If you had told Newcastle fans before the start of the new Premier League season, that after five games, they would be sitting above Manchester United, and only behind Manchester City on goal difference, then they surely would have taken that.

And whilst the table seems to have a couple of things going in the Magpies' favour, the damaging 4-1 defeat to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side on Saturday seems to have just exposed some painful truths for Steve Bruce.

Despite a relatively successful summer transfer window that saw the likes of Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Jamal Lewis arrive at St James' Park, both the performances and results from Newcastle have left a lot to be desired.

They were very fortunate to pick up a point against Tottenham after a late VAR call, whilst they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by ten-man Brighton as well. But even with some good wins against the likes of West Ham and Burnley, there's a very worrying trend about the way Bruce is getting his team to play.

As per the Premier League's official stats, the Tyneside club have played the most amount of long balls this season with a total of 335. Had Joelinton or Andy Carroll been starting up front, that tactic may have been somewhat understandable, but Bruce has opted to field Wilson in the number nine role, whilst he has the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin and Ryan Fraser as pacy, wide options.

Trying to go route one with those types of players and expecting them to win headers or get to the loose ball just seems like a complete waste of their talents, and Bruce still hasn't worked out a way of making the most out of Saint-Maximin other than just 'give him the ball and see what he does'.

It was no surprise that in the game against United on Saturday, they managed just 36% of the possession, and only had seven shots to the visitors' 28.

The Magpies' summer signings and attacking options surely warrant a change in playing style, and none of this long ball approach. Instead, Bruce continues to make an unforgivable mistake with the way he sets his team out.