Newcastle United v Norwich City

[Toonpack 9927]

Think the change is due to debuchy's suspension

I appreciate that, but I'd simply get someone else to play RB, I wouldn't shuffle the whole back line to use one of those players as temporary RB.

[Tom 14013]

Anita won caps for Holland at right back...

[David Kelly 1260]

Ben Arfa played Hull and was shite. And Sunderland.

 

The idea that he will terrorise the weaker oppositions when we're expected to play on the front foot doesn't really have that much supporting evidence.

 

I wouldn't have any great issues with him replacing Ameobi, but I remain unconvinced by Pardew's attempts at 433. Everyone seems to know their roles much better in his 442.

Didn't we play 433 against Villa and Liverpool (in the first half) when we played some of our best football this season?

[Happy Face 29]

...and we've played garbage with a 442 many times.

 

By and large i just think Pardew, and by extension his players, are more comfortable with it. When we have that Tiote/Cabaye partnership in the middle which has been the defining success through Pardew's time here.

[Asprilla 96]

We'll lose. Just wait.

[aimaad22 4222]

Ben Arfa in for Shola, Colo in for Debuchy. Back to 4 3 3 for this game imo

And more of that pressing in midfield please!

[hostile_statue 0]

...and we've played garbage with a 442 many times.

 

By and large i just think Pardew, and by extension his players, are more comfortable with it. When we have that Tiote/Cabaye partnership in the middle which has been the defining success through Pardew's time here.

Yeah, I agree with this. He's a 4-4-2 man at heart.

 

Will be interesting if he can change the set-up of the team for these 2 games. I'm not convinced. Pardew is a small club manager and at his best when facing a team that is dominating possesion.

[Dr Gloom 22143]

i want to see ben arfa back in but not sure any of the front three are that suited to the lone striker role.

[donaldstott 0]

I wouldn't change it, nobody deserves to be dropped and Ben Arfa's form doesn't warrant selection.

 

Start 4-4-2 and if necessary he can shuffle that round to a 4-3-3 with Remy and Gouff either side of Shola.

[ChezGiven 0]

 

Yeah, I agree with this. He's a 4-4-2 man at heart.

 

Will be interesting if he can change the set-up of the team for these 2 games. I'm not convinced. Pardew is a small club manager and at his best when facing a team that is dominating possesion.

You've made that last sentence up on the basis of a few results. A season ago we wouldn't beat anyone decent under Pardew, now that's all he is good at? Stop talking shit.

[David Kelly 1260]

...and we've played garbage with a 442 many times.

 

By and large i just think Pardew, and by extension his players, are more comfortable with it. When we have that Tiote/Cabaye partnership in the middle which has been the defining success through Pardew's time here.

Pardews biggest success here (finishing 5th) was on the back of playing a 433 for half a season so I don't really see how now we are more comfortable with 442. For me we don't have the players to play a 442 any more. We have one winger in our first team pool in Ben Arfa. Gouffran is much more of a wide attacker than a winger and Sissoko can do a job out wide when his primary concern isn't being creative but I don't see him providing a threat going forward (other than the odd burst like the one he made yesterday).

He might have more experience with 442 and feel more comfortable with it but I think he knows we don't have personnel to effectively work it.

[Christmas Tree 4821]

433 when we finished 5th played a great deal to two strikers hitting form didnt it?

 

433 now is dodgy when our main striker is out of form as well as Ben Arfa (2 out of 3 is bad).

 

Of course we could put goofy out left, hba out right and loic in the middle but with all the changes at the back as well, it seems a lot of effort to change a winning team just to tackle norwich. Surely against these we can push up anyway and Cabaye can boss attack a bit more.

[David Kelly 1260]

433 when we finished 5th played a great deal to two strikers hitting form didnt it?

 

433 now is dodgy when our main striker is out of form as well as Ben Arfa (2 out of 3 is bad).

 

Of course we could put goofy out left, hba out right and loic in the middle but with all the changes at the back as well, it seems a lot of effort to change a winning team just to tackle norwich. Surely against these we can push up anyway and Cabaye can boss attack a bit more.

Don't think anyone's suggesting that Cisse should be put back in. Remy and Gouffran would be two of the first names on most people's team sheets at the moment I would think. There's also not a lot of changes needed at the back.

But setting up to play counter attacking against Norwich at home just wouldn't work imo. And that seems to be what Pardew is using 442 for at the moment.

[Happy Face 29]

Pardews biggest success here (finishing 5th) was on the back of playing a 433 for half a season so I don't really see how now we are more comfortable with 442. For me we don't have the players to play a 442 any more. We have one winger in our first team pool in Ben Arfa. Gouffran is much more of a wide attacker than a winger and Sissoko can do a job out wide when his primary concern isn't being creative but I don't see him providing a threat going forward (other than the odd burst like the one he made yesterday).

He might have more experience with 442 and feel more comfortable with it but I think he knows we don't have personnel to effectively work it.

 

 

Think the bold bit is generous. Did we even see it much before the WBA away game? That's the first time I remember thinking it looked good, only 9 games to go at that point.

[David Kelly 1260]

From memory we played it more than that but I don't know where to look to back it up. Half a season probably is a bit much as we certainly didn't play that way until Cisse arrived but I couldn't tell you who we used it against first.

[David Kelly 1260]

Looking at the team sheets from the the run in that season it would appear that it could have been the West Brom or maybe the Norwich game the week before that we first used 433. Either way it's only 9 or 10 games so your right it was certainly way less that half a season. Was certainly our best spell of the season though.

[hostile_statue 0]

You've made that last sentence up on the basis of a few results. A season ago we wouldn't beat anyone decent under Pardew, now that's all he is good at? Stop talking shit.

No. Some of our best performances in 2010-11 and 11-12 came vs Liverpool, Man U, Chelsea. Last season we couldn't beat anyone, neither the Man U's or the mackems. And relax, tough guy. Smoke some more baccy.

[Christmas Tree 4821]

Looking at the team sheets from the the run in that season it would appear that it could have been the West Brom or maybe the Norwich game the week before that we first used 433. Either way it's only 9 or 10 games so your right it was certainly way less that half a season. Was certainly our best spell of the season though.

Surely the best run was the first 10 games or so?

[The Fish 10963]

I would change things up. Not just because Debuchy is going to miss the game which impacts not only the back four, but also our attack, but I also think the opposition will be ask different questions.

 

Norwich won't be dominating possession, they will be looking to stifle us and the formation/system we got so right against Spurs and Chelsea would lead to a stalemate; two teams looking to stop the other playing and given our options I think we should give them a different proposition to face.

 

If we play Santon on the right hand side and Haidara on the left we'll have 2 very attacking fullbacks, but Norwich's danger come from the right flank. Snodgrass is really dangerous in my opinion. However, if we control the centre, I think we can nullify him and I honestly believe we can control the centre.

 

I'd stick with the same two centre halves. Tiote has been playing well, so I'd stick with him. I'd want to get Ben Arfa on as I think he'd cause their fullbacks real problems, more so than Sissoko and while Moussa hasn't done anything wrong, I don't think their fullbacks would struggle as much with the more direct running of MS.

 

Start Cisse, I know Shola has played well, but I just think if any game was going to give him the opportunity to finally break this streak.

 

Krul

Santon MYM Willo Haidara

Tiote

HBA Cabaye Gouffran

Remy

Cisse

If we haven't broken them down by the hour mark, bring on Shola and Sissoko to and some strength and directness to our play.

[The Fish 10963]

Just looked more closely at their fixtures, in the 1st 11 games, they've played 6 of the top 8. Mid table teams they've done well against (West Ham and Stoke) play a physical game, so I don't think leaning on that side of our game is wise.

[Tom 14013]

Stop putting Santon at right back! (Stop getting bond wrong!)

 

I think Anita will slot in at right back OR he'll play Mbiwa there & draft in Coloccini or Taylor.

[The Fish 10963]

Stop putting Santon at right back! (Stop getting bond wrong!)

 

I think Anita will slot in at right back OR he'll play Mbiwa there & draft in Coloccini or Taylor.

 

I know he's not a right back, but I'd rather have him there than Haidara, Anita, MYM or Dummet.

[Tom 14013]

Anita is my preferred choice mind. Having played there for Ajax and Holland before ourselves that's good enough for me.

 

I'd have another option on the bench and then we can push Anita up if need be. We're blessed enough to have several players who can play both flanks, Anita, Santon & Mbiwa being some of them but I would prefer to change as little as possible. It's better to have one lad uncomfortable in a system & the other 10 comfortable than to rearrange the entire thing & screw it all up.

 

I don't think Santon feels too comfortable on the right for whatever reason, Anita has the pedigree and class to perform in a multitude of roles without breaking a sweat.

[Brock Manson 0]

High-tempo pressing game should be the order of the day.

 

The absolute key is to not give away any free kicks as Snodgrass can really hit them. Give Williamson a good shake before the match and get the message through.

 

We're nailed on to lose this one though. It's in the stars.

[desmondTUTU 0]

willo does the shaking. he doesn't need the shaking.