Joelinton, Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle featured against Chelsea but none of them were able to register a shot on target.
A lot has been said about Newcastle’s struggles in the final third, scoring just five goals in the opening nine games. Steve Bruce has three different strikers to choose from, each with different ways of hurting the opposition. As it stands though, they’re doing anything but hurting their opponents.
But is the Toon boss getting the best out of Andy Carroll? The local hero brought the feelgood factor back to St James’ Park, but that will soon wear off if he can’t get the first goal of his second spell with the club.
We all know where Carroll thrives. When crosses come into the box, the big man will fancy his chances in the air against any defender in the Premier League. The big issue seems to be not getting crosses into the box.
Against Manchester United, Matty Longstaff whipped a lovely cross into the mixer that Carroll headed over. But it was a sign of things to come.
At Stamford Bridge though, we failed to give Carroll anything to work with. We’ve got a proper winger in Allan Saint-Maximin, who can go past defenders with ease. But he also needs to add a cross to his game.
Before he was substituted against Chelsea, he got down the right flank and gave himself a great chance to find Carroll. But instead he went past his man again and again.
Carroll is a proper old school centre forward who thrives off crosses into the box. If he’s not getting those crosses, there’s not much point in him being out there. When the opportunity arises, whoever is out wide needs to deliver and give Carroll something to attack.
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