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How much blame can Rafa take for this ****?

Discussion in 'Newcastle United' started by Darth Tash, Dec 10, 2017.

  1. Darth Tash

    Darth Tash Well-Known Member

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    My main observations recently have been that we have a good idea of how we want to play, it's just the execution is extremely poor. Is that the players fault? Is that Rafa's fault for being too ambitious and expecting too much from championship quality players? Or is it the fault of the owner not backing us with funds?

    It could be all 3.

    Joselu, as much as I'll get behind him, is crap. He lacks technical ability. Many times we get in great positions and he just can't sort his feet out.

    Rafa - I know Diame didn't play yesterday, but the decision to ever play Diame at this level is the only decision I strongly dislike of Rafa's. He should be in the reserves and never leave. He's crap, and whenever he's played he's looked like Shola trying to play defensive mid. Garbage.

    We need a good 40m at least to be comfortable from relegation, in my opinion. We need a proper premier league quality striker, we need a proper defensive midfield player, and we need a left back, pronto.
     
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  2. Darren Peacock’s Ponytail

    Darren Peacock’s Ponytail Well-Known Member

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    I don't know but The Mag has called on Haidara being talented <diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><diva><party><party><party><party><party>

    Keep it cool DPP :emoticon-0147-emo:
     
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  3. daztoc

    daztoc Well-Known Member

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    Rafa is certainly not blameless in my opinion. Lets face it, if we hade the same group of players and Pardew was in charge we would be calling for his head. Rafa is supposed to be one of the best coaches in the world. He should be able to get a tune out of the squad. Ill wash my mouth out, but................ if we were looking likely to go down in a few months time, I suspect someone like Fat Sam could keep us up. Yes, we are a poor squad but Rafa should be pulling more out of his personnel.
     
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  4. Rafa's Championship Party

    Rafa's Championship Party Well-Known Member

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    Exactly people are proud of where we are now because we have Rafa, yet he is for me taking us down again, no McClaren to blame this time. He to take blame, some of the players have to take the blame but at the same time he picks both Manquillio and Yedlin every week despite the fact neither have had a good game for a good number of weeks, yet Mbemba makes a bad mistake and gets dropped straight away. Why do we continue to play 2 centre midfield and get overran they nearly every game, yet continue to pick at least one of Perez and Joselu.
     
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  5. Sheikh_of_Araby

    Sheikh_of_Araby Well-Known Member

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    His hands are tied by the serious lack of investment. However, he has signed some dross with the money he has had. Add to that the fact that he persists with the four donkeys - Manquillo, Perez, Diame and Joselu and it is becomes hard to sympathize. Mbemba or Dummett should be fullback. Mitrovic should always start ahead of Joselu and Shelvey despite his flaws is a far far better player than either Perezor ****ing Diame.
     
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  6. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    Rafa faces the same challenge all of the managers have. For whatever reason he is cut more slack. Same boat Pardew was and he never took us down.

    I think it can only be because fans believe if there was investment, Rafa would do so much better. I.e he may not be cut out for this job but with money he is a different proposition. Whereas someone like Pardew would not be trusted with money and of course is not very likeable.

    Personally I’m not convinced with Rafa. He had a great spell at the start of this season. Massively over achieved. Lately he has under achieved. What we really needed was a spell of consolidation where we got results you’d expect, but maybe couldn’t pull off any surprises. However we have just struck out completely and lost games we should have got something from. Some of that is poor form, some of it is the injury to Merino, but some is down to an unclear methodology from the manager and poor selection. Some of it due to stubbornness which is the frustrating thing.

    Hopefully things work out with the takeover and we can take a big step forward. If not I think we are prime candidate for relegation unless we get back to very disciplined organisation and sound selection policy.
     
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  7. Sheikh_of_Araby

    Sheikh_of_Araby Well-Known Member

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    This. People give Rafa slack because of his record and because he comes across as genuine. There is another side to him though - hubris. That is his undoing. He just doesn't seem to understand that the players that were signed in the summer are the problem [Merino aside.] Are Manquillo, Lejeune, Murphy and Joselu any better than what was already here? For me not a chance.

    Murphy has potential. He can be incisive, direct and dangerous. His naivety is his biggest weakness though. He gives the ball away by playing silly passes or holding on to it too long. I think he can become a good player, but we needed proven quality not a punt.

    Manquillo - Useless. There is absolutely noway on earth that he is better defender/ player than either Mbemba or Dummett. He is weak, positionally terrible, gives the ball away and has cost us goals. Say what you will about Dummet - He is limited and offers nothing going forward. As a defender though he is solid, positionally good and reliable. Mbemba has those qualities too but has far better technique and is comfortable with a football. He can bring it out from the back and link up play.

    Joselu - **** me. He is the Spanish Riviere. A limited footballer with little strength, finishing ability or impact. A damp squib. Mitrovic may not be everyones cup of tea but he has a far greater impact on the pitch when he is actually given game time. You look at Joselu and just know that he will be ****.

    Lejeune - Dear god. He does not look comfortable at all. It cannot be a coincidence that since he came back in to the side that we have been leaking goals. He's not terrible at all. He's just playing like someone that is terrified and short of confidence. Not what you need at the heart of your defence in a relegation scrap. I think playing alongside Clark is the biggest issue.
     
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  8. Lord Jonjomort

    Lord Jonjomort Well-Known Member

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    Rafa carries a portion but not much. We're getting comfortably beaten by teams who are MILES better than us, but sadly losing games by the odd goal against teams we have a chance against. We seem a little bereft of direction and identity - for the first 8 games or so we carried the tag of "hard to beat". Bodies on the line, defenders defending first, all those cliches applied and it worked. Then we changed, and I cannot for the life of me work out why we did. We'd gone toe-to-toe with Liverpool quite soon before then - bam - Rafa changes it. That's no Ashley, Charnley, Staveley, the Cosmos or the fans doing that - Rafa did it. And only he knows why. Since then we've been in this spiralling descent completely out of control and we're a mess.

    First and foremost put our best players on the pitch. No Perez, no Joselu, no Diame, no Manquillo. They're not very good, at all. Second shore up the back four - get Yedlin and Manky out, bring in Mbemba, Dummett or Gamez. Defenders who know positions, who block crosses and work back. Leicester won the title by having a back four that barely went over the halfway line.

    Get Shelvey and Merino back alongside each other and stick with it. Then put either Hayden behind them for better teams, or Ritchie/Murphy in front of them for games where we have a chance. The front 3 is changeable but if we play with defensive full backs then we need dynamic wingers, so I'd go Atsu right and Aarons left. Ritchie is better suited to 10 in this league. Up front start Gayle because we're counter attacking, or go for Mitrovic if you need hold up play.

    Just please bin off this 4-4-2 archaic bullshit, and please, please stop picking any of the four donkeys of the apocalypse.
     
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  9. G4rdToonArmy

    G4rdToonArmy Well-Known Member

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    Definition of madness - doing the same thing expecting different results.
    Definition of being a stubborn prick - playing Joselu and Manquillo constantly although you've got better options in the squad.

    Not sure if its a ploy by Rafa to show the lack of quality vin the squad or it is favourtism but seriousl,y needs to pull his head out his arse either way and start selecting the best players we have.

    No Shelvey, no Mbemba, no Mitrovic - WHY? give me one good reason those three aren't starting and I'll be happy but no one can not even Rafa. He says it himself we are making the same mistakes - the mistake is selecting spanish dross over proper talent.

    Elliot, Mbemba, Lacselles, Lejuene, Dummett, Merino, Hayden, Yedlin/Murphy, Shelvey, Atsu/Aarons, Mitrovic
    Subs: Woodman, Clark, Gamez, Yedlin/Murhy, Ritchie, Atsu/Aarons, Gayle

    Also we've no idea what Rafa considers his best formation, the above is a 4-5-1 but we seem to switch between this and 442 and we've tried 3-4-3 vs Chelsea.
     
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  10. Lord Jonjomort

    Lord Jonjomort Well-Known Member

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    Yep, I think we need to sort the identity first. Rafa likes to rotate but he's rarely shifting like for like. We talk about this 4-2-3-1 but the middle of the three is so important and it's probably our weakest position, as he fills it with either Perez or Slo-Mo. No other club seems to need a 10 either, so not sure we should even be attempting it - but if we do, why aren't we seeing Ritchie or Murphy there? Are they worse than Perez/Diame??

    For me it's stop conceding first anyway, and we've been dreadful on both flanks and v Leicester through the middle. I'd put all 3 of our CM's in there v Everton. But it's got to start being about putting the best players on the pitch.
     
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  11. RobEllious

    RobEllious Well-Known Member

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    McLaren had Wij, sissoko, janmaat, Thauvin, Colo, Cisse and Tiote. Whilst the work ethic in a lot of them was questionable, I reckon Rafa would kill to have those options for a full season.
    I'm all for saying Rafa's made mistakes, because he has, just like every other manager in the prem bar Pep this season, but he'd have made less based on the money and support he'd been given. He'd have had Caballero and someone like Abraham instead of Joselu and Darlow/Elliot. Less mistakes right there.
    I don't know why anyone thinks a different manager would have done undeniably better, keeping in mind we're an embarrassment with no transfer funds. Any respectable person building a career wouldn't touch us.
    The fault to me can't majoritively be Rafa's, over 2 seasons he's actually made a €7.1m profit on transfers, vastly reduced the wage bill and brought us back to the prem with at least seeing us until January with a fighting chance. Add to that he was left looking for 3rd/4th choice transfers. What more did we expect when we were relegated.
     
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  12. Delusional Full Stop

    Delusional Full Stop Here to serve all your counselling needs.
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  13. G4rdToonArmy

    G4rdToonArmy Well-Known Member

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    Rafa would have played Diame ahead of Wij, Manquillo ahead of Janmatt and Joselu a head of Cisse. It's not about who he could have had, its about who he has at his disposal and getting the best out of the squad - something he isn't doing!!!

    Joselu has had it for me, bar his 2 tap ins and one kicked in off his shin by a Liverpool defender he's offered nothing bar running around a lot - can not bring myself to "support" him - even when he scored the first thing I said was "fantastic another tap in, that's him starting vs Everton".
    Manquillo is even worse! Where was he for Leicesters 3rd at the weekend? Perez, who looked ok when he came on, has chased back from CF to CB to try and clear - unfortunately he is a striker not a defender and stuck it in the top corner instead of row Z but that should have been Manquillo making the tackle.

    Stop selecting awful, awful, awful players (Did I mention I think they are awful?) and I'll cut him some slack but for me the team selection is a main issue and that IS Rafa's remit and something he isn't doing well enough in.
     
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  14. RobEllious

    RobEllious Well-Known Member

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    Course he wouldn't have played Diame over Wij, or any of that, nothing suggests that would be the case as Rafa amassed more points per game with McLaren's team than McLaren anyway. It's purely due to having nobody else. Everyone bleats on about how he's ignoring Shelves, but the same people moaned how **** he looked all season. Same with Hayden. So really who's left to pick? We went for McCarthy in both our windows and Benitez begged for him last jan so I think he's well aware the midfield isn't good enough and is trying to somehow make something click with what he has.

    Course Joselu's ****, as **** as an evidentlly 4th/5th choice striker can look, but 'the great Mitro' TM missed just as many chances the season we went down. To be fair it's pretty clear he doesn't want Mitro so hopefully he goes this Jan, as Rafa hoped he had in the summer.
    Again as much as I'd rather see Mbemba over Manquillo on a personal level, I've also seen him make a world of ****-ups this season including regularly getting dusted by wingers and passing straight to the oppo, as much as he's calmed down his ridiculous runs.
    Rafa was given the money to get out the champ last season and did so. This season he got the funds to turn a championship team into a championship one and yet we're still in with a shout of survival. Only Stoke spent less than us and definitely paid more wages. Nobody can say that doesn't impede you doing your job massively.
    Which manager would do better with this team that we could get.
     
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  15. KazakhToon

    KazakhToon Well-Known Member

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    This is all valid criticism. And it's nothing new, a quick look at reports like this one suggest that it's a feature of his record as a manager.

    But I hope we realise that Rafa being in post is a major reason we're attracting interest from potential buyers. He's got the track record of success that will see us rid of Ashley and kicking on as a club, so let's not get on his back too much eh?
     
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  16. RobEllious

    RobEllious Well-Known Member

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    Whilst I do agree on it being an apt comparison, it's worth saying he finished the season in the report mentioned 4th in the PL and reached the semi-finals of the CL
     
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    Last edited: Dec 11, 2017
  17. Lord Jonjomort

    Lord Jonjomort Well-Known Member

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    With a team "crying out for Peter Crouch" an'all!!
     
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  18. General Lee Speaking

    General Lee Speaking Well-Known Member

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    He's undoubtedly had his hands tied behind his back - like every manager here under Ashley with the exception of McLaren. My only criticism of him is persisting with 4-4-2 when it's pretty obvious that it's not working. Also, not giving Mitrovic a proper go - something's going on there that we don't know about because it's very odd considering he has far more talent than Joselu.
     
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  19. RobEllious

    RobEllious Well-Known Member

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    Yeh it's perplexing but it's evident the faith is at zero. I want to believe Mitro just won't be effective in the system but the reality is some managers just don't like some players and sadly that's the case here.
    I would have rather have seen us go 451 against Leicester but that extra space in midfield would have gone to Perez or Diame so can also see the hesitancy in reverting back to it.
     
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  20. KazakhToon

    KazakhToon Well-Known Member

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    It's funny though, there are plenty of commenters on here and other forums who were clamouring for 4-4-2. That seems to have died off somewhat...
     
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