1. Alan Pardew is winning back the Toon Army
In recent months, Pardew must have dreaded home games as the pressure on him was incredible. In this game though, even before Newcastle took the lead, there were visibly more fans showing their support to the Magpies boss after two impressive away wins at Tottenham Hotspurs and at Manchester City.
In the East Stand, some fans unfurled a banner reading ‘backpardew.com’ while before kick-off, a lone supporter, dressed as the Grim Reaper, held a placard proclaiming ‘Pardew – Back from the Dead’.
This big home win against Liverpool endeared Pardew even more to the Newcastle fans and he knew it. He even joked after the game that he could freely go in town as the mood would be fantastic. He still needs a couple of good results to get the Toon Army completely behind him but a lot of pressure is off him now.
2. Mario Balotelli needs to mind his primary task in the team
Balotelli’s problem now is not his industry but his efficiency. The Italian forward is constantly criticised for his lack of movement and maybe to compensate for that, he is frequently dropping deep or playing wide to be involved in the build-up. But that is leaving the Reds with no one affecting the opposition defensive line. This was apparent in the 0-0 draw against Hull City and again in this game.
3. Gabriel Obertan’s hamstring injury came at the worst time for him
Obertan’s inconsistent performances have not been helped by the fact that he has never managed to string together enough starts on the spin since joining Newcastle. Remy Cabella’s dip in form had afforded the Frenchman that rare chance as he had started in a couple of recent games, including this one.
The hamstring injury he picked up in this game though disrupted any progress he has been making and could force him to wait for another chance again to reclaim a regular start.
4. Liverpool need to get more from Raheem Sterling to improve their 3-5-2 attacking system
This was the second time this season Rodgers had employed a 3-5-2 formation after he chased the game against West Ham with that approach as well. In this game though, this was only an offensive system because the Reds still defended with a back-four.
The problem with this system though was that Sterling was confined to the right flank when Liverpool attacked, which gave Paul Dummett an easy task in containing the young forward. Sterling was the only midfielder in Liverpool’s side who had enough pace to unsettle Newcastle with his incisive runs in behind.
Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho, the players who were supposed to run in behind Balotelli, lacked the pace to stretch Newcastle’s defence so the Magpies had a comfortable afternoon defending attacks with everything in front of them. If the Reds intend to use this system more efficiently then they need to deploy Sterling in a more central role where he can have a greater influence in the game.
5. Moussa Sissoko is at the heart of Newcastle’s renaissance
Newcastle may have won the game but they had a similar problem to Liverpool in front of goal as they rarely threatened Simon Mignolet. Their three forwards were not very effective and even when Pardew brought on Remy Cabella, Ayoze Perez and Rolando Aarons to fill in those positions, the Magpies did not improve offensively.
The main difference in this game was Sissoko. He played a key role with his industry when Newcastle defended and his powerful runs with the ball relieved Newcastle from mounting pressure on numerous occasions. He had a similar effect at Tottenham when he neutralised the impressive Ryan Mason and Newcastle owe a lot of their recent success to this tireless midfielder.
