I think we played some fantastic football. Disappointed we only got one goal, but we won, that's all that matters. We rode our luck a bit, but the best quality came from us. Obertan and Marveaux were both superb tonight. A good night in the toon, good atmosphere for a Thursday night game. Ratings - Krul - 6 - Not his best game. Looked a bit off, but survived. Simpson - 7 - Exposed at times, but did well. Colo - 8 - Thought he was awesome. I love his little dink passes and the way he gets us from a sticky situation to a comfortable one. His passing and skill are orgasmic. Willo - 7 - Solid enough. Raylor - n/a - hope he's ok. Perch - 7.5 - Some fantastic tackles at times to save us, and a good performance. Tav - 6.5 - Got caught out still a bit too much, but some good defend at times, and great going forward. Some nice runs. Bigi - 6.5 - Nothing special. He has the vision, but still getting used to the team. I love the idea when he could of shot, but decided to try and dink it into the box for Vuckic, but they just weren't on the same wave length. He'll take time, but he's promising. Gosling - 6.5 - Some good passing and decent performance overall. Obertan - 8.5 - Maybe being a tad generous, but he was class tonight. He had more confidence, and he shat all over them in the first half, and forced two great saves from their keeper. He should made more runs down the center. Marv - 8.5 - Some brilliant skill, great passing, great performance. Can't wait to see him in the premier league again. Vuckic - 7 - Canny goal, some great play. I know it was a deflection, but we all know he has a talent for long shots, and he did great to make the space. I still have faith in this kid. He was unlucky not to get another, his footwork in the box was good, but last ditch blocks saved them. Ba - 7 - Worked hard, some great passing and link up play. MOTM - Can't decide between Marv and Ober. They were both great. Overall - We all would have taken just scraping through and no injuries. Unfortunately we got a couple, but we scraped through anyway. HTL!
Marveaux just shaded for MOTM for me. He was fantastic tonight. Worst player, i'd have to say Gosling. He gave the ball away in dangerous positions a few times and was holding onto the ball too much. We were poor second half, but its the result that matters at this stage.
Gosling looked more promising when going forward and I thought Williamson was colossal in the air, didn't lose a single header! Anita walked right past me coming out of the 1892 bar so he's my MOTM...yeah!!!
Largely agree but we took it far too easy in the second half and could have paid for it. Had the chances to kill it in the first half but failed to take them. Obertan MOM for me but still need to see him do this against decent opposition. Marveaux brilliant at times but needs to do a bit more work coming back and to get out wide more. Vukic looks very promising, hopefully his goal will give him the boost he needs. Bigi tidy but not quite premier league material yet. Gosling looked decent first half especially going forward but not very good second half. Collo nearest to Obertan for MOM but silly booking. Hope the Raylor injury not too bad as he looked good for the short time he was on but hopefully knocks to him and Perchinho will persuade the board to jump in for a signing or two before the window closes tomorrow.
Obertan showed that he CAN do it... but it was against a poor team. In the premier league he would NEVER get that much time on the ball prior to making a run.... This guy infuriates me more than tino and robert ever did..... at least they provided some quality but you can see its there..... its just like extracting blood from a stone getting it out of him.... Hes tall, strong, well built, fast, skillful..... but THICK AS TWO SHORT PLANKS...... I think with the right guidance and patience I still believe he is a player who could tear teams apart. This season with the opportunities he will get and the support (I think hes a confidence player) he might just develop nicely!
He should have stopped and asked you for your autograph, I wouldn't have given him man of the match if he'd walked past me without asking for my autograph.
I think you're being very generous with the ratings there. We were awful. The attacking movement is completely disjointed and ineffective, and the midfield isn't much better. It's all well and good getting Marveaux and Obertan running the wings but it's ultimately pointless if they can't get a decent cross in. Playing for corners would work if we actually had someone who could put the ball in properly, and someone who can head a ball properly on the other end. Currently we have neither. We were **** at the start of last season but managed to scrape results, so I'm hoping our play will improve as it did then, but at the moment we just look like amateurs.
Am I the only one who thought Bigi was horrible? At best he looked comfortable in possession but that's all. Gosling was pretty poor too, but the Greek episode he was even worse. If Obertan would stop doing stupid flicks which he can't do for nuts , and stayed to what he does best, which is bring ball along the flanks and improve his passing, he might become better... Praying for Raylor's injury
Where does this lad play, must be like a new signing for you.Can't say I know too much about him but had a good rep before he signed for you.
We are through to the next round but have to improve. Marvo and Obertan impressed but dont see either as regular's at the moment. Gosling was huffing and puffing and looked to be runnung out of steam. I thought Krul was lucky, didnt seem to hold onto the ball and stutted a couple of times.
We weren't mentally up for it. A home game against lowly opposition and it was looked upon as a walk in the park. However all credit to Atromitos, they didn't hold up their hands and surrender, they played as if they wanted it more than us. A draw is something we didn't want and a visit to their place could have cost us dearly with an already busy program ahead of us. I didn't know at the time that Tyneside's most popular Greek, Nicos Dabizas was in the ground, you'd have thought he'd have been introduced to the crowd for old times sake.
I can't see Vuckic ever living up to the hype. He's just too lumbering to play in the position he wants too - he'd be much better off being a Fellaini type player, but I don't think that's how he sees himself.
Ratings - Krul - 5 - Didnt need to do much, but when he did get tested dropped the ball and could have got sent off Simpson - 7.5 - I thought he played well with Obertan yesterday and i usually am a critic of him Colo - 7.5 Nice solid game from him Willo - 6 won a few headers, just sometimes he clears the ball when a simple pass could have been made Raylor - n/a Perch - 7.5 - some cracking tackles Tav - 5 Didnt do too much, had a few runs but his positional awareness is awful but he is still learning Bigi - 7 I thought he played well, kept things simple Gosling - 5 i think he brought nothing to the game Obertan - 8.5 - that was the best i have ever seen him play, looked dangerous Marv - 7.5 one of the better players imo Vuckic - 5 scored that deflected goal but lost the ball far too much and touch was terrible Ba - 4 i thought ba was terrible, couldnt win nothing, sloppy with the ball and just looked lost streaker - 10 points for getting away with running on there and no one even bothering to tackle him lol
