Newcastle took advantage of mixed-up midfield

So much for a back bone. Just as it looks like we are churning out some sort of consistency at the back, Ledley King pulls up and it's back to the treatment table for the club captain.

I never have much confidence in Sebastien Bassong, I find that he lacks confidence and confuses those around him. He is pacey for a centre-back and can chase back and challenge but his clumsiness is a constant penalty risk.

That said, Bassong came in a did a solid job at St James' on Sunday. Annoyingly, where we lost out against Newcastle was in midfield.

Bale started on the right, Modric was farmed out wide to accommodate Jake Livermore and the result was nobody really knew what they were doing. Too many times the ball went backwards when we could have broken upfield and, whilst it's nice to see us protecting possession, it is our pace going forward that really causes teams problems.

The central pairing of Scott Parker and Modric that had worked so well against Liverpool and Arsenal was missing, and starting Livermore alongside the footballer of the year was a gamble that didn't pay off.

The youngster has slotted into the Europa League side well and is confident and assured with the ball at his feet but what Modric does so well is to take the ball off the anchor midfielder, and drive through the midfield, into the final third. With Parker and Livermore we were static, inviting Newcastle forward to harass for possession.

The proof of the pudding came just after half-time when Livermore failed to follow Demba Ba into the box and the Senegalese gobbled up the gaping space around him to force home Newcastle's equaliser after Van Der Vaart's penalty put us in front before the break.

Having lost control of the midfield and merely treading water, we needed a goal out of nothing, which is the ideal situation for Jermain Defoe. Sides like Newcastle are always going to give him space to shoot and it was in typical fashion that he restored our lead.

It was also in typical fashion that he insisted on shooting down the keeper's neck with minutes remaining, when a square ball to an unmarked Adebayor would have won us the game. Lee Dixon on Match Of The Day claimed that the striker is always going to shoot if he gets a sight of goal, but that's precisely the reason we all get so annoyed with Defoe. He has to start looking up when it matters most as it's the difference between one point and three points.

It's difficult to blame anyone for Newcastle's equaliser, with the power and accuracy that Shola Ameobi lashed the ball past Friedel. By that stage, Newcastle were rampant, they knew wehas lost our shape and the 50,000 Geordies in St James' smelt blood.

I appreciate that we are missing some key midfielders and that Jake Livermore needs to be given his chance, but messing with a tried-and-tested unit is always asking for trouble. When possible, the first names on the team sheet need to be Parker and Modric, next to each other, in centre midfield.