Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

Newcastle's Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa praised by James Perch and Vurnon Anita

The defender has made an excellent impression at Newcastle since his January arrival. Newcastle United duo James Perch and Vurnon Anita have no doubts defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is quickly developing into a star at the club.

The £7million January signing from Montpellier has already established himself at St James' Park and again impressed in Thursday's goalless draw at Anzhi Makhachkala.

And ahead of Sunday's Premier League game against Stoke City, Perch, who played alongside Yanga-Mbiwa in Russia in the Europa League, has been greatly impressed by his new team-mate.

"Mapou has got everything in his locker. He is a strong runner, he is quick, he heads it well. Whoever scouted him for us did their job brilliantly, because he looks a fantastic player"
James Perch
He said: "Mapou has got everything in his locker. He is a strong runner, he is quick, he heads it well. Whoever scouted him for us did their job brilliantly, because he looks a fantastic player.

"He's very calm at the back and although we speak different languages, so communication isn't as easy as it could be, he reads the game very well and that helps massively.

"It has been great playing alongside him and if he plays like that every week he is going to have a great future at Newcastle.

"He is the type of player who looks very calm and that gets picked up by his team-mates. He is a top-class player, no doubt about it and the club have done really well to get him."

Midfielder Anita also thinks Yanga-Mbiwa's pace will be a vital asset for Newcastle in the future after his fine display in preventing the likes of Anzhi's Samuel Eto'o from scoring.

Anita said: "He had an excellent game, as did the whole of the defence and the goalkeeper.

"He is quick and he helped to stop Anzhi whenever they looked to try and build. He took everything in his stride and to mark top players out of a game takes some doing.

"I can't remember them having many chances and we had a few of our own, so it was a good display."



Seems he has made a good impression on the lads already. He certainly looks classy. If we can keep hold of Colo then we have good competition at CB. But if not, then Mbiwa will become he heart of our defence from next season - hopefully for a few years to come.

 

Still think the defence is very shaky as a unit, but I can see the aforementioned individual characteristics in his play, and I'd add passing ability to that list. Positional sense, communication and strength are his main weaknesses, but they should all improve with time. Baptism of fire for him given our position in the league, but he's at least looking like he could be worth the outlay, so it's a good start!

Can't see us not conceding against Stoke, they'll bully and harass as always and our back 4 is still learning to work as a unit. Hopefully we can out score them though

 

With your magic and my mind tricks, I'm sure we can sort something out vs Stoke. Maybe you could shrink Crouch and Shawcross both to 3ft tall......

 

Mbiwa has a lot of ability, he's precise when tackling, he strong and good in the air. The only thing I've noticed that's wrong about him is his decision making sometimes, but that will come with experience.

After a year or so I think he'll be the best CB the club has had in a while, even better than Colo.

 

Hey Tash, how's it going? You've been quiet. I hear you've not been feeling yourself lately.


At least that's what Kleenex put their sales slump down to in their interim report.

 

Oh yeah lol.

I dunno, I just bored of you ****ers...

jk

 

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Thought it was the other way round, your magic and G's mind tricks.

 

please please give the a chance to settle in ..really .

got big expectations on this lad ..but with time.

 

Don't think strength is a problem as some have suggested. Mbiwa looks like an athlete to me - strong, fast, good jumping. I think it's just a case of his getting used to the physical nature and tempo of premier league football, which is why he has looked much better in the europa games. As soon as he has mentally adjusted, which shouldn't take too long, and learned English I think he has everything else in place to be a very big success story.

 

He will be awesome. He is settling in, hope him and Saylor are on their game today.

 

Got a feeling they will be. Hoping to see great things from them.

 

Good be a good pairing AB.

 

The great thing is he has not even settled in yet, look At colo it takes a while to settle and defenders its takes longer.
IMO santon is pony, great going forward but that's like saying shola is is great at defending corners,
The bloke is a liability at the Back

 

What worries me is that he got burned and outmuscled vs Anzi. Hope stoke don't have a field day. If we keep possession he'll be fine, he's got quality on the ball.

 

Looks another great signing. The 3rd centre back we've been crying out for. His strength and pace means he is well suited to the league. He looks good with the ball too and very calm. His ability brings the ball out of defence helps the team to play more instead of just lumping it.

 

This

 

This is where people need to cut Pardew some slack. At some point you need the players to play the brand you want. Yes the likes of Swansea have worked hard coaching certain players to fit in, but it is not possible for all players. Willo is a prime example. The knock on domino effect breeds a lack of confidence and its a slippy slope. The effect the new players have had on our style of play proves this, they don't have the mental baggage. Managers are slaves to their squads, that is the reality of any team sport!

 

That's a very one sided view Pouchy. We need Boa to balance the argument.

 

Aye he is not a Pardew fan