Vurnon Anita Shows Some Dutch Courage

Vurnon Anita has gone from being Newcastle United’s ‘Nowhere-Man’ to a seemingly integral part of Steve McClaren’s midfield set up.

Having struggled to live up to the reputation he gained at Ajax, his fortunes seemed to upsurge in one game – West Ham on the final day of last season. The importance and magnitude of the game could not be over-estimated, and the pressure on the players was enormous.

However, it was the diminutive Dutchman who stepped up to the plate and single-handedly bossed the midfield that day, and much of the praise for winning that game, and ultimately Newcastle staying in the Premier League, was quite rightly given to Anita. It seems to have been the perfect fillip for him, as all through pre-season, and the early games of the new season, he has continued to impress.

Maybe there were some underlying problems behind his failure to shine previously. Maybe he didn’t see eye-to-eye with Alan Pardew, or maybe he just didn’t fit into the system and formation played by the former manager. Of course, we don’t know.

What we do know, however, is that throughout his continual omissions, and bit-part roles, Anita kept his counsel, and acted like the consummate professional. He never once appeared to question the decisions and motives of the manager(s), but merely got his head down and continued to work hard. The fruits of his labour are there for all to see this year, and let’s hope it is a trend that continues.

The fact that there is a larger Dutch contingent at the club now obviously helps. However, as I have said in previous articles, a lot of credit has to go to McClaren and the rest of the coaching staff. They have come in and, as promised, wiped the slate clean from anything that has gone before, and judged each player on his merits.

Anita is currently top of the NUFC squad in Squawka's 'Performace Score'; The 'Performance Score' is a measure of a player’s ability to positively influence a game of football. The more positive influence you have on the ball, the higher your Performance Score. The more negative influence, the lower your performance score.

The Dutchman has produced more interceptions than any other player at NUFC in the Premier League this season (9) and against Manchester United, he won possession 6 times in the defensive third, at least two more than any other player!

With an 84.3% passing accuracy too (successfully completing 86/102 so far this season), a higher percentage than either of the past two seasons, maybe we are starting to see the best of a player that has often promised much, but offered little. Granted, there have only been three games this season, but when you consider that for much of those games, the team have been on the back foot, not to mention playing much of the game at Swansea with ten men, his statistics seem more impressive.

Certainly it seems that McClaren’s belief in Anita, and maybe a little arm around the shoulder to reassure him of his own ability, seems to be working wonders.

If it seems to have performed miracles for Anita, it’s just a shame that it came a bit too late for another Toon enigma – Hatem Ben Arfa. We can only imagine what a little faith, belief and a clean slate could have done for him.

(Statistics courtesy of WhoScored & Squawka)