Five options for increasing Newcastle United's attacking threat at West Ham this weekend

Steve Bruce’s side have struggled to conjure up an attacking threat all season – so what can the Magpies manager do to improve things at the London Stadium this weekend?

PLAY DWIGHT GAYLE INSTEAD OF JOELINTON

Joelinton’s £40m price tag makes him the most expensive player in Newcastle’s history, but the start of the Brazilian’s Tyneside career has not gone to plan. His only goal came in the 1-0 win at Tottenham at the end of August, and he never looked like threatening Rui Patricio during Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Wolves.

He is clearly suffering from a lack of service, but while his hold-up play has been reasonably good, he has not been proactive enough when it comes to asking questions of the opposition defence. As a result, it might be time to drop him for a more natural goalscorer.

Andy Carroll would have been an option against his former club had he not suffered a thigh injury last week, but in the Tynesider’s absence, Dwight Gayle is the player pushing to replace Joelinton at West Ham.

The 29-year-old has proved his fitness by appearing off the substitutes’ bench in Newcastle’s last two matches, and while the majority of his goals have been scored at Championship level, he boasts a proven track record in the English game. Unlike Joelinton, he is a penalty-area predator who spends most of his time in the 18-yard box.

PLAY DWIGHT GAYLE ALONGSIDE JOELINTON

Does it have to be Gayle instead of Joelinton? Why can it not be the two alongside each other, or as part of a front three?

Simply swapping one centre-forward for another runs the risk of leaving Newcastle with the same deficiencies that have been apparent in their opening ten games. If the level of service to the frontman does not improve, is there any reason why Gayle would be more effective than Joelinton?

Play the two together, and you are immediately asking different questions of the opposition defence. Gayle has functioned effectively as part of a front pairing in the past, and Joelinton has looked like he would benefit from the presence of someone alongside him, tying up an opposition centre-half and affording him more space.

Bruce started the season playing Joelinton and Miguel Almiron as an orthodox front two, and while that pairing did not really work, Gayle would bring a different skill set to the starting side.

ABANDON THE BACK FIVE AND REVERT TO A FLAT BACK FOUR

In the wake of last month’s capitulation at Leicester’s King Power Stadium, Bruce reverted to the five-man defensive system fielded by Rafael Benitez last season.

In the three games since, Newcastle have conceded just two goals, so in terms of shoring up a previously leaky rearguard, the switch of tactics has been successful. However, it has also made the Magpies even more conservative and defensive than had previously been the case. Solving a problem at one end has exacerbated a different one at the other.

Given the need to create more chances, is it time to abandon the five-man line-up and return to a flat back four? It might leave Newcastle more vulnerable at the back, but it would allow Bruce to field an extra midfielder and potentially make it easier to get more attacking players into the opposition box.

Abandoning the wing-back formation would also allow the Magpies manager to field natural wingers in an advanced position – Christian Atsu and Allan Saint-Maximin perhaps – and could result in more crosses being delivered into the opposition’s 18-yard box.

REPLACE SEAN LONGSTAFF WITH JONJO SHELVEY

With Sean Longstaff facing a three-match suspension in the wake of his dismissal against Wolves, the obvious call would be to restore Isaac Hayden to the starting XI now his own ban is over.

Replacing the elder Longstaff brother with Hayden would effectively be swapping like-for-like, but while such a move would ensure the retention of a decent degree of midfield solidity, it would do nothing to increase Newcastle’s attacking threat.

Might it better to go for the bolder option of selecting Jonjo Shelvey ahead of Hayden? Shelvey’s defensive limitations are well-established, and Bruce clearly has serious reservations about his lack of energy and mobility.

However, when it comes to fashioning a defence-splitting through ball or delivering a pinpoint pass over the top, Shelvey is the most naturally-talented playmaker in the Newcastle squad. Is it time to accept his qualities might outweigh the deficiencies within his game?

PLAY MIGUEL ALMIRON AS A ‘NUMBER TEN’

You can’t get through a discussion of Newcastle’s attacking issues without touching on the thorny issue of Miguel Almiron. Signed for £21m last January, the Paraguayan is still to come up with a goal or an assist in a black-and-white shirt.

Clearly, that is a major issue, and plenty of supporters have concluded that it is time to admit defeat and leave Almiron out of the starting side.

Instead of doing that, another option would be to change the 25-year-old’s position. On Sunday, he played on the right of a front three, and while he made a handful of breaks into the box, he spent a large amount of time tracking backwards to help protect right wing-back DeAndre Yedlin. In fairness to him, his defensive work was good, and helps explain why most of Wolves’ attacking came down the opposite flank.

However, Almiron is not in the starting line-up to defend. Bruce needs him to be hurting the opposition in the final third, so might he find it easier to do that in a free role behind a central striker? If he was played as a ‘number ten’, Almiron could drift to either flank or break beyond Newcastle’s main centre-forward. That might play to his dribbling strengths.