Sitting back is not an option for United

Jan 26 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

There are many ways to try and counter Arsenal but, says Stuart Rayner, Newcastle are sure to attack, attack, attack.

FOR those that make up “the rest”, playing the Premier League’s top four is a matter of stick or twist. But when Kevin Keegan is in charge of a football team there is no question as to what approach they will adopt.

Keegan would not entertain any strategy that does not involve entertainment. It goes against the 56-year-old’s mindset to do anything other than to take on forward-thinking sides at their own game.

Twice already this season Newcastle United have given Arsenal a run for their money by playing it cagey and with a direct style.

Both concepts are anathema to the man back in the Magpies dugout. So the only thing you can guarantee about this afternoon’s FA Cup fourth-round tie is United will not be in awe of their glamorous opponents.

Captain Michael Owen has already been the cause of one tale of Arsenal FA Cup woe. In 2001 his two late goals saw Liverpool turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win in the first Cup final played outside England. Having worked under Keegan during the latter’s time as England manager, the 27-year-old is in no doubt as to what Newcastle’s brief will be at the Emirates Stadium today.

“A lot of people have different theories about how to play against these big teams,” he says. “Some might shut up shop and try and nick one with a set-piece or a counter-attack.

“They are basically saying, ‘Try and break us down for 90 minutes’ but I think the manager is of the view that these top teams have that many top players that if you sit in your own half, at some point, they are going to get a pen or a little ricochet – and that’s if you defend really well.

“Plus, if you look at our squad, we haven’t got players who are suited to anything else but to play football. We have people like Mark Viduka – a big lad but you wouldn’t want to knock long balls onto his head. He is a big strong lad who needs it into feet, Shola Ameobi the same. And I don’t want to be flicking on things at five foot nothing.

“We have got players who can pass the ball so I think we have to get confidence out of those players and start passing the ball again. Under Sam Allardyce we were a little more direct.

“We’ve got to have the confidence for the lads to go out there and believe in themselves to pass the ball and maybe pin them back a little bit.”

Having also played for Liverpool, Keegan has experienced the frustrations of a “lesser” club coming to shut up shop but rarely did he combine it with the feeling of failing to win.

“We are going there to play them,” the two-time European Footballer of the Year warned. “You might think that’s all I ever do. Trust me, if I thought it was right to go there and defend and block everybody behind the ball and try to have a backs-to-the-wall, 90-minute goalless draw, I would do it.

“But during my days at Liverpool, I learnt that if a team gave us 90 minutes to attack them in their half, one of us, with the ability we had, would open them up somewhere and create chances, or it might just be a deflection. We are going to play. That’s what we will do and we will see how it goes.”

Six years on, the 2001 final remains Owen’s career highlight. “Great memories,” he says. “A few players have had two finals named after them so that’s the target now. What a fantastic thing it would be to lift the trophy up here.

“I have been here nearly three years now and still I don’t think I would believe my eyes if it was ever to happen. But we have to be confident it can happen because if you are not confident, then it never will happen. We are at the start of a journey. We have come from a tricky tie against Stoke and had a bit of bad luck drawing Arsenal but nothing is impossible and we are going down there to get the win. We have nothing to lose, no-one expects us to win. We are feeling confident and looking forward to it.

Owen’s £16m arrival prompted mass hysteria on Tyneside but, he admits, nothing compared to the excitement Keegan’s return generated last week.

“No one will forget the day the manager came,” he says. “It was unbelievable, the crowd’s reaction and the players’. No-one thought it was possible but we hadn’t seen Kevin Keegan for quite a while so when it said he had accepted the job, everyone got quite excited.

“I wasn’t surprised because I knew the status of Alan Shearer and Kevin Keegan to the people up here. We all saw the scenes when I signed but in Alan and Kevin’s case, there are deep-rooted feelings in the past that goes along with them. Those two are different from anyone else at St James’s Park, held in such high esteem up here.”