For the last decade the purists have been claiming - although Gerrard and Lampard are world class - they cannot play together.
And I'm starting to feel that we have a similar problem at Newcastle that is dragging us into a relegation battle.
We have two brilliant strikers in Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse, but both want to play out-and-out striker, and since the arrival of Cisse, Pardew is still struggling to get the balance right.
Ba was bursting the net weekly - until his international team-mate came to St James' Park last January. Then Ba dried up and Cisse took the plaudits.
Cisse was handed the number nine shirt and asked to play like a number nine ... leaving Ba to fit in out wide somewhere near Mike Ashley in the Milburn Stand.
Ba's agent threatened to take his client elsewhere, unless Pardew re-addressed the situation.
So Pardew bit the bullet and promised Ba "you will play in the middle for 95% of the games next season".
But things are far from right between the pair of them.
Alan Pardew: “A couple of mistakes have lost the game for us.
“It was a game we deserved to win.
“That’s the sort of season we’re having. We’re not really getting any breaks.
“We’re very much aware that it’s four defeats in a row, and we can’t really complain about some of them.
“I also thought we should have had a penalty when (Ryan) Shawcross stopped the ball going back to Cisse.
“There were a couple of errors for the goals, but it was such an improved display.
“Sometimes it’s just about a bit of confidence.
“We gave Cisse a different role, and some responsibility to score goals.
"I thought he might come up with a goal without the responsibility of playing him on the side, and he did.
“He was terrific all night.”
Source: Newcastle United Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
