Читать книгу The Mixer: The Story of Premier League Tactics, from Route One to False Nines онлайн

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Newcastle started the season, like Blackburn the previous year, with tactics based around crossing. Left-winger David Ginola was signed from Paris Saint-Germain and bamboozled opposition right-backs with his pace and ambidexterity, able to receive the ball with his back to goal, before spinning either way, cutting inside or going down the touchline. He won Player of the Month immediately. On the opposite flank Keith Gillespie was a typical winger of that period, always reaching the byline. Keegan’s instructions to his wingers were simple: new signing Les Ferdinand was the best target man in the business, and he was to be supplied with constant crosses. ‘The way the side was playing, with Ginola on the left and Gillespie on the right, was ideal for a striker like me,’ Ferdinand recalled. ‘Both David and Keith were raining balls into the penalty area from all over the place.’

Surprisingly for such an aerial threat, Ferdinand was only five foot 11, but was blessed with a prodigious leap. He hit 21 league goals by mid-February, while Keegan encouraged him to develop his game and bring teammates into play, having become frustrated with his predecessor Andy Cole’s single-mindedness. Whereas Blackburn used two target men up front, Keegan played Peter Beardsley in a deep-lying forward role, linking attacks. With Rob Lee bursting forward from central midfield, this was the most complete attacking force the Premier League had witnessed. Newcastle started at an incredible pace, attempting to win matches within the opening half hour, and weren’t involved in a single goalless draw all season. ‘The Entertainers’ tag, however, also underlined Newcastle’s defensive frailties. Keegan had openly preached a ‘you score two, we’ll score three’ philosophy, although the defining game in Newcastle’s season – and the most memorable in the Premier League era – was the defeat at Liverpool in April, which was ‘we’ll score three, you score four’. Many attributed Newcastle’s title failure to their leaky defence, although the truth is more complex.