Newcastle Needs to Work on Their Defence to Be a Success

It's fair to say Newcastle United have had a mixed start to their Premier League season. After the disastrous 2012/13 season, the Magpies have began their latest campaign with three losses, two wins and one draw from their opening six games.

In those three defeats—to Manchester City, Hull City and Everton—Newcastle have conceded 10 goals, which is something that is certainly cause for concern amongst both fans and coaches.

On September 29, Newcastle found themselves 3-0 down against Everton at half-time, having turned in their worst performance of the season so far. The defending was woeful, as Romelu Lukaku bullied Fabricio Coloccini and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa into submission and helped himself to two goals.

A player of Lukaku's quality is more than capable of pulling defences apart single-handedly, that's for sure, but when he is helped by a defensive performance that would make even the worst amateur team cringe, it's embarrassing for all involved at Newcastle United.

The problem is caused by the central defensive partnership between Yanga-Mbiwa and Coloccini. The France international has yet to fully acclimatise to the pace of the Premier League and can often be found wanting.

Despite having the physical capabilities needed to be a top defender, Yanga-Mbiwa has key weaknesses that were exploited against Everton before he was hooked off at half-time.

The former Montpellier centre-back is timid when it comes to aerial duels and rarely competes for headers. This was clear in Everton's third goal against Newcastle, when Tim Howard kicked the ball almost 80 yards and Yanga-Mbiwa and Coloccini both left it, allowing Lukaku to score.

It could be argued that this was jointly Coloccini's fault, but the Argentine usually has a partner who heads everything at the first opportunity, like Steven Taylor or Mike Williamson. Both Taylor and Williamson love heading the ball and usually attack anything that is launched from distance, while Coloccini marks the spare striker.

Alan Pardew managed to find a solution when he replaced Yanga-Mbiwa with Williamson at half-time in the Everton game and must have been happy when he saw Williamson head everything away for the next 45 minutes.

With Taylor injured for the near future, Williamson will be hoping to gain a starting place alongside Coloccini for next week's trip to Cardiff City. Fans of Newcastle will be expecting a much improved performance when they make the journey to Wales; they are certainly owed one after the first half against Everton.