Where Does Pardo Play?

The most exciting signing of the window for most fans was Fernandez-Pardo who came with a reputation as one of Europe's most talented youngsters and who also attracted interest from Arsenal and Liverpool.

At £51M his fee was almost modest compared to some of the ridiculous fees paid by the Big 6 but for Newcastle, along with Nico Gonzalez, Pardo was our joint top fee paid.

Bought As A Winger? Unlikely.

The 21-year-old is capable of playing across the front line, and while he is often described as a winger, looking at how he played for Lille shows there is much more to his game.

At Lille, he regularly drifted inside from the left and looked to attack the space between the opposition full-back and centre-back. He also started as a ST and 10.

His heat maps show plenty of involvement in the left half-space and central areas around the penalty box. In his 30 minutes against Bournemouth that left area was where he spent most of his time and possession.

However, with Gordon leaving , Harvey Barnes can now play in his favoured LW position and we also have £43M Toure itching to show he can be a real challenge to Barnes.

So, it seems highly unlikely that Pardo was bought as LW or even as a RW.

ST or 10?

This where it gets interesting to second guess Jaissle's plans going forward.

4231 is Jezza's favoured system and even though we are undefeated and on five points from three games the system and the players in it are still a work in progress.

Conceding too much space in midfield, facing too many shots, and creating too few chances have been evident in all three games.

Pardo at 10?

He can certainly play there but as football is all about opinions here is mine...

Wissa for me is our best 10, or to put it another way, his best position to maximise his ability and what he can offer the team.

For a guy just turned 30 his pace, energy and ball carrying ability in the 10 role, as witnessed in his MOTM display against Liverpool and the last 30 minutes on Saturday, exceeds what Willock has shown - albeit that Willock has done well.

Wissa wasn't an out and out lone ST at Brentford and still scored 19 goals in his final season there so, for me, he not Pardo would be my choice in the 10 role.

Pardo as a ST?

It's a YES from me.

His blistering pace, trickery and eye for goal are bang on suited IMO to the lone ST role because he has the ability to threaten teams in behind and the physical ability to compete with defenders.

Jaissle has specifically mentioned Pardo's speed, explosiveness, technical ability and capacity to score and create goals.

Similar to Isak, Pardo is capable of pulling a goal out of nothing and once defenders become aware of that ability, and his pace, he will pose tactical and positional problems aplenty for the oppo.

Playing as the lone ST in a 4231 also means Jaissle has two players for all forward position; Wissa and Willock at 10, Barnes and Toure LW, Pardo and Osula ST, and Elanga and Murphy LW - with the flexibility that Pardo can play in all four positions.

Could We Be The New Forest?

In Forest's best season two years ago, when they only dropped out of the top 4/5 in the last few games, they had an odd stat - the least possession of all teams in the PL.

Their tactic was to concede possession until the final third when they would get the ball back and then give it to Elanga and Huson-Odoi whose pace would be devastating on the break against a high line. And it worked.

Pace is the one thing that can wreak havoc among the best defenders and blow holes galore in the best of game plans. And we now have pace in abundance in the squad.

What we currently lack is the physical presence in midfield to win the battles that our former three of Tonali, Bruno and Jo were capable of doing in their pomp.

So, if you can't beat them on their battlefield... don't try to out battle them.

Beat them with your own battle plan that plays to your strengths not theirs.

Square Pegs in Square Holes Is The Way Forward

Whilst Jaissle might be flexible at times, especially in-game, his favoured 4231 in all likelihood will almost certainly be the formation he uses most often.

The key to making it effective will be finding which players best suit each position and none more so than the 2, 3 and 1.

My view is that the starting 11 after another 6-8 games may be different to the one that started against both Spurs and Bouremouth.

Getting the right square pegs in the right square holes is Jaissle's task going forward.

Get that right and I can see us maintaining our good start, getting even better, and having a real go in what will be a big battle for the places behind Arsenal, City and probably Chelsea.

4th to 7th is a mini league...

And we can be in the batlle.

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