Familiar failings for Newcastle United as Magpies held by bottom club Wolves
Eddie Howe’s side struggled to break down Wolves, who sat deep for much of the encounter, and ultimately secured a point.
On ‘Super Sunday’ as it is called, Wolves against Newcastle United was not super. Not even close to super. A million miles away from super. The 90 minutes on show at Molineux was 90 minutes you will never get back.
Perhaps most frustratingly, the paragraph above features no hyperbole. It simply was a dreadfully dismal game of football, and from Newcastle’s perspective, something of a disaster when the opposition are taken into account.
Prior to kick off, Wolves had seven points. Seven. Talk of a recent resurgence from Rob Edwards’ side is very premature. A win against West Ham, alongside progression in the FA Cup against League Two Shrewsbury Town isn’t much of a corner turned. Their draws against Everton and Manchester United in this period are if anything, more impressive.
When that is considered, alongside the fact that Newcastle had won their last three in the top flight, the result really should have been a formality. The goalless draw that followed therefore does nothing to ease concerns surrounding Newcastle’s ability win games away from home when the onus is on them to attack.
José Sá in the Wolves goal had a relatively untroubled afternoon as a result of Newcastle’s lack of potency in attack. Eddie Howe looked a frustrated man towards the end of proceedings, and rightly so, but what should be realised is that this was not an isolated performance. Newcastle are too often flummoxed by sides who simply defend deep.
To break sides like this down the least that is needed is intensity, and quick passing and movement. These were rarely seen during this match. On top of that, Newcastle are, to put it brutally, not creative or effective enough on the ball, and do not have the personnel with such ability in possession.
The money spent on players who are clearly good athletes does not see a return on the pitch in a scenario where space is limited. However, despite all of that, Newcastle should still have had enough to defeat Wolves, and they did not.
Admittedly, there were some moments that Eddie Howe’s side should have done better with. Good deliveries into the box gave opportunities to Nick Woltemade in the first half, and Joelinton in the second. The former did not get enough purchase on his header to direct it goalwards, and the latter got no purchase on his attempt at a headed effort at all.
Goals do change games, and of course, if either of those had nestled in the net then this report would likely have a different tone. Alas, they did not, and Newcastle did not really offer much more than that.
Wolves also had the occasional flurry forwards, but they were quickly sniffed out by Newcastle’s defence. The final whistle eventually put an end to the misery on a wet afternoon in Wolverhampton. The weather really was symptomatic of the match itself.
Where do Newcastle go from here? The immediate future sees them return to action in the Champions League against PSV Eindhoven. A positive result for the Magpies will almost certainly see them progress to the play-off stage of the competition.
That is all well and good, but in a Premier League that this season is so tightly contested in terms of European qualification, Newcastle will need to do better to keep momentum going for longer. Their winning run came to an end on this occasion, which if it had not, would’ve seen the Magpies move to within a point of fourth place.