There are no two ways about it; Newcastle United have one of the most potent strike forces they have had in a long time. The firepower that Ba, Cisse and Ben Arfa possess has torn through teams recently; none more so than Liverpool at the weekend, and what better time to hit form than the final quarter or so of the season.
Demba Ba has been a sensation for Newcastle United, signing for nothing (fee wise) in the summer from West Ham and bagging himself 16 Premier League goals in 29 appearances. In Hatem Ben Arfa, Newcastle have one of France’s top talents who finally looks to be reaching the heights we all hoped he would and Papiss Cisse, with 7 goals in 7 top flight games, has been nothing short of brilliant.
It is however, the aforementioned Demba Ba that worries us a little. Since the arrival of his Senegalese colleague to Newcastle United in January, Ba has managed just 1 Premier League goal in 8 games compared to 7 in 7 from Cisse. The new system adopted (FINALLY) by Alan Pardew has seen Ba play slightly wider than earlier in the season, some even suggesting he doesn’t look as entertained as he once was.
Ba is still yet to sign a new contract at Newcastle amid whispers a while back that something was on the table for him. And, until that gets sorted, that doubt of his whereabouts next season will continue to play on the Geordie Faithful’s minds.
Is it all doom and gloom though? Would you leave a team progressing like Newcastle United? Is he really bothered about his goalscoring and positional change when others are scoring and Newcastle United are winning? Most importantly for this article, other than his goals, has the arrival of Cisse actually changed much about Demba Ba’s game?
