I think the way Pardew and HBA's skeptics see it, is that generally when HBA loses the ball we are attacking with numbers. Therefore, players are making runs in behind the opposition defence and are caught out of position, if the pass is intercepted or HBA is disposessed. Therefore we are more vulnerable to being punished on the counter attack because defensivley we are lacking numbers and are out of shape. Whereas when an unattractive long ball from Simpson or R.Taylor is played to Ameobi or Best and the ball is won back by the opposition, we still have enough players behind the ball to have a large enough chance to win it back. Pardew is playing the percentages, rather than the risky attractive football that HBA offers.