If we get Dempsey and possibly Dawson, I can't see much between these two teams - -----------Mignolet----------- Bardsley-Brown-Dawson-Ohsea -------Catts------Colback----- Johnson---Dempsey----Sessegnon ------------Fletcher------------- vs ------------Krul--------------- Simpson-Taylor-Colo--Santon ----Fairy--Cabaye-Jonas---- Ben Arfa----Cisse-------Ba--- They have the best striker in Demba Ba. Cisse looks woeful. Last season a flash in the pan? Maybe he'll come back to form, but if he's inconsistent, then that's tough. I'd say we have the better defence now. Steven Taylor and Coloccini, I'll admit, are a fantastic pair when at their best, but as an all round defensive unit, I rate us higher. I honestly don't see much between us. We have Sessegnon, Mclean and Johnson for attacking/creative midfield, which makes us a lot more dangerous. They have some good midfielders, but not the same attacking/final 3rd quality we have. If their strikers don't get the service, then they're useless. We only have Fletcher, but around a lot of talent, he can be deadly. Roll on the derbies! I really fancy us to beat them.
Only problem with that is you have two players that don't belong to us. Why didn't you just put messi in there.
I was saying, if we do get Dempsey and Dawson. Take out Dawson even, just Dempsey, I think we look better.
I think personnel wise they shade us, but I honestly think MON closes the gap. Gonna be a great ding-dong for north east bragging rights, and from what I can see from last night, admittedly against lower quality opposition, the lads all seem to have naturally fitted together. Can't wait for Saturday, and a proper test for the lads.
Let the lively debate begin! Doubt we will get Dempsey and Dawson but anyway..... Newcastles is better....cos they finished 5th last season.......very much doubt our line up will, but it would be capable of top 8 given a bit of luck! I certainly think the gap has closed...hopefully!
This. Tbh the mags have a pretty decent team and have some big game changers in Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Cisse and Ba. We do with Johnson, Fletcher, Larsson, Sessegnon and McClean. Defensively not a *** packet between them. Krul is the best keeper of the 2. Very evenly matched teams when both at full strength. If we did sign a Defoe or Dempsey it might tip the balance in our favour. In the management stakes Mon simply piss all over Pardew by a whole universe in every aspect of character, ability, track record and class. However, don't forget, none of our players would obviously get into their team of course.
To be fair, IF you were to get those players, then yeah, you'd be stronger, but the same could be said for Debuchy! Also, Cisse has played 2 league games (Last season's CL Qualifiers and CL Winners respectively) and looked poor, but to write him off as a flash in a pan is a little short sighted in my opinion - In a poll on our board I said I thought Ba would outscore him this season, but I'm positive he'll improve! Your midfield is different to ours, Johnson and McClean are very traditional wingers, who use pace to get to the byline and put (albeit very good) crosses into the box. I'm still not sure what Sessegnon's best role is - sometimes he has looked great dropping deep and conducting the play, sometimes he links in the No.10 role, sometimes he goes missing altogether. Our midfield (when on song - so far, not this season) are a well oiled machine. Tiote and Anita are both deep lying CDMs who like to win the ball through sustained pressure and then pass it off as quickly and as simply as possible. Cabaye is our QB, spraying passes into the corners and over the top of defenders also going on the occasional burst forward himself. In the 4,3,3 we tend not to cross the ball as much, rarely scoring directly from headers. Personally I think our midfield are more technical and better passers, yours are faster and more direct. Our forward line wins hands down...Ben Arfa is ridiculous, Ba and Cisse both scored 10+ last season and have massively high finishing percentages. Fletcher is a bit of an unknown as he scored well in a poor team, but if I was picking a fantasy football XI, and I had the choice between Ba, Cisse and Ben Arfa or Fletcher (with Saha as back up) I know where I'd spend my money. Defence is tricky, we lost one of our main CB for most of the season and if I'm honest, I don't know too much about yours...Bardsley was one of the only players in your team who ever came away from the derbies having impressed me and Oshea has experience in abundance...Cuellar I've not really watched play extensively in a good few years, and Wes Brown has never really struck me as being a massively confident CB. Having said that, great defenses are built on coordination and cohesion as well as class and if your lads are comfortable with each other then that could be equally as important as a star name or a **** load of international caps! Stevie Taylor will (if fit) be important in the Derby...He's the heart on the sleeve type player who will break his legs to get back and stop a shot on the line. Colo is class, no-one can deny it - he got into the Prem XI last year! Full backs are where we're weakest...Simpson is often the scapegoat for our fans, but, whilst he does receive undue criticism at times, his positioning, physical ability and positional awareness are lower-half to mid-table at best. Santon has the physical attributes but needs to learn to read the game better - if he can, I think he could be world class, if he can't, he'll be another in a long list of 'could've beens' As for GKs, personally I'd give it to Krul although there's not a vast amount between them, just personal preference and last season's clean sheets!
If you sign Dempsey/Defoe, Dawson, and Cisse turns out to be ****, then with MON who is the better manager imho we will be almost neck and neck. That's a lot of if's though, and people writing off Cisse already is frankly nothing but stupidity. If he fires in 10 this season then you're at least 3 players away from us imo, Dempsey, Defoe and Dawson would be needed to have a chance of closing the gap I reckon.
Also, I wondered how long it would take for "class" to come into this. No one gives a ****. But if we must pick faults, it takes some classy manager to go to the press with a tattle tale about the opposition manager's misconduct, which turns out to be completely untrue.
I feel that opinion may be divided by allegiances on this one.....PS: We are great and Newcastle are pap!
Pardew is a smarmy, slimy, cockney ****er. You know it, we know it and the whole nation know it. Mon is pure class. And that's 100% spot on true.
All of that may or may not be 100% spot on true, it could be argued either way...What CANNOT be argued though is that Pardew is the first and only English manager to ever win the LMA and PL Manager of the Season award in the same year...He is also the only manager from either of our clubs to receive the PL Manager of the Season award (Peter Reid won the LMA Award in '96)
Excellent post by Jesus. Wouldn't expect anything less of course! NUFC have the more technical midfielders and two very good strikers, so they are quite a way better than us at the moment, on paper. Derbies rarely take place on paper though... more likely on a bog of a pitch. Mag, I for one do like that our manager has a bit of class about him. It may not mean much in terms of points on the pitch but the manager is the face of the club in the eyes of the world and he can only have a positive effect.
Bollocks: he was just unable to prove it that's all..Anyone with half a brain could see that the ref had been got at at half time. The second half decisions in favour of Newcastle went way beyond the realms of chance..
