Happy Face 29 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 09/10 52 points from 25 games 16/17 52 points from 25 games I'm not pissing my pants just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@yourservice 67 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I'm pissing my pants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12447 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rafa-benitez-says-finds-incredible-12395680 Fair enough like. For all the slagging off about the team selection we did absolutely batter them. Probably the unluckiest loss of the season The Forest game was that for me as we deserved to win just got fucked over by the ref. I'm not sure why Rafa is so confused mind, they set up the same way Sheffield Wednesday did. It reminded me a lot of Swansea a few seasons back when we beat them 2-0 (or 2-1), they had all the ball but didn't really create an awful lot of clear cut chances and we clipped them on the break. For all our possession we only really created 2 proper chances for Gayle, and one for Ritchie (iirc), the Diame chance was out of nothing and would have been a spectacular goal if it had went in.. The Blackburn defence generally looked calm under pressure as we never stretched them with our passing or overloaded a flank or did anything through the middle, meanwhile anytime Blackburn went forward our lot looked panicky, Colback gave away a corner when he should have put it out for a throw and then conceded a free kick in a ridiculous position. Both in similar fashion to Anita gifting the Wednesday winger 30 yards which led to a corner, them getting 3 headers in our box before putting it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Transfer 0 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I don't think anyone is pissing their pants. There's a multitude of reasons to be worried though - certain players starting every week, Rafa's inflexibility, reliance on Shelvey, teams around us being consistent etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@yourservice 67 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 We've got this in the bag, Alan Brazil said so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGingerQuiff 2412 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Forgot about the Forest game, partly because I was absolutely smashed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Transfer 0 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The Blackburn defence generally looked calm under pressure as we never stretched them with our passing or overloaded a flank or did anything through the middle, meanwhile anytime Blackburn went forward our lot looked panicky, Colback gave away a corner when he should have put it out for a throw and then conceded a free kick in a ridiculous position. Both in similar fashion to Anita gifting the Wednesday winger 30 yards which led to a corner, them getting 3 headers in our box before putting it in. Yup. And how pointless is Gouffran? Offers nothing on the wing. No right back is going to look at him and think they're in for a tough game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12447 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Yup. And how pointless is Gouffran? Offers nothing on the wing. No right back is going to look at him and think they're in for a tough game. Aye he had a run at the start of the season as teams were a little more open against us (I think they saw weakness after the opening two losses) but recently teams have just been happy to sit deep and if we don't catch them early we soon run out of ideas. The over reliance on Shelvey is really worrying especially as he can go missing himself. Teams are comfortable just sitting deep against us which completely nullifies what Gayle wants to do and the worrying thing is Rafa isn't doing anything to change that up or try and get people into different areas, he's even saying how we were doing all the right things against Blackburn. I'm not pissing my pants about promotion but seven losses in just over half a season isn't good at all especially when many are under fairly consistent circumstances, Forest even tried the same thing Wednesday and Blackburn have done we just caught them early. We need a winger and a creative attacking midfielder as Diame and Gouffran don't offer enough on any consistent basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Transfer 0 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 the worrying thing is Rafa isn't doing anything to change that up or try and get people into different areas Spot on. Must be pretty straightforward coming up with a plan to play against us, as an opposition manager you know more or less exactly how we're going to set up and how we're going to play. It's a very tired argument now and it's one of several options but why can't we play with two up top occasionally? Why do always bring in the same subs at the same time (usually too late)? Why cant we start with Lazaar and Yedlin for once and give the opposition something different to play against (pace)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGingerQuiff 2412 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I think we've got the players to pull a 3-5-2 off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12447 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Aye, as SEW and others have mentioned in the past the disinterest in playing Mitro is odd. I understand that Gayle is doing well and I'm not saying Rafa should drop Gayle in favour of Mitro but he offers something different in a game we're hitting a brick wall in. Instead all we see is Perez come on against a defence that has successfully been defending against Gayle who is a fairly similar sort of threat to Perez and then Perez doesn't do anything. Lazaar has appeared once, if he's so shite that he genuinely looks far worse than Dummett then why the fuck did we buy him? It surely can't be that hard to improve on a player like Dummett. As you say surely he offers something different but we simply set up the same way every week with basically 3-4 positions that will rotate (usually 2 out of Gouff, Ritchie, Atsu, one out of Anita, Yedlin, and one out of Perez, Diame) the rest start every game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 4949 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The BBC headline for our game is 'Newcastle have 25 shots but lose 1-0. Maybe the issue is elsewhere. We've had concerns about our finishing all season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Transfer 0 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Something seriously wrong with Perez. He's been dreadful this season, does not put in the required effort and his body language is just off. By far the biggest disappointment of the season for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGingerQuiff 2412 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 A positive is we've still won more games than anyone else. Our inability to draw can be interpreted both ways really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12447 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The BBC headline for our game is 'Newcastle have 25 shots but lose 1-0. Maybe the issue is elsewhere. We've had concerns about our finishing all season. I think it's a fairly deceiving stat though, most of those shots were just hit and hopes from outside the box. We really only created 4 or so proper chances. I do think we need more scorers mind, someone (I think it was Trooper) mentioned the other day that Gouffran is our 2nd highest scorer with 4 after Gayle, it's not great really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12447 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 A positive is we've still won more games than anyone else. Our inability to draw can be interpreted both ways really. Another positive is we're in a good place in the table with very easily identifiable areas to improve, if we can bring in a few players that can create chances or finish moves themselves we'll be comfortably promoted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 4949 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I think it's a fairly deceiving stat though, most of those shots were just hit and hopes from outside the box. We really only created 4 or so proper chances. I do think we need more scorers mind, someone (I think it was Trooper) mentioned the other day that Gouffran is our 2nd highest scorer with 4 after Gayle, it's not great really. If we ever played Mitro I'm confident that he'd be getting plenty. Really don't understand the situation with him. He's so well loved by the fans and is comprent enough. If we're gonna have Colback and Anita playing and therefore no penetration, why not go Route 1 with Mitro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monroe Transfer 0 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Apparently only one club has won this league with more than seven losses - Bournemouth went up after losing 8 times. Brighton are playing like the best team in the division and the stats support that, they've just drawn a few more games than we have. I'd be delighted with our season if it wasn't so expectant that we'd go up. I still think over the course of the season that we'll go up, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGingerQuiff 2412 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I think it's a fairly deceiving stat though, most of those shots were just hit and hopes from outside the box. We really only created 4 or so proper chances. I do think we need more scorers mind, someone (I think it was Trooper) mentioned the other day that Gouffran is our 2nd highest scorer with 4 after Gayle, it's not great really. It wouldn't be great if it was accurate but it isn't We haven't had issues scoring except in a few games, sometimes watching us you can just tell it's going to be one of those days. But we always wait until after the 70th minute to try and do anything about it and that's where the issue lies. They started coming into the game and we did nowt to stop it happening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12447 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 If we ever played Mitro I'm confident that he'd be getting plenty. Really don't understand the situation with him. He's so well loved by the fans and is comprent enough. If we're gonna have Colback and Anita playing and therefore no penetration, why not go Route 1 with Mitro. I agree, I know the lad has doubters but he managed 8 in the Premier League at 21 year old in his first season abroad so surely he could be a threat in a lesser division which arguably suits a big man more. As I say I like Gayle and he deserves to start but I don't see any harm in playing Mitrovic at times or bringing him on when we're hitting a brick wall (like at half time today or half time against Wednesday). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12447 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) It wouldn't be great if it was accurate but it isn't We haven't had issues scoring except in a few games, sometimes watching us you can just tell it's going to be one of those days. But we always wait until after the 70th minute to try and do anything about it and that's where the issue lies. They started coming into the game and we did nowt to stop it happening Ritchie and Gouff tied on 4 in the league so it's not much better. Impressive that Mitro has 3 in the league considering his total lack of involvement (3 goals and 2 assists in 455 minutes). Edited January 2, 2017 by Howay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickie 0 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I think we're still going up, no bother. This is a relatively sticky patch and but we're still the best team in this league. For most of the game today we looked exactly what we are - exceptionally well coached and with a good attitude throughout the squad. Unfortunately we couldn't nick the first goal which would have drawn Blackburn out and probably led to a 3 or 4 goal win. Shelvey is obviously a big miss and I'm hoping for a high quality signing or two in Jan to give us a boost. I agree about Perez mind, he's been stinking for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wykikitoon 16500 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I am hoping this is a blip and we will get through it. Early on Anita was playing well at RB and it was going well as was Ritchie and even the Gouff. But Colback seriously needs to be dropped. The kid is wank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isegrim 8868 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The amount of shit performances in recent weeks is worrying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 19743 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Yeah, I think Benitez must also be aware of colback's lack of ability but he wants two central midfielders disciplined enough to hold position. That's the only reason I can think of as to why he doesn't move diame further back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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