Very Promising signs!!!! - My thoughts on the City game

Pleasently surprised at how all the new players ..'looked at home-ish' No one looked as if they are going to need significant bedding in time to the PL. That might be down to Man C quality as can see Stoke RUFC etc trying to give Cabella, Perez (or is it Ayoze?)and Aarons a more thorough physical bullying. But even Man C started to look a little ragged at times.

Riviere looks a handful and with support can and will cause problems.
Janmaat..looking good

Colbeck.. our MoM, a more controlled/less rash Tiote in my eyes with a slightly better passing range/vision than him

Still think we need a forward (Cisse might have a new leash of life in with deJong/the new Cabs/Riviere tho on his return), ball playing MF and CB (Utility) to properly compete

 

Obertan being played up the middle = fail

should have put him on the wing against their tiring wingbacks. useless in the middle.



we didn't make their keeper have to even save anything. that's a real problem.

City were well off their usual pace and still won. Balls over the top and our centrebacks flounder - imagine if we come up against actual pacey strikers (Dzeko isn't exactly Speedy Gonzales and he still out-ran Colo & Willo)



we REALLY REALLY need a new centre-half, a proven goalscorer, and a replacement for Cabaye....

 

De Jong is Cabayes replacement.

 

http://metro.co.uk/2014/08/18/newca...e-potential-against-manchester-city-4836281/?

Newcastle United might have ended the weekend propping up the Premier League table but things are looking up for the Magpies this season after impressive debuts by the club’s new boys.

It was always going to be a challenge against big spenders Manchester City.

Alan Pardew and Newcastle have been busy in the transfer market though, and it was impossible to know what Toon side would step out on Sunday afternoon. Last year’s losers picking up where last season left off, or a hungrier Magpies starting XI? Fortunately for Newcastle it was the latter.

Not only did the Toon improve on last season’s opening fixture, a 4-0 loss to Manchester City, with the game at 1-0 for 90 minutes, lively looking United created opportunities and with a bit more luck could have drawn level.

Pardew, as promised, ditched his failed 4-4-2 formation from last season, starting with a variation on 4-3-3 and the tactical switch reaped the rewards. The Toon’s pacey attackers were able to swarm around the ball and force the opposition into errors in dangerous areas.

As for the debutants, it was an impressive start to their Newcastle careers. Former Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback, who arguably had the quietest preseason of any of the new signings, was a dynamo in the midfield. Assured on the ball, expertly timing his runs to surge past City’s defence and was hard to beat across the midfield. Colback was my Toon man of the match and will only get better in a black and white shirt.

Emmanuel Riviere has no previous Premier League experience but caused City’s defence a whole host of problems. The powerful striker rolled the blues defenders and caused havoc with his pace. He’ll need to test opposition goalkeepers a bit more frequently than he did on his debut but he won’t come up against many defences as strong as City’s.

Winger Remy Cabella was a real live wire and kept the Toon Army entertained with his tricks and turns right up until the final whistle. At times he was a little wasteful but once he finds his feet in the Premier League there’s no doubting he’ll be a huge player for the Magpies.

Dutch defender Daayl Janmaat made a solid start to his Magpies’ career. He certainly wasn’t overawed by the event and caused City problems when he drove up the right flank.

Ayoze Perez burst onto the pitch in the final throws of the game and was inches away from scoring an unlikely equaliser for the home side.

Few would have expected the Magpies to cause as many problems as they did for the Premier League champions – the number of yellow cards the City players were awarded can attest to that – and although you can only be disappointed in defeat, there’s a lot of positives to take forward into Saturday’s match against Aston Villa.

 

De Jong is probably considered Cabaye's replacement by MA, but he only really fills the role Cabaye played in his final few months at NUFC. We really could do with another player to fill the deep-lying, game controlling role that Cabaye played for us for most of his time here. Someone who can assassinate opposition teams with their vision and passing range. If Tiote is heading off into the sunset we might make a concrete move for Grenier.

You can also see why we have been pursuing strikers who can play wide - Remy, Lacazette etc. Replace Gouffran with someone a little more dangerous and we would have ***Remy/Lacazette - Siem de Jong - Cabella*** playing behind Riviere - teams defences would be seriously tested. Man City were looking ragged at times trying to deal with our movement and started picking up yellows as a result... We just need to be able to capitalize.

A new CB really would be a relief too. I'm not overly concerned by Colo and Williamson when they play together (though the partnership could certainly be improved upon) but lose either one and our defence becomes farcical. As it seems that it has to be one out, one in then we should ship Taylor or Mbiwa and sign a good, solid replacement. It has to be a priority.

 

Cabella is Cabaye's replacement....

 

We now need to build on this.
4-3-3 is the way forward.

 

More like HBA's.
Grenier would be Cabaye's replacement.

 

Nah, we paid a canny sum for Cabella, and no he might not play in Cabaye's position, but he is a playermaker. He seems like a mix of Cabaye and Ben Arfa.

I don't see why Cabella cannot replace Cabaye's contribution. He create chances yesterday, worked hard, worried City's defence at times, and even supplied the same **** corners....

He looks a lot quicker on the ball, and he has proven he can finish chances by what he's done in his career so far. Now whether or not he'll score a lot of goals in this league is another question, but I think if he can get 5/6 goals and 7/8+ assists as well as put in a shift and play a part in our moves quite often, then that is more than good enough.

Remember Cabaye was quite injury prone, so if Cabella stays fit and does it throughout the season, then he could be labelled better than Cabaye. He has better pace and skill on the ball, now lets see if he can create and score like Cabaye.

He did very well against what looks like arguably the best defence in the league.

 

Cabella is indeed a star turn mind.

 

Its funny for me, I see Cabella as HBA's replacement. He may be a massive upgrade too as he grafted hard, showing everything you need in modern attacking footballers. I think De Jong is the number 10. I just think at home and against certain opposition we need either Anita OR Colback, and a ball playing midfielder like Grenier. If we could sell HBA , Obertan, Vuckic, Ferguson, Sammy and Jonas and use funds/wages to get Grenier we'd be a whole lot better off. 6 out, one in - howay Mike it makes sense!

I don't think De Jong replaces Cabaye. Different player even when Cabaye was pushed on. I think we've not had a De Jong type for a long time. It would be nice for once f we could have the complete package.

 

Cabella looked good too good to be here for long so by next summer he will get sold for decent cash.

We are a shop window nothing else.