The inability to perform last season has seen an insanely early start to this. With a desperation which shows how much this club has lost its way, the Intertoto cup has been seen as an emergency back door into more conventional european competition. The only problem is that what in the past has been seen as almost a joke competition which a disproportionately large prize is turning out to be far from easy.
It began easily enough, cruising, barely noticed, past the weak Dubnica. But from the semi-final in its hard going (and the strangeness of the competition is underlined by the fact there are three "finals", each offering the winner a UEFA cup place). Instead of a relatively unknown and fairly obscure midtable european team we face Deportivo La Coruna. To make matters worse, we've so far had to do it whilst barely able to field a team.
Tonight we gained a 2-1 defeat, a sentence which sounds nonsensical but under the circumstances can be seen as a decent result, if not necessarily decent performance. Deportivo have an extra week or two preseason training on us, and it showed. We were down early as Deportivo made all the running and attacked in waves. Babayaro in particular looked slow, though he wasn't aided by relying on the inexperienced N'Zogbia for help. Again and again, before and after that first goal which came from there, Deportivo exploited the left hand side of our defence. Eventually we did manage to just about steady the ship, but even when we could manage to string a few passes together it was never going anywhere, Shearer--not for the first time--being a very lonely figure.
Fielding virtually the only side available (Robbie Elliot the only sub with anything like experience) we were always looking like we were just there to be holding on. It's hard to do that without keeping the ball though, and without having attacking interludes to relieve the pressure (it's probably also worth mentioning that the referee seemed insanely picky, not to mention rather more willing to give free kicks to the home team than the away--Taylor in particular making one fine challenge in the second half which was unjustly penalised). After a first half which had seen us rocked, recover and then not find anything more the start of the second was better. We pressed the ball, something distinctly lacking until then, and tried to lift the tempo beyond the continental comfort level. It brought it's reward, the best spell of pressure resulting in Bowyer striking a fine goal left footed as the ball dropped to him in the area. In fact Bowyer was one of the best players for us on the night, and the question must be raised, what of Lee Bowyer now? The answer I think might be this: Where do you find a better player to sit in the squad as cover and, on occasion, an option. We don't have a big enough squad to cope as it is, so a Bowyer-less one is surely weaker than one in which he plays some part, especially if he turns in half decent performances.
If the second half was initially marked by our improved passing then the goal which sealed Deportivo's win was marked by our lack of pressing. The centre back Jorge Andrade picked up the ball within his own half and strode forward without feeling a Newcastle player near him, let alone a challenge, before producing a finish worthy of a striker. That he was allowed to come so far with nothing but a half hearted wave at the ball is inexcusable no matter how weakened and inexperienced the team. If nothing else then the yellow card resulting from felling him on the edge of the box should have been welcomed. Instead it seemed he threatened to take his ball home and was allowed free roam to shoot.
After that it was never likely we were going to produce anything better than what we had, and only some desperate stuff and the reliable brilliance of Given kept it at that as legs tired. It's difficult to read much from this game. Certainly it's worrying that still, as seems to be the case season on season, the failings of the defence are evident (though some comfort may be taken from the fact that Taylor continues to grow into a very fine defender, Boumsong continues at times not to look as world class as he'd have you believe). The need for an additional striker to aid the aged and worn (but still great) Shearer is sorely evident also. If takeover rumours are true let's hope it's someone with a great desire to invest a lot of money.
What this result has given us is a fighting chance at home in the second leg. The away goal certainly may prove vital (2-1 is better than 1-0). If we can get some of the likes of Jenas and Dyer (or even the new boys Parker and Emre) available we have a fair chance of squeezing through, though with Lazio or Marseille waiting it certainly doesn't get easier for the final. If we are to see Europe proper this season it will certainly be the hard way, but then, this is Newcastle.
(@22:07)
