Newcastle United: 5 Lessons Learned from Heartbreaking Loss at Swansea

It's amazing how quickly 85 minutes of quality football can be eradicated by one silly loss of composure

Newcastle United stuck with inspired Capital One Cup champions Swansea City, and at some points looked the better side, until a Michu shot sent the Magpies' back four will-nilly, leaving an opportunity for Swansea substitute Luke Moore to score his first Premier League goal of the season.

This is a tough result for Newcastle, who looked to deserve a draw and had several opportunities to take more than one point from the match.

Now Alan Pardew must pull together a physically and mentally defeated side and focus on their upcoming trip to Russia for a Europa League encounter with Anzhi Makhachkala, followed by a home encounter with Stoke City three days later.

After such a tough loss, it won't be easy.

Davide Santon Finally Laid an Egg

Davide Santon has been a workhorse this season for Newcastle, playing in more Premier League fixtures than any other player. 

He was bound to have a dud eventually.

Santon was hounded all first half by Pardew for failing to handle the defensive duties that come with being a left back.

After looking as if he had picked up his game at points in the second half, things fell apart in the 85th minute.

A shot by Michu (that was quickly deflected away from the goal) clearly terrified the back four, especially Santon, who looked as if he had seen a ghost. 

He completely froze, and when a cross into the box led to a three way collision between Steven Taylor, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and the ball, Santon was rooted to his spot and unable to even attempt a clearance, even as the ball bounced off him.

Luke Moore was very grateful.

An Italian international and AC Milan target, Santon is an excellent player who has remained dedicated to the club even through this tough season, so the rare performance like this one can be forgiven.

The important word there is, of course, rare.

Corner Kicks Are Now a Serious Problem

Newcastle were threatening in a few different ways against Swansea on Saturday.

Their set pieces, however, couldn't strike fear in a youth league squad.

Yohan Cabaye, a world-class French international who was named captain of the squad in place of the injured Fabricio Coloccini, has shown his skill with some brilliant free kick goals in 2013. 

His corners are another story entirely.

Their only consistency is their inconsistency. Sometimes they're too short. Sometimes they're too long. And sometimes, they aren't even in play.

It may come to a point where opposing clubs start exploiting this weakness, and defenses may willingly force Newcastle into taking more corners just because they are so emphatically unsuccessful.

Ryan Taylor, Newcastle's previous corner specialist, has been out since August 30.

By now, the Magpies should have a replacement.

As captain (albeit an interim one), Cabaye needs to take it upon himself to either recognize this deficiency and make a change or put in some serious training hours to rectify the situation.

Otherwise, a few more clean sheets for opposing keepers may be on the horizon.

Reactionary Substitutes Are Not Helpful

After Swansea's goal, Alan Pardew decided it was time to bring on fresh attacking faces.

With only stoppage time left, there wasn't much Shola Ameobi and Sylvain Marveaux could do. 

Ameobi has recently complained about the short amount of time he has been given in many matches to have an impact on the game.

He wasn't happy with only getting 10 minutes of time in several Premier League matches. That seems like an eternity compared to the time he spent on the pitch today.

Though Ameobi should of course have little say as to who should be substituted when, it should be noted that he is very right about one thing. He hasn't been able to perform when given a short amount of time to play.

So why does Pardew keep subbing him in?

Whether he decides to give Ameobi a start, put him on for the second half or leave him on the bench, any of those options would be a more effective use of his striker.

Waiting until something bad happens and then making changes is not an adequate management tactic.

Lack of Finishing Prowess Now Stands out

No striker will perfectly execute every chance given to him. Some days, they won't finish any of their chances. It isn't disastrous. It's part of football.

But in a match as close as this one, those almost-goals are looked upon with much more scrutiny.

Over the course two different two-minute spans, Newcastle could have put the game away entirely.

In the 55th minute, Papiss Cisse squandered a beautiful Yohan Cabaye pass deep in the box by powering a shot over the post.

Yoan Gouffran then responded in the 57th minute by also blowing the ball over the goal, spoiling an excellent run by Moussa Sissoko.

In the 75th and 77th minutes respectively, Sissoko and Mathieu Debuchy both hit clean, quality shots from distance that went just wide of goal.

While none of these misses were match-killing, if any one of the four players had properly executed, the bitter disappointment of a last-minute defeat could have been avoided.

Jonas Gutierrez Should Be the Odd Man out Against Stoke

Hatem Ben Arfa is a player whose creativity in the final third of the pitch has been sorely missed. 

His are shoes Jonas Gutierrez was not meant to fill.

Gutierrez is a winger who has lost a step or two this season, and his struggle to maintain possession and have a positive effect on the attack have hampered the squad for most of the campaign.

Although Jonas is currently vice-captain, Yohan Cabaye has clearly taken over this role as Alan Pardew granted him the armband in Fabricio Coloccini's absence rather than Gutierrez.

Gutierrez fans can point to his high work rate and his covering of the offensive-minded left-back Davide Santon as signs of his importance to Newcastle's first team.

Evidence supporting this claim is the lackluster defensive effort of Santon against Swansea on a day where Gutierrez spent the majority of his time on the right side of the pitch.

However, Ben Arfa's offensive support outweighs Gutierrez's defensive strength, and with Yoan Gouffran's excellent start to his Newcastle career, Jonas must be the man to take a seat when Ben Arfa returns from injury against Stoke City.