I think we were somewhat lucky that Brenford were a bit ****e because our central midfield looks weak without Joelinton, Willock and Tonali. I still think we look a bit weak on the creativity side of things, but we're getting better. VAR robbed of us of a 2-0 win. I'm struggling to give anyone an 8 or above because Brentford were ****e, and we should have killed them off sooner. Ratings - Pope - 6 - Couple of good saves, decent commanding of box, dreadful of kicking. Trippier - 7.5 - Whipped in some good balls, a couple of **** ones, but his defending was exceptional. HIs decision making and composure on insanely good. He may get done for pace in behind at times, but apart from that he's a sensational defender. Definitely our best player. Did well to deal with Mbeumo, Wissa, Schade etc Schar - 7 - Solid performance Botman - 7 Burn - 5 - I'll be generous and give him a 5 for some decent defending at times, but holy **** is he out of his depth at this level, and just goes to show how much he relied on Joelinton/Willock covering him last season. Decent defender but exposed severely at the highest level. Should only be cover at any position, especially LB. Just goes to show how ****e Targett is. Anderson - 5 - Worked hard, but he's not a central midfielder IMO. He's an attacking mid/Winger. He shouldn't be near the starting 11 right now. Failed to see what he has to offer. He existed and chased the ball down. Bruno - 2 - Shocking. He's been found out, and he really should not be playing in a deep role. Maybe he will improve, but nah. Not for me in a deep role. He's becoming a serious liability. He should be shifted to the RCM position and let someone else like Longstaff/Tonali play central. He could have even gotten himself sent off with his tantrum. He looks like being responsible for a goal every game. Needs a positional change or to be sold as he obviously cannot handle this league in a deeper role. Too much pace and aggression, he wants to dilly dally on the ball like he's in la liga. Longstaff - 7 - I thought he was good this game. He made some errors as he's limited, but I thought his defensive work, his general work rate and his ball carrying was great. We're gonna seriously need longstaff and Willock to be fit because we're gonna need them when we rest our better players. Barnes - 7 - Great. Some great runs, was a threat. Sometimes final ball was good, other times not. Wilson - 7.5 - MOTM - Finishing could have been better at times, but unlucky not to have a goal in open play when VAR ruled that goal out, and good pen. He may not be as skillful as Isak but he holds the ball up really well. I'm giving him MOTM because I think his impact was quite clear. Should have had 2 goals, and his hold up play was essential. Isak would have been mauled and struggled in a game like this at CF IMO. Gordon - 7 - Great work rate, made some good runs, final ball decent but could be better.
That's odd, as I thought Bruno had a much better game yesterday. Maybe I was watching the wrong gslame / player.
I thought he was better yesterday n all. Did his job. Which is as a deep lying player that pings diagonals to the wings. He doesn’t assist he creates the pass to make the assists. The sooner people realise this the better. Bored of hearing clueless ****ers thinking he’s some sort of attacking prodigy. He’s not.
Agree with Fat Boy. Bruno was decent to good. Not quite at his best but just about everything in the second half went through him and coincided with our taking control of the game. Brentford weren’t really in the game second half and that was because of our midfield and their limited ambitions. Also, think Burn had a reasonable game. Possibly also helped by Brentford’s limited ambitions. Didn’t do anything wrong that I can recall. Do think the criticism of him is a bit OTT, not just you Tash. Yes, I’d like to see Hall play but I’m sure he will once he’s up to speed which I remember Gordon acknowledging was necessary when he came then he’ll get a game and then it’s up to him. Also had MoTM as a toss up between Gordon and Wilson. Gordon does a lot of work off the ball which is more noticeable if you’re there.
Also if we’re going to have niggles and complaints. With the amount of hair bleach in our squad either Anderson or Barnes need to dye their hair. Those 2 look too alike from the stands
Honestly, we struggled at home to Brentford. They missed one absolute sitter as well (Wissa). You've got to take at least 1 point off every player, except Bruno who was probably more like a 5. I mean, you can't give Pope 6 out of 10 when his kicking is THAT bad. Pope - 5 Trippier - 6.5 Schar - 6 Botman - 6 Burn - 4 Bruno - 5 Longstaff - 6 Anderson - 4 Barnes - 6 Gordon - 6 Wilson - 6 Trippier MoM purely on defending, but lower marks because the set plays were just gash. Again, why is Howe not - for example - setting Bruno up to take some instead, take the pressure off? It's the 'let's do the same thing over and over' that's driving me nuts.
Lets just abandon and scrap everything. Bring back Bruce, Bring back Ashley, start Dummett, Lascelles, Manquillo, Murphy and those that can't get tickets will finally be happy at getting back in. Oh wait. They won't because they still won't go.
Honest thought is we need a plan b formation. Would 4-2-3-1 work? I don't think so. Our only natural number 10's would be Miggy (Not played there for years now) or Anderson (Not played there full stop). We have wingers who can't cross great and 2 strikers who I wouldn't say winning headers for knock downs is a strong point. We also have 2 slow as **** wing backs. So lets forget 4-2-3-1 as squad hasn't been built for it. Said this to Schlem and Hung yesterday is my fear is the squad building suggests an eventual move to 5-3-2. 2 pacey wing backs, 2 deep midfielders, and 2 pacey strikers. Which would be the ideal formation for a certain grey haired, portugese manager currently residing in Rome........If they were to think of changing at the top.
Set pieces last season were ****ing ****e too. Refuse to believe that 6ft7 and 6ft 2 burn, Botman and Shär can't attack a ball. Its coaching combined with poor delivery from Tripps. @Magdadlorian bring back Bruce for that. We were better at it under him
He pissed about on the ball and lost it numerous times, and you can tell it was getting to him because he snapped a player late and could have got himself sent off easily. I can't think of a single great thing he did all game. He also missed a sitter as well. He is getting frustrated because he cannot play like a typical brazilian mid in the deep part of our midfield. He needs a positional change asap.
He played well the sides not exactly playing great and it was a scrappy game. Relax mate there's no need to bully the best players at the club. I have a feeling Newcastle are holding something back and over the season things will improve.
