very good football under him but thankfully, for us anyway, they weren’t at the races today.

Now, I don’t want to take anything away from Newcastle United as we put in a cracking shift today. Vurnon Anita in particular impressed me and it was great to see Siem De Jong finally get a start in his preferred “number 10″ role. You could tell he was lacking in match fitness but he played the enganche role well, knitting together the midfield to the attack and was unlucky not to be on the score-sheet on a couple of occasions.

Both Moussa Sissoko and Gini Wijnaldum rediscovered their form too and Newcastle United pretty much dominated the centre of the park for the majority of the game. Even Papiss Demba Cisse showed some heart and desire, chasing down numerous balls all over the pitch. The lads did extremely well today.

The first goal was somewhat fortuitous, the excellent Gini Wijnaldum’s shot taking a huge deflection off the outstretching Martin Skrtel. We capitalised on Liverpool’s constant attack and high pressing towards the end for Gini Wijnaldum to score with a neat chipped finish following a breakaway from Moussa Sissoko. All in all in was a very good performance but the most frustrating thing of all is every single Newcastle fan knows we are capable of this kind of performance, yet we rarely see it.

In defence we looked superb. Chancel Mbemba showing that he really is going to be a great player for Newcastle United. Who he plays alongside is anyone’s guess though. Coloccini had a great game today but I suspect it would have been a different story had he been facing a relatively fit Daniel Sturridge. But I don’t want to be too down on Coloccini; he seems to have been made somewhat of a scapegoat for Newcastle United’s recent form and whilst he is captain (and to be fair his performances have been dire!) he is not solely to blame. Does he deserve to lose the captaincy? No. Does he deserve to keep his place in the starting eleven on recent (excluding today) form? He most certainly does not. But what options do we have? Mike Williamson? No thanks.

Could today’s win it be down to a rather lacklustre Liverpool turning up? Possibly? Could it be down to a change in playing style and personnel? Again, certainly a possibility but I doubt it. It seems Newcastle United can turn on their style and confidence at the flick of a switch but that switch is buried under a whole heap of baggage and is rarely found these days.

We remain in the bottom three but leapfrog Sunderland who were unfortunate not to get something from the Arsenal game but those were a vital 3 points for us today, indeed. Had we not won, we would have been cut slightly adrift, second to bottom, facing a tough trip away to Tottenham Hotspur next weekend. A win gives us a little confidence, a little gee-up, a little hope coming in to a huge January transfer window. Newcastle United’s season will be defined not just on the pitch but how we perform within the forthcoming transfer window.