We're getting well beaten here. Hasn't stopped me putting a couple of quid on the win at 30-1. I'm just hoping there are no new injuries or suspensions.
Wellllllll, apparently Shelvey and Ritchie are out so I'd go with Diame and Ki in the middle, and I'd give Murphy another run out vs City. Bring in Longstaff and Atsu I guess. Injured/ unavailable Manquillo, Lejuene, Shelvey, Hayden, Ritchie. 3 starters not available.
5-3-2 for me to try and at least put some players in the right position. Diame, Ki and Longstaff in the middle, Perez and Rondon up front. Just a thought like.
I'd consider Longstaff over Ki in a 4 man midfield based on the last game as Ki doesn't seem to have the creativity. Maybe it's too early to tell though but he doesn't seem like much of a stand-stand-in for Shelvey. Longstaff looks like he could be decent at picking a pass, or at least moving the ball forwards. It's a big game for a young lad though. And I like the idea of getting Perez into the team, but I'm not sure how it would work in this game.
In every game we have been overrun by three man midfields. Rafa needs to adapt else this could be a whitewash. Ki and Diame need to defend first essentially making it 7 at the back, Longstaff is the pivot out of defence, Perez (god help us) can drop deeper and try to offer an ‘out’, Rondon up top to try and give us a breather. 2 in the middle will see us crucified. City don’t play with standard wingers. Hell, nobody does anymore so why we set up with a deep lying fullback and a defensive winger is beyond me, leaves the middle exposed game after game.
Giving them no space to play is the key to stopping them scoring and having any chance of getting something from the game. The tactics we used against Chelsea are the best option here. 5-4-1 and a very deep defensive line is to try and give them no space to pass it through our defence. We aren't going to go toe-to-toe with them so 3 vs 2 in the 'middle of the park' doesn't really matter so much in this game IMHO. I would rather we could compete with them and go on the front foot but it's not realistic unfortunately, and that isn't just Mike Ashley's fault, it's also the fault of the way the authorities have allowed the game to be so destroyed by an oligopoly of ultra-rich clubs.
I think Chelsea tactics are our best bet but the issue is that if Shelvey is out playing that system becomes so difficult. When he is there he will find an out ball to give us some relief and is also good enough at doing it to always keep the oppo a bit concerned that we could hit them on the break. Against Chelsea we just kept giving it straight back to them and City are way better imo.
I'm getting 3 bottles of ale on the way home from work and I've also got one in the fridge. That's a sure sign of s 3-1 Toon win ( Rondon 2, Kenedy 1 )
