After a period of stability and a settled team weâve now gone full circle and have a midfield dilemma for Sundayâs game. Will the forgotten man Chris Baird come in to replace Sidwell? I think not. Frimpong has done kind of okay in his previous outings and did really well when he came on as sub on Monday night (a couple of crunching tackles let QPR know he was there!). And Jol did after all bring him in in January as Sidwellesque cover. So heâll play. Left midfield is much more problematic. The obvious choice is to replace Dejagah with Urby but after his display on Monday that is now debatable. One option is to move Duffers back there and put Manolev on the right (he played there very effectively for Bulgaria last week). The other choices are Frei or Richardson as straight replacements for Dejagah. I did think about Enoh and Hugo but I can't see how either would fit in without disrupting the balance of the team (and adversely at that). With Newcastle playing in the Europa tonight we have a real chance for points but weâll need to be strong defensively as well as have a bit of a attacking flair. The team Iâd go for is - â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦Schwarzerâ¦â¦â¦â¦. ..Rietherâ¦.Senderosâ¦Hangelandâ¦.Riise.. â¦â¦â¦..Frimpongâ¦â¦â¦â¦Karaâ¦.. â¦Manolevâ¦â¦â¦Ruizâ¦â¦â¦â¦..Duff.. â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦Berbatovâ¦â¦.
I would agree with that assessment, C58. However I would not be surprised if it was Hugo who replaced Dejagah. As for Baird, he's seen a few games as the replacement for Karagounis but I just don't think he has the motor to replace Sidwell. I'd like to see Frimpong get a run, as I don't think he'll make it as Arsenal and this is a good chance to a) see if he's good enough for us and b) convince him to stay with us if he leaves Arsenal.
I'd like to see Frei play at some point, not sure if he should start though. Not sure about Manolev either... Glad it's Big Mart's decision and not mine!
I'll go with Schwarzer Riether Hangeland Senderos Riise Urby Frimpong Karagounis Duff Ruiz Berbatov Jol has been reluctant to use Manolev, and whenever Rodallega has played, it's always been up top. Can we get Kaca back?
In his lunch time press conference, Jol said that Dejagah will be out for at least one week (and possibly three) with an ankle injury. Sidwell is also obviously out as are Diarra (long term knee problem) and Petric (abductor injury). Otherwise all fit and raring to go. Just for the record, Dejagah was fould 5 times in the first 35 minutes on Monday night before he got clobbered - leading to the injury. Such a pity he has come on in leaps and bounds this season. Here is a wee cameo performance (a back heel nutmeg) from Monday - [video=youtube;r6Qj0VPaj98]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Qj0VPaj98&feature=player_embedded[/video] We'll miss him on Sunday I fear.
Interesting isn't it - in January I was slightly surprised that we seemed to be stocking up on midfielders - this weekend we might be using 3 of them - astute management by Martin I think. Quietly we have been in good form - only 2 losses and 5 wins in our last 10 games - only 1 team has lost less - Man U - and only 3 others have lost 2 games or less, so I fancy us for at least a point this weekend - Newcastle have won 4, lost 5 over the last 10. By the by - also shows what nonsense Lawro writes - COYW
An obviously boyed up Jol is still playing it low key as to the need to win games. And he doesn't give too much away about who will replace Sidwell and Dejagah in his latest internal video - [video=youtube;_EVa_P0TZ1g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_EVa_P0TZ1g[/video]
Mr Friend is the ref tomorrow !! Thankfully he has only been in charge of two of our games this season - Man Utd away and home - because, apart from Mr Oliver, he is the ref that we fare worst under. He has ref'd a total of 8 of our games and we have won only 2, losing 4 and drawing 2. It is probably pure coincidence but Mr Friend was the man in the middle for our game away to Newcastle last season (we lost 2-1). He is also yellow card happy having issued 62 in his 17 games so far this year. Only 1 red though. All that said we have overcome worse omens this year (stand up Mr Probert). And in fact, our 2 wins under his officiating have been 1 in each of the last two seasons so he 'owes' us 1 this season, if you believe in Murphy's Law that is.
Starting XI: Schwarzer; Riether, Senderos, Hangeland, Riise; Manolev, Enoh, Karagounis, Duff; Ruiz; Berbatov Subs: Etheridge, Hughes, Richardson, Frimpong, Emanuelson, Frei, Rodallega Surprise inclusion is Enoh for his first start, it'll be nice to have a look at him. Good call from C58 as Manolev starts.
Did anyone hear Gentleman Jim singing along before the game- "I just want you to dance with me tonight" it was absolutely golden
To be fair the Newcastle goal had been coming. We bossed it in the first half but we keep inviting them to attack in the second, sitting far too deep. Why do we always do this?
Very deflated after watching that nonsense. Didn't seem like we wanted to win the game at any point today, encouraged Newcastle to attack and just relied on them missing chances in order to take something from the game, which nearly paid off. Newcastle may have been jaded after Thursday and have a number of key injuries, so we should have been at their heels from the first minute so this is a chance missed in my opinion. Jol's tactics also very negative, poor substitutions and starting Manolev over two genuine wingers on the bench (Urby, Richardson) was ridiculous. Enoh going off certainly didn't help us, as I thought he had a decent first 45 minutes but Frimpong was a steady replacement so can't blame the loss on that substitution. Ruiz also needs to start bucking up his ideas and fast. I'm not saying him and Berbatov can't play together, but Ruiz has seriously gone off the boil lately. Overall there was very little to smile about today, had Newcastle had their shooting boots on it would have been a walk in the park.
Agree Bidley and with all of Bandit's comments as well. Yet again we suffered by the loss of one player - this time Enoh - to a bad tackle (your earlier point Bidley, is also relevant here). He was settling into the game nicely, playing high and and cutting Cabaye right out of the game. Frimpong, when he came on, did the opposite and played far too deep. In fact from that point on we lost the midfield. Which brings me to another gripe. We were poor on the wing with neither Manolev or Duff having the pace to threaten or, on the day, the ability to put in decent crosses but replacing Manolev with Hugo didn't work. Some of me understands why Jol did it - Newcastle were struggling/tiring at the back. However the net effect was that we then had Berba joining Kara and Ruiz in midfield and no pace anywhere (or guile up front noted by Hugo's horrible attempt to control the ball in front of goal which was arguable an easier goalscoring chance than the one Cisse took). Why didn't he bring on Frei and keep Berba up top? Very much a 'bah humbug' day.
Although I am as deflated as most of us I will look for a ray of hope... I would very much like Jol to experiment from now on. Try different formations, combinations up front, give chance to the players on loan. We need to get as many points as possible and we should not give away any easy points but we can allow players to gain experience and opportunity to prove themselves.
