Match Day Thread Vs Newcastle (A)

and thats a real shame, saying if he remains injury-free is heartening to hear tbh but that is never the case now

 

I wonder whether a number of players are suffering from the long-term effects of covid, taking the edge off their fitness/sharpness.
Of course this applies to all teams not just ours - it could be a contributory factor to the iffy quality of the league this season.

 

Salah was pathetic last night. Ignoring his finishing, would like to see his stats on involvement and distance covered.

Mané has been off for a while, thought he turned a corner a couple weeks ago, but he hasn't changed. His touches and passing is awful of late.

 

Mané is definitely one of those I was thinking of in my covid comment above. He hasn't been himself for a long time, and the virus does have this chronic fatigue element to it.

 

most people for obvious reasons have focused on the CB injuries but all 3 of the new signings have been out with injuries which has led to lack of rotation and i think quite a few of the players are looking pretty jaded .

 

Thiago looked good when he came on some great passes from midfield.

 

I know mate. I’m just talking about useful he would be as an option right now until the end of the season. The midfield needs a rebuild come the summer

 

Not having that, Naby is very consistent...

 

Nope

 

He doesn't wait, he looks and if the pass is a option he takes it without delay. Most players hesitate a split second and the options gone.

 

He would be a decent option if fit, I don't think he starts but he does offer something different.

Don't agree the midfield needs rebuilding though, it's the strongest area for us. We've eight players (Hendo, Wijnaldum, Thiago, Fabinho, Jones, Keita, Ox, Milner) fighting for three spots, we can even afford four one or two to leave with need to buy.

 

I think that too many people are overthinking this

 

Yep. We've just had two poor performances but we're still top despite the injuries. All teams have blips, if were still top once we return to form then we will open up a gap again.

 

Three positives for me, no injuries, a clean sheet and the return of Thiago. His passing is sublime. Straight away a lovely looped overhead pass laid at the feet of his man. He will be time managed back but we really need his creativity asap.

Very little else to take from the game

 

Milner isn’t good enough
Fabinho is very good
Keita / Ox are injury prone and rarely play
Henderson is wrong side of 30
Gini’s contract is up and wouldn’t surprised if he leaves

I think we need a more physically reliable midfielder to join the ranks

 

What I’ve noticed is when he has the ball he’s looking to break the lines.

the pass against Everton through to mane for the Hendo disallowed goal. Another one yesterday where he was looking out wide and almost reversed it through to Gini I think it was.

it looked and sounds simple but it was just pinged into feet quickly and forced the Newcastle defenders to turn but it’s something the rest of the midfield don’t do.

 

One thing I did notice last few games, and not sure if it’s the weather or juat poor form, is our long distance passing everything seems to be lofted. Dno if it’s getting caught in the wind or something but wasn’t hit quick or flat enough to get the defence shuffling across and gave them time to get to the ball and clear.

a lot of hendo a passes last night were like that, although wasn’t just him

 

watching the game it felt very frustrating. As was large parts where we just couldn’t seem to get going. But as you say, break down the performance, we passed it nicely, and created 3 very good chances and 2/3 more half chances. On another day we put couple those away and win 2-0 and it’s seen as a solid away performance.

it was definitely a far better performance than the West Brom and Fulham game

 

I'm more positive today. Top of the league in a constricted year with all the ****e going on around us and injury after injury.

Its actually quite an achievement.

And Robertson has been brilliant..hope he keeps that up so when the front 3 are sharp enough they can convert all those lovely balls into the box.