I watched the games here in sunny Spain over last weekend with a bunch of mags who live locally. It was interesting to watch a full mag game without the partisanship of the derby and as it was the first game of the season I can´t say how indicative it was of things to come. But the impression I got was of a team on the cusp of something bad. I´m not just having a pop at the mags, as I´m not really into that, but I really do think they have problems. To start with, their attack is unimpressive at best. TBH, I kept confusing Ba and Amoebi, as they were equally inept and neither showed anything to frighten the promoted teams, let alone well-established Prem teams. Their midfield functioned pretty well, and while Tiote ran his socks off disrupting things in the middle of the park, Barton was hopeless if you ask me. Wayward passes, disappeared at times, mediocre delivery... He´s too good to stay like that, but I think it was more a case of trying too hard than playing a natural game and that cannot be good. The new French lad Cabaye was OK without standing out. Passed the ball well enough for a "satisfactory" mark on his first proper outing, but jury still out. At the back they were OK, but Arsenal didn´t ask too many difficult questions. Collocini seems to have decided he´ll play right at the back in the middle and he was very solid. The others were OK, but looked fragile at times and if Arsenal had bothered to commit players forward they looked like they could have filled their boots. Overall, it was a pretty dull game and the mags coped with an unambitious Arsenal reasonably well, but I got the feeling that a serious side would have posed a lot more problems and some that they would not have had answers for. Now that Enrique´s gone and Barton is treading water it does not look good in the long term. A derby two weeks into the season could go wither way, irrespective of how well the teams are playing, but I can see big problems for them up the road in a month or two, particularly if the French lads struggle to adjust.
Tomorrow, IMO, wil be decided by the new players and who turns up. Dont see our old boys freezing again and I would expect the old Newcastle lads to be up for the fight. Its down to the French boys v our new boys. For me we have a massive advantage in that department, we just need that rub of the green.
Bruce plays the same players as we had end of the season who knows.......... we've got a good range of new players.......he has to play some of them ffs....
Any mag would say that it wasn't the greatest of games for us, but we did get a draw against Arsenal, so it was hardly a case of getting battered. First game of the season with Cabaye who was brand spanking new and a few players who didn't look like they were at full fitness yet (Ba especially). I have no worries yet. Now if they're playing the same as they were last week in 10 matches time, then I'll be worried.
Totally agree, that was my reading of it as well. I think the intense atmosphere of the derby will **** up some of their new frenchies, who to be absolutely honest didn't really do that much for me, despite the boasts of the mags that they will run the midfield for the mags and dominate games (after they've found their feet they may get better, but at the moment I'm hardly impressed). Their strikers are ****e basically and if they get to 10 goals each (thats just Ba btw, from experience the rest of their 'strikers' will be lucky to get above 6 for the season) then for them it'll be a success. The defence at the moment isn't looking too bad (but I think their inexperienced LB could get roasted if Bruce puts him against one of our new boys) who should be able to get a few decent balls in for our lads. All in all, not a bad time to be playing them.
