Kranjcar to Sunderland

I can't remember the last Newcastle team that tried to play the ball on the ground. When you have Shola and Ba up front, only one thing is going to happen, HOOF BALL. Facts remain that unless we sign a striker, no way will we compete with the top 10.

 

Agreed. We played defensive football and thumped balls up in the air to our target men.

If we tried to play it on the ground we would have come 2nd best every time.

Our strategy worked and we got the result we would have all taken before the game.

 

And who can actually see us getting a decent left back in time for the Sunderland game? I can't, I think we will struggle to get anyone with the mentality Newcastle have in transfers.

 

We don't always play hoof ball man. We had target men last season, but we played good football on the ground.

We switched to hoof ball against Arsenal because we needed to defend and not get too many players forward, so our best bet was to lump balls up to Shola and try and pummel their defense. If we had tried to play it on the ground we would have got out played.

Our plan was to achieve a draw and Pardew made the right choices to do that.

In the future we'll play differently.

 

I'm confused, humping the ball up the pitch did nothing, our strikers can't hold on to the ball, hence why we had no shots on target. Had we tried and passed the ball, played them at their own game, used our players to their strengths, maybe we would have got a different result. Arsenal were there for the taking and we barely tried to have a proper go because of the tactics installed by Pardew.

But still, some ****ers will still sing 'Pardew give us a wave'. Makes me sick that chant.

 

Remember when we played Arsenal at the Emirates?

We kept everyone back except Carroll and Nolan. We can play good football and have done and will do, but against Arsenal, we know our best bet to get a result is to stay solid in defense and try our luck with long balls, because we know Arsenal have weaknesses at the back, so perhaps we could have exploited that.

We couldn't play passing football vs Arsenal because if they had have intercepted one of our moves going forward, we could have been ****ed when they countered with Walcott, Arshavin and Gervinho!!!

Saturday was a plan that worked.

It doesn't mean we're going to play Fat Sam style!!!

FFS!

 

Thats like those of us who think we'll struggle to get goals telling you to not be so optimistic after one result? You're entitled to your opinion. Personally I think Ameobi/Best/Lovenkrands/Ba all struggle at this level and will not get the goals. I think in time Cabaye will add goals from midfield but realistically it is wrong to expect him to get more than 5 or 6 in his first season. Barton doesn't get many, Jonas doesn't get many and Cheick doesn't get many. If we can keep Marveaux and ben Arfa fit they MAY be able to chip in but they are not going to be getting 15 goals a season. Obertan - **** knows? You can't expect us to defend superbly all season. Our games are likely to be tight because we are weak in attack but strong in defence. If we don't find a goal threat I'd be concerned we start getting edged out in games 1-0 or 2-1. You heap pressure on your defence and sicken your midfield when you don't capitalise on chances.

 

But we did make sure Van Persie had zero service, if we'd played a bit more freely they'd have had more space to supply the ammunition to RVP and it could so easily have been no points rather than a good point.

 

Fair enough, but I still stand by my claim that Ameobi and Ba won't score 15 between them.

IF we do start playing a passing game(which I doubt we will see on Saturday) then we may see an improvement, but we need a new striker, one we were promised before the Sunderland game...

Leon Best is our best striker, I want to cry when I say that!

 

I'm optimistic because that's the way to start the ****ing season. I'm not deluded, a top 10 finish is possible, it's not like i'm saying Toon 4 Europe am i?

I'm not saying we will finish top 10, but that should be our target. We can finish there. Ba has played one game for us in the PL and you're already saying we wont get the goals? I don't know that he will, but we should all believe in him. He got 7 in 12 for a ****ty WHU side. He can score.

 

How do you know that?? We didn't look like scoring because we didn't really attack Arsenal at all. We were playing defensive football, like we did at the Emirates last season, and we scored from a free kick.

I still think Ba can score 12+ this season. We wont stick with hoof ball mate, that was just vs Arsenal. Pardew isn't a stupid man, he knows the game and his plan worked on saturday.

 

One major factor that will contribute to us not getting in the top 10 is squad depth. Cabaye and Tiote like to tackle, and will face bans along the way, as will Barton. We will get a few surprise sending offs, a few injuries to obvious players and who do we have to step up? Ryan Taylor, Danny Guthrie, Sammy Ameobi. Give me a break.

 

Don't get me started!

 

I wouldn't exactly be dissapointed if we draw with each of the top 4 at home this season. We never looked like scoring, but we didn't really look like conceeding either. Given the amount of sloppy goals we let in last year, this is progress defensively.

 

Who the **** has quality squad depth in midtable for ****s sake!!???

If we had squad depth every where and had quality to replace quality i'd be saying Europe would be our target, but it's not. Not one team below the top 6 has a bench full of quality.

It's not like Barton, Tiote and Cabaye all going to get suspended together. Barton can plan RM AND CM, if Tiote or Cabaye get suspended, Barton could tuck in to CM, and we could put Jonas, Marveaux or Obertan on the RM.

Jesus christ man!!!!

We have CM's and wingers.

 

That could prove to be one of the signings of the summer if they pull it out , although it wouldn't have taken rocket science for Pardew to figure out that a quality player like him is for sale and probably for a very decent price.

On our left back situation , I'm going to look at this from a glass half empty perspective and say that the Pieters/Cissokho rumours are smokescreens , and we will end up getting no left back or a **** left back like Bridge. Pretty much the same thing we did with our striker situation (Gameiro and Gervinho - was never ever going to happen)

 

Sunderland & Stoke ( Mainly back 4)

 

Sunderland

 

Thats fair enough you are entitled to your opinion as I say, but you should also respect those that don't have the same confidence. Personally I can't see Ba getting many. I think his half season with West Ham has given an unrealistic view of his talents. People keep quoting the stats but I prefer to judge with my own eyes. I watched a fair bit of him last year and he is no natural footballer. My concern is both him and Ameobi are detrimental to us playing the football Pardew is proposing. . Neither is very good at controlling a football and both have zero movement. This will result in our play breaking down in the last third and upsurge in confidence for the oppo. Once they know you have little threat they gain confidence. Best has a decent scoring record for us but I don't rate him. Its not just about the goals with our strikers, I think they're all poor footballers which stops others chipping in as play breaks down.

Best for me is the best of a bad bunch (no funnies intended). I'm not having a go you are entitled to be as positive as you like based on what you see, but you shouldn't take offence if others find it unrealistic.

 

Erm... not they don't mate.

Ohsea---Brown---Bramble--Bardsley

Larsson---Cattermole-Gardner--Richardson

----------------Sessegnon---------

---------------Gyan-------------------

Who are their defensive replacements? Anton Ferdinand, Michael Turner? Dropping Richardson to fullback position?

Who's their replacements for midfield? They've gotten rid of Henderson, Malwank and Zenden. The people they have for cover for their midfield don't match ours really.

Who's their striker cover? After Gyan they have Ji Won Don who's hardly Jesus. Then they have Wickham who's unproven at this level. After these 3 they have no one.

You're talking out your arse and you need to get out of this fit of ****ing depression man. You're making high standards for us that other teams in midtable haven't achieved.