Manchester U v Newcastle United.

[shackbleep 0]

I thought Man U were superb, their work rate was exceptional too. Unsurprisingly, Nani gave Perch a nightmare but Enrique kept Valencia very quiet, Scholes gave a performance that should shut the moustachioed-one up, comparing Smith to Fletcher is like comparing a state of the art mobile to a landline, Carroll comes out of a comparison to Rooney quite nicely iyam, Evans was comfortable dealing with Jonas who was very poor and Evra got the better of Routledge.

 

The bumming from Sky was just horrendous though, 'oh lets look at the stats and er.... oh there are surprisingly few shots on target... and er... they seem quite even ....OH BUT LOOK AT THE DOMINANCE ON POSSESSION'.

 

Honestly want to find Gray and Keys, truss them up and gimp-rape them with a spelky oar.

I thought they were average at best by their standards.

 

Yep I'm in agreement with this - thought they gave the ball away very cheaply at times going by the standards of their players.

[Guest alex]

You're talking drivel the pair of you. If you want to qualify 'average' with 'by their standards' then fine but it doesnt add anything objectively to understanding the absolutel quality of their peformance.

 

Shite is just shake your head time.

I honestly didn't think Man Utd played particularly well. And I think you're being a hypocrite tbh because the only way you could give our lot any credit is by judging it against what you could have expected from us / hoped for. I.e. 'by our standards'.

You can be objective about it and say they passed accurately, created plenty of chances, clinically took some chances, pressed the ball, gave us little space to move in, tackled well and retained possession well when we harried them to the best of our ability. Am struggling to see which part of their game was poor, apart from finishing. They looked to be in total control of the outcome of the match.

HF sums it up tbh (see above). Agree to differ I think.

[ChezGiven 0]

67% possession and they gave the ball away cheaply.

 

You're all off your tits man.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

I think we have lots of positives to take from the game. The attitude was good, Carroll was a right pain in the arse, and our back four in the main looked like they could cope. Scholes still a great player, the bastard.

[Guest Tuco Ramirez]

You're talking drivel the pair of you. If you want to qualify 'average' with 'by their standards' then fine but it doesnt add anything objectively to understanding the absolute quality of their peformance.

 

Shite is just shake your head time.

 

I wasn't impressed by them at all. They didn't have much zip about them and rarely got out of first gear. I'm not saying this because we made them look poor, it's because they played well, well, well, within themselves, they didn't have many trademark incisive breaks like they are famed for, they were just going through the motions, and they didn't need to do any more than that. We played like a side going out for a big day at a big ground to take a few pictures, Barton begging Giggs for his shirt what a prick, we are Newcastle United for fuck sake. Hardly anyone within the club really knows what the we're all about so fuckin sad.

[ChezGiven 0]

I honestly believe that Man U have started this season in top form and after seeing them twice, think they will be a lot stronger this season than anticipated. I thought we were great for 30 minutes, was genuinely delighted with the way we started. If i thought that it was just because Man U were average, then i'd be feeling a lot more down about things today. Man U were good and we competed with them until the mistakes in the last 15 of the first half. After that it was damage-limitation (with defenders launching aimless balls out of defence under pressure) and even with 10 men behind the ball, they had the quality to pick us off.

[Guest alex]

I don't think they'll win the league (or, by extension, the Champions League).

[ChezGiven 0]

No the CL is a long way off for them if Rooney doesnt regain his form but they proved last week they can match Chelsea. Unless Ancelotti was just trying to lull them into a false sense of security.

[OTF 7485]

Too early to judge them properly. They'll be there or thereabouts depending on their own injuries and form and that of Chelsea.

 

Us on the other hand, we clearly need to add to and improve our team.

[Guest alex]

No the CL is a long way off for them if Rooney doesnt regain his form but they proved last week they can match Chelsea. Unless Ancelotti was just trying to lull them into a false sense of security.

My reasoning's basically this: Rooney was fantastic last season and it'll be hard for him to repeat that. And, because they rely so heavily on him now they don't have C. Ronaldo they'll struggle to get the goals they need. Also, I wouldn't read too much into the Community Shield. I know they only lost by a point last season but I felt Chelsea were almost complacent at times and should've won by more. They'll be there or thereabouts though, as they always are.

[Tom 14013]

Too early to judge them properly

 

But we can be judged properly after our first game in a new division away against a team competing for honours?

 

What about the three teams below us, how should they be judged?

[ChezGiven 0]

No the CL is a long way off for them if Rooney doesnt regain his form but they proved last week they can match Chelsea. Unless Ancelotti was just trying to lull them into a false sense of security.

My reasoning's basically this: Rooney was fantastic last season and it'll be hard for him to repeat that. And, because they rely so heavily on him now they don't have C. Ronaldo they'll struggle to get the goals they need. Also, I wouldn't read too much into the Community Shield. I know they only lost by a point last season but I felt Chelsea were almost complacent at times and should've won by more. They'll be there or thereabouts though, as they always are.

Rooney is a funny one isnt it. That ankle injury seems to have completely stopped him, no signs last night he was getting any better either. To be fair that Hernandez didnt look all that when he replaced him either but its far too early to judge him. I think with Scholes, Nani, Valencia, Berbatov, Rooney and Hernandez, they've got a good chance this season.

 

You're right about Chelsea's complaceny last season of course. Who have you got your money on? I backed Chelsea at this time last season, not so sure this year.

[OTF 7485]

I also know a lot more about our players and what they're capable of, but I'm not judging them anyway just suggesting that it's pretty rubbish that with a relatively short injury list our starting backline featured two epl debutantes, we didn't have a real winger on the bench instead playing a striker who the manager has admitted on several occassions was surplus to requirements (presumably before realising that he'd have to play him). In central midfield our starting players were weak and we had no replacements on the bench spare a kid with no experience.

[Guest Tuco Ramirez]

I don't think they'll win the league (or, by extension, the Champions League).

Before a ball was kicked I said it would be London dominance this season, I still think that, possibly even yids third.

[The Fish 10963]

Thought it was a decent showing by us, they weren't at their best, and they didn't need to be. But I'm not about to slate either team, it was a glimpse of the gulf in quality, while they didn't hit top gear, they certainly didn't find us a walk-over. We hassled and harried and played ok. We didn't park the bus as so many clubs will, but we weren't naive either.

 

Honestly think if we meet 60% of the Premier League at their ground and play like that we'll pick up a reasonable amount of points.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't think we're definitely staying up on the back of a 3-0 loss at Old Trafford, but I have a little more hope. We certainly played better than West Ham, West Brom and some others.

 

Also, I'd rather lose the first game of the season at Man U and have the rest of it to try and catch up, instead of needing to go there at the end of the season needing the points.

[Guest alex]

No the CL is a long way off for them if Rooney doesnt regain his form but they proved last week they can match Chelsea. Unless Ancelotti was just trying to lull them into a false sense of security.

My reasoning's basically this: Rooney was fantastic last season and it'll be hard for him to repeat that. And, because they rely so heavily on him now they don't have C. Ronaldo they'll struggle to get the goals they need. Also, I wouldn't read too much into the Community Shield. I know they only lost by a point last season but I felt Chelsea were almost complacent at times and should've won by more. They'll be there or thereabouts though, as they always are.

Rooney is a funny one isnt it. That ankle injury seems to have completely stopped him, no signs last night he was getting any better either. To be fair that Hernandez didnt look all that when he replaced him either but its far too early to judge him. I think with Scholes, Nani, Valencia, Berbatov, Rooney and Hernandez, they've got a good chance this season.

 

You're right about Chelsea's complaceny last season of course. Who have you got your money on? I backed Chelsea at this time last season, not so sure this year.

Haven't had a bet but it's Chelsea for me. Depends like as Drogba is as important to them as Rooney is Man Utd.

[Guest alex]

Thought it was a decent showing by us, they weren't at their best, and they didn't need to be. But I'm not about to slate either team, it was a glimpse of the gulf in quality, while they didn't hit top gear, they certainly didn't find us a walk-over. We hassled and harried and played ok. We didn't park the bus as so many clubs will, but we weren't naive either.

 

Honestly think if we meet 60% of the Premier League at their ground and play like that we'll pick up a reasonable amount of points.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't think we're definitely staying up on the back of a 3-0 loss at Old Trafford, but I have a little more hope. We certainly played better than West Ham, West Brom and some others.

 

Also, I'd rather lose the first game of the season at Man U and have the rest of it to try and catch up, instead of needing to go there at the end of the season needing the points.

The problem for me is (not just going off last night, I was actually thinking it before) that we're probably going to go like that and, as you say, do alright away from home against a lot of sides. That'll be a waste of time unless we have a reasonably good home record though and a set-up like last night won't

provide that imo.

[The Fish 10963]

The problem for me is (not just going off last night, I was actually thinking it before) that we're probably going to go like that and, as you say, do alright away from home against a lot of sides. That'll be a waste of time unless we have a reasonably good home record though and a set-up like last night won't provide that imo.

 

Absolutely, but I don't think we're going to set up at home the same as that (other than when we face teams like Man U etc.) I fully expect us to be a more attacking side at SJP. I'd expect us to drop Smith and play a more pacey striker alongside Carroll, with Nolan dropping back.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Winning at home is the key. Next week will be the test, the emphasis is on us coming out to attack unlike last night that was damage control. We looked like we had something about us as a defensive unit, far from brilliant but I thought far less Keystone Cops than in the past, time to see how we function as an attacking unit.

[Holden McGroin 6783]

Ashley Young will rip Perch a new one.

[The Fish 10963]

Winning at home is the key. Next week will be the test, the emphasis is on us coming out to attack unlike last night that was damage control. We looked like we had something about us as a defensive unit, far from brilliant but I thought far less Keystone Cops than in the past, time to see how we function as an attacking unit.

I'd be nervous to go too full out against Villa, their tales are going to be up after their showing against West Ham, it wasn't just a 3-0 win for them. They played very well, especially down their wings. I'd be VERY nervous about Perch, Simpson or whomever facing Albrighton or Young on that wing.

 

I'm not saying park the bus, but I'd be tempted to play a similar style to that which we employed last night. Maybe putting a little more pressure higher up the ptch, but I would be wary of their pace.

[donaldstott 0]

It is impossible to judge where we are on last nights game, we won't be the last side to go there and lose 3-0, but there will be plenty of teams who won't go there and have 8 shots (4 on target).

 

Perch basically faced the toughest game of the season. Not only is he marking Nani, he's also got Barton and Routledge in front of him who didn't fancy tracking Evra, which certainly led to the second goal and arguably they have a responsibility to get closer to Giggs. I'm not suggesting he is good enough, but just there is no tougher examination then last night.

[LeazesMag 0]

I thought Man U were superb, their work rate was exceptional too. Unsurprisingly, Nani gave Perch a nightmare but Enrique kept Valencia very quiet, Scholes gave a performance that should shut the moustachioed-one up, comparing Smith to Fletcher is like comparing a state of the art mobile to a landline, Carroll comes out of a comparison to Rooney quite nicely iyam, Evans was comfortable dealing with Jonas who was very poor and Evra got the better of Routledge.

 

The bumming from Sky was just horrendous though, 'oh lets look at the stats and er.... oh there are surprisingly few shots on target... and er... they seem quite even ....OH BUT LOOK AT THE DOMINANCE ON POSSESSION'.

 

Honestly want to find Gray and Keys, truss them up and gimp-rape them with a spelky oar.

I thought they were average at best by their standards.

 

Average is the wrong way to describe the performance -it was more like they were playing an exhibition. They looked like they could step it up 2 or 3 gears at any point. Its probably a good job we didnt score-they might have got angry.

 

yes. And the fact that they only had to play it like an exhibition match, makes it even worse.

 

From our own point of view, our obvious flaws that most of us knew about, are now glaring. We will obviously pick up points against the kick and rush teams but we are Newcastle and our sights should be to play the top teams at their own game.

[LeazesMag 0]

The 'Scholes can't tackle' thing is one of biggest cliches in football. He gets away with murder because he's such a good footballer and looks about 13. He's a dirty bastard who knows exactly what he's doing.

They all do that good footballers who are past it, again Scholes wasn't that good as people are saying he was last night. It even creeped in to Beardsley's game at the end of his career. They turn in to dirty bastards, see it time and time again.

 

he's always been a dirty bastard IMO, great player, but dirty. Mistimed tackle ? Don't make me laugh. A foul is a foul.

[manc-mag 1]

I thought Man U were superb, their work rate was exceptional too. Unsurprisingly, Nani gave Perch a nightmare but Enrique kept Valencia very quiet, Scholes gave a performance that should shut the moustachioed-one up, comparing Smith to Fletcher is like comparing a state of the art mobile to a landline, Carroll comes out of a comparison to Rooney quite nicely iyam, Evans was comfortable dealing with Jonas who was very poor and Evra got the better of Routledge.

 

The bumming from Sky was just horrendous though, 'oh lets look at the stats and er.... oh there are surprisingly few shots on target... and er... they seem quite even ....OH BUT LOOK AT THE DOMINANCE ON POSSESSION'.

 

Honestly want to find Gray and Keys, truss them up and gimp-rape them with a spelky oar.

I thought they were average at best by their standards.

 

Average is the wrong way to describe the performance -it was more like they were playing an exhibition. They looked like they could step it up 2 or 3 gears at any point. Its probably a good job we didnt score-they might have got angry.

 

yes. And the fact that they only had to play it like an exhibition match, makes it even worse.

 

 

 

 

Cobblers tbf. Chelsea won 6-0 at the weekend. If we were as bad as 6-0 then Man U would have scored 6 against us cos thats the business they're in.