Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal - The 'Index 6'

Steve McClaren said midweek that he wanted to build a 'team of heroes' and the Magpies certainly showed they are on the the right track, despite going down 0-1 at St James' Park with 10 men against Arsenal yesterday.

It was always going to be a difficult day, as it so often has been against the Gunners in recent years, but to lose a player just 16 minutes into the game really did make it a near-impossible mountain to climb! Another encouraging defensive display, but unfotunately another game without any points that could see us sitting on the bottom of the table before our next Premier League game away to West Ham.

Here's the 'Index 6'...

1) Aleksandar Mitrovic

Whether you agree with the red card or not, something tells me that this guy is going to be a nightmare for us this season! It doesn't make me like the guy any less of course - there's something very endearing about his atttiude and the way he speaks of his passion for the game and for our club and you can see in his aggression when he plays, how competitive he is and how much he wants to win. But, I worry that we might never really see the true potential of this lad. He's featured in every game this season so far and I still don't feel like I've seen really play! I don't believe there was any malice at all in his challenge and I think the red card was incredibly harsh, but no one that supports NUFC can say they didn't see this coming!

I prey that the guy cools down a little and we get the opportunity to see him really play, in a game where we have a little more possession and look like we could be the dominant force, but the early signs are concerning.

Also, I think the absence of Mitro highlighted the need for the club to bring in another forward - Papiss Cisse was not the player anybody wanted brought on which speaks volumes of his time left on Tyneside, I feel. Could Mitro's probable suspension be the key thst unlocks the Charlie Austin box, finally?!

2) Discipline

Newcastle now have more red cards since the start of this season, last season, the season before that and the season before that, than and any other Premier League team. 2 in 4 so far this season and 6 in our last 14. What is going on?!

After Mitro's red card, it seemed that every Newcastle player wanted to get themselves a booking! Okay, the performance of the referee definitely did not help; it isn't the first and it certainly won't be the last time that Mr Marriner has a bad day at the office and Arsenal are, without doubt, one of the 'softest' teams in the league, going down at EVERY opportunity. Mr McClaren has got to ask questions of the Newcastle players and find out why and where it is going wrong before it starts to cost us even more points and affect more performances and possibly morale.

3) Ball retention

Being down to 10 men is never easy, we all know that. The pitch gets bigger, this space for the opposition gets bigger, and the opportunity to retain possession obviously gets more difficult. Having said all that, Newcastle did themselves no favours against Arsenal. Their passing success in the league so far has been poor - they currently have a pass success rate of 77.9%, the fifth worst in the Premier League and against Arsenal it was slightly below that at 76.9. NUFC also have had less possession than any other side in top flight so far this season; just 39.9% on average compared to Arsenal's (top) 61.7%.

While better players like Wijnaldum and Thauvin had fairly good passing rates against Arsenal, key players like Haidara (62.9% success) and Janmaat (71.4%) really didn't do themselves justice. It is increasingly difficult to keep the ball when down to 10 men but it's not impossible. In actual fact, it is imperative; it's give the team time to 'take a breather', it lifts the crowd, it obviously builds up towards the opportunity of an attack and of course, it stops the opposition's continuous onaslaught! We have got to improve this side of our game and ensure that counter attacking is not our only 'arsenal'.

4) Tim Krul

I have been one of his biggest critics over the last season or two, but Tim Krul is showing why he is such an important asset to Newcastle United football club. He made some fantastic saves last week against Manchester United and that form was replicated again yesterday. Many a time when Arsenal broke our defensive lines, the Dutchman came to our saviour & kept Newcastle in the game.

I think it is worth mentioning also, that Krul has been very important for the other Dutch players behind the scenes this season, and the interview pre-game on BT sports with Wijnaldum give further insight into that. Many have questioned our No.1's desire to be at Newcastle United and I think the big Dutchman is making a statement of intent with some exceptional displays. Long may it continue!

5) Shots

We always knew how tough the opening four games were going to be, but I do worry about the amount of chances being carved out by Newcastle and the very poor shots per game statistics we currently behold. We have produed just 5.3 shots per game so far this season, the fewest in the Premier League and just 1.5 per game on target - again, the fewest.

Although we were only playing with 10 men, how big of an excuse can it be for having just one shot at goal during the whole 90 minutes yesterday? Again, we expected the first four games would be troublesome but with the attacking threat we now can offer with our new signings, we should be testing goalkeepers a lot more. Hopefully this statistic will improve as the games get less difficult and our offensive players become more confident and suited to the league. Keeping 11 players on the field will definitely help!

6) Attitude

It does seem a strange thing to say without a win under our belt in the league and having only scored two goals so far, but there is a real sense of optimism around Newcastle United and I believe the biggest reason for this is attitude.

To concede just one goal having played away to Manchester United and home to Arsenal is nothing short of fantastic for our club at the moment and had those games taken place together this time last year, I'm certain the outcomes would have been a lot different!

Too often we saw our side drop their heads after conceding a goal and teams would often go ahead and knock two, three, four goals past us. Things are different now. There is a sense of belief in the team, an 'I will to do whatever I can to stop the ball going in our net' kind of attitude that has been lacking for so much of prior campagins.

It is this attitude that, if it is sustained, we should expect to see ourselves finishing in a lot more positive of a league position than we did last season. Yes, there is still a long way to go and we do need to start picking up points and scoring goals soon, but I'm sure you'll agree, the early signs are very encouraging, especially defensively!