We didn't deserve it, but who cares? - My thoughts on the Liverpool game

I don't understand the negativity towards the tactics and our results. We've lost twice too man utd and Chelsea which is no disgrace. We've come away from 2 games on Merseyside unbeaten which is an achievement, we've for winnable games coming up. All the media have been rimming Everton about how well they've been playing and yet there 3 points ahead of us

 

OMG I actually agree, however the home games against west ham and swansea will decide my opinion.

sorry for being such a **** tonight everyone I've had a really seriously ****ty arse week and been in hospital twice and going back again tomorrow.

 

We desperately need them, its vital to get a win on sunday. Id go 4-4-2 with shola and demba and try and match them physically. Willo will be useful to match mandy in the air.

 

I think you have to ask a few questions about the actual performance of a team, regardless of the points on the board. I certainly hope the manager and coaching staff are, along with the players.

Put it this way, how many PL games this season can you confidently say Newcastle were the better team over 90mins? By that I mean in terms of possession, general play, chances created, goals etc etc. Not just the stats, but the overall feel of the match.
I'd say the Sunderland match, but only just because of the Tiote sending off which changed the game entirely.

With that in mind I think its definitely fair to say that we have done well to amass the points we have, which is fair enough. That in part has been by some good defending, goalkeeping, poor finishing from the opponent and some pretty big slices of luck.

I think what most are saying is that we're certainly capable of more and that you can't push on for a full season stumbling along in 3rd gear. We just need to impose ourselves more, add some tempo and be more convincing, particularly at home.
That isn't asking too much based on what we saw last season and imagine how many more points we might have got along the way.

Another question would then be, regardless of points, how entertained and excited are you by Newcastle's showings at the moment?

 

If I'm honest we've been a bit like a newly promoted team (with one or two moments of individual brilliance), two banks of four, very organised & compact and very hard working.

We are a good team, with good flair players that have great technical ability but for some reason we don't play with the mindset of a big team. I mean look at Man Utd against us, Fergie played RVP, Rooney, Welbeck & I think Hernandez, his approach was "we're at our best when we attack, can you handle us if we play our game"?

I'm not saying we should completely copy that gung-ho approach because we're not as good as them, not even close. However I always get the impression we're more concerned with what the opposition can do to hurt us rather than what we can do to get at them. I'd love us to have that "we're a big club with some cracking players and we're going to play the game our way" attitude. I'm not saying we should be doing it against the Man Utd's & Chelsea's of this world, but I certainly hope to see something like this in the next few league games against the so called lesser teams.

 

No rating for poor perchy rash?

 

Thought he was our best player until he got injured.

 

Agreed, although ironically the so-called lesser teams to these do better when they do play their game and don't show the nervousness or respect.

I think the teams I'd admire at the moment for not letting fear or whatever get in the way of showing what they are about are Swansea and Everton, even West Brom at the moment. They might not win every game, but you get a display that inspires some confidence and they'll inevitably get close.
You at least get sustained periods of possession, fluidity and threat that is characteristic of the players they possess and the style they adopt. It's also pretty rare that you get what could be described as a subdued performance, dominated largely by the opponent.

These are good teams, no disputing that, but are they better than us? I'd say Everton are the pick of the bunch but I'd like to think we're at least on a par with them player for player.

I think with the personnel we have and the large share of attacking players, we're just made to look very ordinary if that part of the team doesn't click from the off. The team has to then work much harder and graft to counteract that, where this season some of our lads have become frustrated and drifted out of the game too easily instead.
We've often looked devoid of ideas as a result and should focus on going back to basics to kick into action, which doesn't mean booting the ball upfield.

But yeah you're right, there just needs to be a bit more belief and a few DVD showings of the confident performances last term...

 

Really? I thought he was pretty crap. Out of position a few times and not tracking runners. Should also have been booked for a daft lunge.

 

To be fair I think we'd have been unlucky to lose. Liverpool enjoyed more possession but what did they actually create. Pardew just engaged the same tactics he adopted against Rodgers Swansea. Accept the possession, defend well and look dangerous on the break. I felt we deserved a draw basically because they didn't look like scoring. Magical stuff from Suarez and he gave Colo a torrid time!

 

We deserved the draw because as you say, they didn't score twice.

As other people have said earlier, I'd have taken a point before the game. In fact, I'd have have taken most of the results this season had I been offered before the game. The problem for me is always after the game, and the way the game plays out. We deserved to win the game against Sunderland and it was only for a very unlucky own goal we didn't get all 3. Against WBA, we somehow won the game and probably deserved nothing from it - so the performance more than anything worries me at times.

We have to be happy with a point yesterday but I'd have liked to have seen us go at them more with 11 men. It all evens out as they say, and 2 points from Merseyside is a good return. Gosd knows how we got anything from Everton.

I hope we put in a good shift against WHU. I think we'll click into gear soon and we've got some decent results already without playing very well. a sign of a good team they say..

Looking forward to Sunday!

 

sorry for the formation porn lads but wouldnt this be so much better?
---------------krul
simmo---saylor---colo---santoon
--------------tiote-------------
-------anita---------cabs------
--------------benny-----------
--------ba-----------cisse-----

with this formation we might actually have some variety in our play instead of just hoof ball, would give us several layers to actually pass the ball through which is what we're best at, a 4-3-3 simply dosnt work unfortunately because two strikers just dosnt go into three, and similarly 4-4-2 is a dead formation (sorry 4-4-3 lovers) it just dosnt work any more teams are too good in defence. this formation would free up ben arfa to play where hes good and thats in the middle of the park! did we give him the no 10 shirt for nothing? similarly it would free up cabaye a bit instead of having to to act so defensively and only have two targets, he would have 3 or 4 men he could pass to instead of hoofing to. and a not on cisse, love the man but god is he a shocking all round footballer cannot pass for ****! and his awareness is awful!

 

This is sooo funny

 

And I'm sure you'll say it again and again and again.

We're 3 points off 4th. I'll say it now; we'll still be 3 points off 4th at Christmas. I have high hopes for the new year