Newcastle's Loss

I see Yohan Cabaye scored his first goal for PSG in a 4-0 away win to Bayer Leverkusen tonight in the Champions League. Our loss is their gain, with our central cog missing and we've gone to pieces

 

is it not his second goal ???

 

Think it is his second one but we have gone to pieces.

 

Sorry, meant his first Champions League goal for them.

 

[video]https://vine.co/v/MZJqaejuHXd[/video]

Cabaye's goal,


looks familiar

 

A big loss to any team, never mind one that isn't firing on all cylinders.

 

He was good last night and is goal was excellent. Huge void left in the team an squad. We only had one person to play the role he did. The reason it was kind of important to replace him!

I think we will continue to look a bit disjointed till the season end now. Tiote and Anita are very good at their individual roles but we now have no playmaker. 442 - you need someone to control the pace of the game. Neither Tiote or Anita are that type. In a 3 which is when we've been at our best, we now miss that number 10 to make it all knit together. I can't see a solution as HBA/Marveaux are not good enough.

 

Doesn't look like he'll be coming back after last night!

 

For all intents and purposes, Armstrong is supposed to be that player. Creative with goalscoring, he's a number 10, through and through. Whereas Campbell is more Owen, Armstrong is more Rooney. Only the management can tell if he's ready, I suppose, and one must wonder if HBA can't do it, how easy is it for a 17 year old, regardless of his specialism. That said, players - at Southampton in particular - seem to come from relatively nowhere, unknown outside of their own club. Shaw being one example, Ward-Prowse another.

 

I'd like to see him involved. I suppose there are different kinds of number 10's. From what i've seen of Armstrong (limited), he looks very much more Rooney role than the role Cabaye played. More of a deep lying striker. I think we based our whole plan around having more of forward lying midfield number 10. I'm not sure that would suit Armstrong or the team? Cabaye was still expected to contribute to the midfield because of the players we had wide left in Remy/Gouffran who are essentially left forwards.

Regardless we are now going to have to try and tinker mid season and adjust to Cabaye's departure (comical really, any half decent club would have bought a replacement even if only short term/loan). I can't see creation in the squad though which is a worry. Maybe one way to overcome it is to use the younger lads like Kemen and Armstrong to add a bit of fearless energy?

 

And a lot of you thought he was better staying in Newcastle.

 

I do agree, though if you look at where Pardew has gone after Cabaye's departure, and after Ben Arfa's abject failure to deliver (again) in the same role, we went straight 4-4-2. I think, however, the backfire was that such a weak-seeming reverting to basic football really impacted the players confidence. We seem to be much more suited to playing deck-football, and quickfire at that. Our pace on the break is still pretty devestating, and I would add Armstrong into that mix. With Anita/Tiote, creativity through the middle is missing so we have to rely on pace and solid defensiveness to win matches. I would hope we would look to dictate play on the bal by drawing the opposition onto us, so playing a kind of dominant counter attack, but we can't dictate the play in a Chelsea/Arsenal style, because you need locksmiths to do it and we don't have one - comically, as you say.

I think energy is what we need, and a bit of dedication to go with some genuine class. Players need dropping to show it won't be tolerated (Santon, Taylor mainly), then it's about blooding these kids in and not being fearful.

 

I think Pards is struggling to find a solution to the problem. Being honest I'm not entirely convinced there is one in the squad. We look lacking in guile. the players who have it or potential to provide it (marveaux and hba), seem either disinterested, unprofessional or just frustrating. The obvious thing to do would be to ask Sissoko to move to number 10 but he looked woeful there last time. At least when he is played on the right he puts some sort of shift in. That said I'd be tempted to give it another go in the absence of some better choices?

--------------Krul---------------
Debuchy--Colo-Willo--Dummett
------------Tiote--Anita---------
Gouffran-----Sissoko-----Remy
----------------LDJ----------------

Not least because I'd love us to get back to what served us so well, playing passing football, and fast counter attack. Remy was a key reason we did well and looked a million times better playing wide left.

 

Fook, I completely forgot we'd taken on LDJ!!!!! Such has been the impact.....

Hmm, that does offer a dilemma. Seems fairly clear that Pardew doesn't fancy the 4-5-1, which I felt was our best offering. That said, I cannot, will not, entertain Sissoko as a number 10. He is nothing of the sort. Looks far better on the right, it's his only position for me, in the Premier League at least. I think it's why Pogba moved to Juventus; he can really excel in the middle of a slower league, but with PL's frenetic nature we can't trust Sissoko in there, he just looks lost, every time.

Definitely drop Remy wide, then, and bring Gouff out. Emphasis needs to be on having a good engine on the left, with Dummett can bring better than Santon. So I'd go with your above, Sissoko wide, 1 and a half up front in LDJ and Armstrong, with licence for the latter to play swapsies with Remy. Gouff for Armstrong if he struggles and two up top with again Remy/Gouffran being fluid enough to make for a lopsided formation. Sissoko can also drift in to make way for Debuchy.


Ahhhhh, football. Once the matchday appears on the horizon, everything else just disappear. It's the most incredible drug.