Tinkering, rotating or dropping?

Newcastle United needed a complete overhaul during the summer and that is exactly what Rafa Benitez and his team delivered; 45 deals were done, a mixture of buys, sales, loans in and out and contract renewals. There are of course still some familiar faces in the squad (and who would ever have guessed one of those would be Yoan Gouffran!) but what has changed the most is the strength and depth we now have in the first team squad.

Newcastle United have always had a fairly sizable squad but the squad was most definitely split in two; those who are considered for the starting eleven and those that are not. We called the latter group fringe players, dead wood, the unwanted but the difference this season is most of the squad of 25 will be expecting to play a part in this season’s campaign.

Rafa Benitez said he wanted two players in every position due to the intensity of the Championship season. Games come thick and fast, tonight being a perfect example when the magpies travel to London to face QPR, just 3 days after their trip to Derby County. 4 days after the QPR match we play Wolverhampton Wanderers at home and then face them against 3 days later in the League Cup - quite simply, if we are to be successful in the league and the cups we need to rotate, we need players who are good enough to come straight in to the side and help to win a game.

The one league table that Newcastle United have topped consistently over the last decade is the Physio Room website’s own injury table. We are top every single season and we more often than not have a good 10+ players out injured. This season we have Rolando Aarons who started the season fit and Rob Elliot, still recovering from a long term injury - that is it - two players. It is amazing what a bit of competition amongst the ranks does to player’s fitness and allowing them some rest.

I can’t deny though that the squad rotation system makes me feel a little uneasy. I’ve been asking myself why and I can’t really come up with an answer other than it is not something I have experienced as a Newcastle United fan before. Looking at it from a logical point of view then yes, we have loads of games, we need to rest players, it’s just that simple. But I always revert back to the worry that being rotated, or dropped as some may see it, might not sit well with some of the players and that could spell disaster. I look at the likes of Jonjo Shelvey and Aleksandar Mitrovic and wonder if they will be happy not playing some matches or have they bought in to what Rafa is doing?

I think most Newcastle United fans would have a “best 11″ out of the current squad and it would be fair to say that Rafa has not picked many peoples’ best 11′s this season. Every team line-up has raised some eyebrows and if it were Alan Pardew, John Carver or Steve McClaren picking that side there would be hell on. But it is not, it is Rafa Benitez and every single Newcastle fan I know is completely and utterly behind the manager. 100%. Not many clubs can say that.

As a Newcastle United fan I have become accustomed to “big name players” - those players that expect to play week in week out and are worthy of that tag. However, in recent years we have been buying players who have a big price tag but have simply not been good enough. This transfer policy appears to have ended and we are signing players right for the side, they are right for the league and fit in to the manager’s system. So yes, when we sign a player like Daryl Murphy, my initial reaction is to question it, Daryl Murphy, really? But then I have to keep grounding myself and going back to the “in Rafa we trust” line. The bottom line is I do trust him.

The squad seem more together than they ever have done so perhaps I am just over-thinking things. We are winning tough games, we are playing some decent football and the squad is still very, very new. We are still very much a work in progress and I suspect it won’t be until around Christmas that things really will click in to place.

On to QPR. Howay the lads!