Sport
Bruce and Newcastle offering little to cheer supporters
Try as he might, Newcastle manager Steve Bruce can’t ignore the evidence; it was right in front of him on Wednesday night. At Elland Road, Newcastle United were taught a harsh lesson. Watching their passive, reactive, hopeful approach over the previous 12 games of the campaign which, admittedly, yielded a greater points total than expected, supporters feared a collision with Marcelo Bielsa’s Duracell-charged side. The result, a 5-2 rout in favour of the hosts, justified the trepidation.
In a couple of ways, it could be argued the scoreline doesn’t tell the full story. Three of Leeds’ goals were scored in the final 12 minutes — Bruce made this point clear to reporters on the post-match Zoom call — and the consequences of post-COVID outbreak fatigue for Newcastle, having not trained for 10 successive days prior to the victory over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, were laid bare. In reality, though, neither point is of much comfort; it is very difficult to make a case for the result being different were every Newcastle player fit.
The club has made it policy not to name anybody struck down by virus and, given their star man Allan Saint-Maximin hasn’t played since defeat to Chelsea a few weeks ago because of a muscle problem, it is hard to know how much of an impact the outbreak had on Bruce’s starting XI. Leeds will point to their own issues, too, but the Magpies are the first club to have been thrust into full blown crisis by this pandemic; the impact is going to be unprecedented.
It felt as though this match spanned eras, attitudes and tactical visions. Bruce’s caution was picked apart by Bielsa’s intensity and high pressure, and the stage for a hefty scoreline was set in motion well before Stuart Dallas scored the crucial third goal which made Leeds’ lead unassailable, after which Ezgjan Alioski and Jack Harrison got in on the action. Bielsa’s team were busy, and while bypassing possession stats and looking to hit on the counter attack was Bruce’s thinking — it worked intermittently, particularly in the build up to Newcastle’s second goal — the number of shots they allowed was a sign they were asking for trouble.
Leeds took aim at Karl Darlow 25 times in the match, and they are far from the only opponents to enjoy such a luxury this season. In the 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur in September, Jose Mourinho’s side had 23 efforts at goal; only Darlow’s heroics and Callum Wilson’s late penalty — the most controversial one of the season, given for handball against Eric Dier — saved them that day.
Neither Newcastle nor Bruce were so fortunate this time; the result, while appearing to flatter Leeds on the surface, was justified. The biggest issue supporters have with his management is, despite claiming he wanted to play a more progressive style of football than his predecessor, Rafael Benitez, Newcastle are no greater threat than they were and have lost the defensive structure he inherited 18 months ago. They have lost 12 of Bruce’s 50 league games in charge by three goals or more, compared to just four in the 50 prior to that.
Regardless of whether Newcastle are winning, losing or drawing, as they did against the ten men of relegation-threatened Fulham on Saturday, they are almost always on the back foot, chasing a game and hanging on. Valid points of criticism from a tired fanbase have been twisted or magnified to unrecognisable and ridiculous levels; they want to compete, not win the Champions League, they want a club that has their best interests at heart and understands them, not complies with their ‘inflated expectations’, and they want a club that tries to entertain them, to win games, to cause problems, not necessarily to recreate to heady days of Kevin Keegan’s Entertainers. Anybody who watches Newcastle closely can see the difference between reality and the myths peddled by sections of the media.
Theories among the fanbase for Bruce’s ability to avoid criticism, other from results often not telling the full story of the performances, centre around his popularity among high profile pundits. Only they will know whether that has a bearing on their opinion of him, but the consistency with which supporters are judged for questioning him suggests it might. Bruce is a friendly, humorous, warm man; he doesn’t deserve the level of personal abuse he receives and it is easy to see why people like him, but that is no reason for Newcastle fans to back a manager. It is a mere bonus that can aid a legacy, as it has done for Keegan, Benitez and Sir Bobby Robson, but only after they demonstrated their ability to progress the team on the pitch.
Bruce has long described Newcastle as a work in progress, but it is not unfair to demand more from him at this stage in his reign. A defensive mindset was perhaps sensible in his early days; Benitez, who would have remained in charge had he been backed more heavily at board level, was slowly evolving the team, but had predominantly played with the handbrake on. Once he left at the height of a political storm, Bruce’s more diplomatic approach to the hierarchy afforded him a better financial picture. He hasn’t had limitless funds, but over the past two summer transfer windows, he has been afforded the opportunity to create a potent attacking line up at Premier League level.
Saint-Maximin and Ryan Fraser have been frustrated by injuries, but Miguel Almiron and Joelinton are capable in wide and withdrawn roles, while most of Newcastle’s direct rivals would take Callum Wilson in a heartbeat. There are the means to create an identity beyond floundering and counter-attacking, but Bruce and his players seem caught in a viscous cycle of winning, surviving, losing, changing and repeating.
There have been many occasions when Bruce survived the revelation of his poor tactical planning at Newcastle but even though Leeds may have appeared as if they were flattered by Wednesday’s result, they were light-years ahead and it showed in the most emphatic way possible.
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