The night still could have been a success - My thoughts on the Cup game.

Have always said this.

 

Also he said up Gosling with a header down in the first half. Shame it wasn't ANYONE else, Gosling fluffed it of course

 

To be fair you can say the same of Crouch and Heskey, yet people still slate them off. He's a centre forward should be scoring more.

 

Yes, but most of his games, he's part of a game plan which requires him to knock down balls for others.

He's not often in a position to score, as he's a target man.

Shola deserves respect. Every forward man wants goals, but he's happy just to provide for the team.

 

To be fair Tash I said he was playing well, it was more of a minor criticism.

 

It just underlines the differences between Man United and NUFC.

The Capital One Cup means naff all to Man United but Ferguson would have been LIVID had his team lost tonight, it wouldn't be tolerated.
His youngsters are under no illusions about the level of trust being put in them to wear the shirt and do the business. It is a privilege you are frankly too scared to let pass you by.

For us, we have guys who are too passive and happy to just let it ebb away. It just speaks volumes for permitting a kind of "Oh well, we didn't expect to win and it was tough etc, etc – there's always next year and the league is more important" attitude.

How can these lads like Gosling, Vuckic, Obertan and Marveaux make statements about breaking into the first team proper if they don't show enough in the chances they get.
Never mind the fact the club would progress in a cup competition, but for guys like this is virtually guarantees more minutes on the pitch to try and shine.

I might sound pretty harsh but there has to be a time when we admit they don't make the grade, and if we had doubts already they shouldn't be trusted for a match like tonight. Unless we have no aspirations whatsoever to win...

 

Don't get me wrong mate, I wasn't directing criticism towards you. But I find a lot of the stick Shola has gotten unfair.

However, the Toon fans seem to just accept what he is and cheer his name anyway.

He's not a fantastic player, but he's a good member of the squad, and fills in whenever he needs to.

He never complains. All he says is he's unhappy on the side lines, and wants to be In the first 11, but that's how all players will feel, surely?

 

This sums up allot of what is wrong with our approach to games such as tonight, as far as I'm concerned. Too many of our fringe players are allowed to just give it a go, with no real expectation to try and win the game, or try and force their way into the first team. It's unfortunate that we have players like Bigi, Ferguson and Tavernier that bust a gut to prove their worth, while players like Gosling, Marveaux and Obertan just seem to go through the motions, when given a chance to shine.

Sadly, we're not Man United, and we will more than likely have to tolerate this caliber of player, until we have a shift in mentality towards competitive matches of all kinds.

 

Agreed. Don't get me wrong though, I understand that setting the bar at Man United's level is pretty high but the only way you will improve and follow that kind of mentality is in striving for it.

I also wouldn't want to overly criticise all the younger and less experienced players, because the only way they will learn and improve is to get the chance. I agree that Bigi, Fergie and Tav all deserve praise – but certainly at least two of those players have proven their hunger and ability EVERY time I've seen them play.
These are the lads you feel confident enough to throw in there, but perhaps augment that with the more senior guys.

I accept that this competition provides fantastic chance to blood your second-string teams, along with the FA Cup and Europa matches – BUT that surely is dependent on the opponents you draw and the places you have to go.
I think there's room enough to be a bit cleverer than just saying one team of eleven for the Prem League and another for the cup competitions.

There weren't enough of our dependable, 'blue chip' players on show for me and it was an opportunity missed. I wouldn't personally have criticised Pardew for going all-out to win this one and staying in the hat – I'm more disappointed he didn't...

 

Exactly! If it weren't for the fact that Colo and Tiote needed a run-out, we would have fielded a complete second string tonight. And as good as it is giving the youngsters a run-out, it's just as important giving the first team a chance to prove themselves in a Cup competition that we could badly do with having a good run in. Even if it's a blend of the first team and youngsters - at least trying to win a and get some much needed fluidity to our overall play (which is in desperate need of work) would be good.

But it seems our ambition starts and ends with the league...

 

Yeah, and to be fair I can't say that Pardew hasn't been honest about that. They more or less have said that the Europa is an annoyance, and that's the one cup comp out of the lot I was most excited about!

Annoying thing is that I enjoy the frequency of games that being in these things brings because its another chance to see NUFC play.
Personally I was delighted to qualify for the Europa and have a lot of time for the competition, but I haven't been convinced by our attitude to it and (very, very early) efforts so far...

 

I don't see why everyones down about this!? how else do you expect to get our youngsters and fringe player the experience of playing in big games and such... id much rather do that than go and not get into Europe which is how we get and keep our big players, id say this is showing more ambition rather than lack off.

 

Criticism of Shola : Any criticism last year and before was justified. He looked slow and unfit, couldn't even take the ball past a defender without falling down. However the same can't be said this year. Shola has obviously been working on his fitness and it's showing. He doesn't look like Strolla anymore, and had a great game against Manure. Could he have done more? Maybe, but not that much, I understand the concern of his lack of threat but I think he does a great job on flickons and winning aerial challenges. The only knock on him is he doesn't attack the balls enough but I can accept that.

Gosling : He makes good runs, and was full of running the entire game. That's all the positives about him. He missed several gilt-edged chances that could've changed the game. I don't know what else to say about him, he doesn't look to have the quality...

Obertan : To be fair to him, he played much better than I expected. Didn't really do much wrong all game(a surprise in itself), good enough for me.

Marveaux Vuckic : Nothing much from them, we expected more from them. Vuckic isn't showing why clubs like AC Milan wanted him as a youngster, he needs to impose himself on the game more , he tends to disappear too much. He had a chance or two today, didn't take them...

Tav : Played an awesome game. Was great in defense and in attack, the future looks bright.

Tiote Bigi : These 2 didn't do much wrong, were good breaking up the play.

Colo : Had a poor game by his high standards. Expected much better from him... For the goal by Cleverley, if it was Saylor he would've headed it away , probably part of the reason Elliot couldn't save it. Colo and 2 players were between the ball and the goal, and he saw it late, Colo might've done more, but he's never been the bravest defender

Willo : His weaknesses were thoroughly exposed today. Against smaller strikers he can't really play them well on the ground, but that's not news to us. He was in the six-yard box , the ball flew over the bar after a kick, and it ended up as a goal kick. Conclusion? Willo in the six yard box hoofs the ball over the bar inexplicably to me...His technique is bad. And his heading technique I've said too many times about it... Look at the goal kick in injury time, we take 20 seconds to take the kick and send them up, and the ball comes, Willo heads it to the keeper.

When will we ever stop that bloody setpiece. I would rather see us play it short, get it to the flanks and send a cross in than that setpiece from anywhere near the halfway line. It's never worked for us even with Saylor, much less Willo.

Overall, aren't that upset that we're out of the cup, allows us to focus more on the others. I would think Europa League knockout stage is more impt to me than the league cup.

 

This totally.
He had his swagger back... just hop it isn't because he wasn't in Ba's shadow...