Anorthernsoul 1221 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I understand we haven't got a team of worldbeaters but at this level we should be turning in better performances than that, zero positives anywhere on the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21915 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 9 minutes ago, Anorthernsoul said: I understand we haven't got a team of worldbeaters but at this level we should be turning in better performances than that, zero positives anywhere on the park. Bit harsh. They never stopped working all game, kept an excellent defensive shape and restricted Burnley to very few chances, the goal aside. It’s obvious that we are seriously lacking in quality at this level going forward so it’s credit to the manager - and the work ethic of the players - that we’re In 9th with a quarter of the season gone and not in a relegation scrap. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorthernsoul 1221 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 It's awful football to watch though, the last few games have been shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21915 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Yedlin and Atsu both played positively but their final ball was shocking at times, but then they only had Joselu to aim at mostly and his movement isn’t the best. Joselu, Diame, Ritchie and Perez all had poor games. I felt sorry for shelvey because he was trying to create but there was fuck all movement ahead of him and Burnley did their homework and pressed him high up the pitch. The one thing Id like to see Rafa tinker with is the front two. Not convinced Joselu/Perez is the best combination Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21915 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, Anorthernsoul said: It's awful football to watch though, the last few games have been shite. It ain’t pretty, you’re right there. But what else do you do if you’re Rafa? I’ve actually found it weirdly satisfying as a spectacle to see a Newcastle side so well drilled defensively if only because it’s so unusual. This group of players isn’t going to outplay many PL sides. But Rafa’s pragmatic approach seems the best option until we see some proper investment. £5m outlay on our main centre forward ffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddockLad 17252 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 28 minutes ago, Anorthernsoul said: I understand we haven't got a team of worldbeaters but at this level we should be turning in better performances than that, zero positives anywhere on the park. What did you make of similar tiny budget Burnley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wykikitoon 20129 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 agree with Gloomy tbh. The majority on here agree Perez is weak as piss. He needs to get shut of ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35077 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 22 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said: Bit harsh. They never stopped working all game, kept an excellent defensive shape and restricted Burnley to very few chances, the goal aside. It’s obvious that we are seriously lacking in quality at this level going forward so it’s credit to the manager - and the work ethic of the players - that we’re In 9th with a quarter of the season gone and not in a relegation scrap. Absolutely. Palace probably created more in the first half against us then both teams did in 90 mins last night. And that's a shite Palace away from home. A bit of luck or a bit of quality and, if we'd scored first, we'd probably have won against Burnley. The performance last night wasn't terrible and it wasn't very good against Palace but the result, inevitably, taints the perception of how the team plays. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35077 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 23 minutes ago, Anorthernsoul said: It's awful football to watch though, the last few games have been shite. What do you expect? We've a pragmatist managing a side which hasn't had very much money spent on it. I suppose we could play more expansive football (Rafa won't though with the current squad) and pick up less points. Would that be better? Obviously not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 15524 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 We'd be happy losing every game 4-3. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddockLad 17252 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Were about as good as anyone else in this division outside the 5/6 usual suspects. I frankly dont know what people think theyre watching when they see Burnley, west brom, southampton, stoke etc etc. Were no better and no worse on a fraction of what theyve spent in the last 5 years. Our work ethic will just about keep us up and thats it. Am complelty in board with it because of Rafa and id say that for me its obvious hes the only thing thats moved the club forward and kept us from the start of the road that the mackems are now 3/4 down. To the whingers id say have some fuckin patience for fucks sakes and stop trying to think we can run before we can walk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35077 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, PaddockLad said: Were about as good as anyone else in this division outside the 5/6 usual suspects. I frankly dont know what people think theyre watching when they see Burnley, west brom, southampton, stoke etc etc. Were no better and no worse on a fraction of what theyve spent in the last 5 years. Our work ethic will just about keep us up and thats it. Am complelty in board with it because of Rafa and id say that for me its obvious hes the only thing thats moved the club forward and kept us from the start of the road that the mackems are now 3/4 down. To the whingers id say have some fuckin patience for fucks sakes and stop trying to think we can run before we can walk It's obvious to me the team have bought into Benitez and are working their bollocks off for him and that, as you say, is probably the difference between our squad doing ok and being in a relegation battle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13863 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Strange to see people losing their mind over this when it was, by and large, exactly the same as other games this season. The only difference is that the other team nicked the chance in a tight game. Having said that, I was surprised he didn't change it sooner since Diame and Atsu didn't have a kick in the second half and we were really struggling to win and keep the ball. Joselu continues to graft but if he gets more than 7 goals this season, I'll be amazed. I'm no Mitrovic fan but I'm wondering if it's time to give him another go and see if he can nail his place down. I think Joselu has more about him in a technical sense but I think Mitrovic might offer a bit more goal threat. It's pretty disappointing to see the ball retained and knocked about decently until it hits the front two, only for it to bobble away and fade into nowt. Anyway, this will be a recurring pattern with games this season and I wouldn't be surprised if we nick the Bournemouth game by 1 goal. Thought I saw someone I recognised along from me in the away end, was looking at him for a good 10 minutes before I realised it was Chancel Mbemba. Seemed a bit embarrassed when everyone else noticed and started singing for him but he seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere of it all. I do wonder what he thought about the bloke who was screaming for Diame to fuck off for 15 minutes though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7025 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) People have short memories. I still remember Colo and Taylor defending like they were playing for a Sunday League team. It's nice to see us defend properly for a change. And that's with Yedlin, Manquillo, Lascelles and Elliot who have looked like bang average championship players for most of their careers Edited October 31, 2017 by Kid Dynamite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 30598 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 15 minutes ago, PaddockLad said: To the whingers id say have some fuckin patience for fucks sakes and stop trying to think we can run before we can walk Aye, if it were anyone other than Rafa in charge I'd be worried that this is as good as it's going to get, to survive in the PL is the long term goal. But with someone of Bentiez's pedigree we should be assured that he has loftier ambitions than that for the team and that what we are seeing is a temporary standard due to a poor transfer window and weak squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorthernsoul 1221 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 (edited) Too many fannies on here who can't hold their hands up and admit when we play shite and Rafa gets it wrong, we were playing fucking BURNLEY. Grow some balls, change your system and go to win the game. Don't start Perez or Diame who give us fuck all going forward, they don't defend so we might aswell have 9 men. People cream their pants over Rafa's tactics but his inability to change when it's not working costs us points and it's frustrating as fuck. Edited October 31, 2017 by Anorthernsoul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35077 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 8 minutes ago, Kid Dynamite said: People have short memories. I still remember Colo and Taylor defending like they were playing for a Sunday League team. It's nice to see us defend properly for a change. And that's with Yedlin, Manquillo, Lascelles and Elliot who have looked like bang average championship players for most of their careers I remember you banging on about Taylor being a good player for about a decade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35077 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 1 minute ago, Anorthernsoul said: Too many fannies on here who can't hold their hands up and admit when we play shite and Rafa gets it wrong, we were playing fucking BURNLEY. Grow some balls, change your system and go to win the game. Don't start Perez or Diame who give us fuck all going forward, they don't defend so we might aswell have 9 men. People cream their pants over Rafa's tactics but his inability to change when it's not working costs us points and it's frustrating as fuck. Nah, you're talking shite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 13863 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Like when he changed it tactically against Palace and we won? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGingerQuiff 2412 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Rafa should ignore that we haven't got a better team than Burnley and focus on the fact it's Burnley or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21915 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 14 minutes ago, Anorthernsoul said: Too many fannies on here who can't hold their hands up and admit when we play shite and Rafa gets it wrong, we were playing fucking BURNLEY. Grow some balls, change your system and go to win the game. Don't start Perez or Diame who give us fuck all going forward, they don't defend so we might aswell have 9 men. People cream their pants over Rafa's tactics but his inability to change when it's not working costs us points and it's frustrating as fuck. I would have liked to have seen Gayle introduced earlier but if we’d seen it through and returned home with a point, or if we’d nicked it by the odd goal then we would have said job done. We won’t always win these games but they’ll be tight and we’ll mainly stay in them. We had close chances at the end for Manquillo and Joselu. As for it being only Burnley, they hardly dominated the game and we’re arguably a bit fortunate to take all three points - as we were against Palace. But they’re an established PL side, with a good manager, who beat Chelsea away from home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21915 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 I think if we’re honest, most of us would love it if we could take the game to a team like Burnley and have a real go at beating them. But we can also recognise we have one of the poorest squads in the league and Rafa’s approach, while negative and at times boring to watch, will be effective at consolidating PL status. I can take pleasure in how he’s got a group of ordinary players respecting the badge and working the socks off for him. Even if their deliveries into the box are shit. At least they had a go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OTF 7295 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 24 minutes ago, Ayatollah Hermione said: Strange to see people losing their mind over this when it was, by and large, exactly the same as other games this season. The only difference is that the other team nicked the chance in a tight game. Having said that, I was surprised he didn't change it sooner since Diame and Atsu didn't have a kick in the second half and we were really struggling to win and keep the ball. Joselu continues to graft but if he gets more than 7 goals this season, I'll be amazed. I'm no Mitrovic fan but I'm wondering if it's time to give him another go and see if he can nail his place down. I think Joselu has more about him in a technical sense but I think Mitrovic might offer a bit more goal threat. It's pretty disappointing to see the ball retained and knocked about decently until it hits the front two, only for it to bobble away and fade into nowt. Anyway, this will be a recurring pattern with games this season and I wouldn't be surprised if we nick the Bournemouth game by 1 goal. I don't think it’s strange at all but I agree with your sentiment. The issue is when you string together some good results and find yourself in a relatively advanced position on the table it cultivates the idea that you're a good footballing side so the expectation becomes one of good football. The problem, as you well recognise, is that we're not actually a good football side and so the expectation is never properly going to be met. When you're grafting results somehow, the displeasure is kept to a mild level during games and in the lead up to the next match people forget we're not a good football side when setting their expectations for the next match. I do this all the time even though I'm patently aware of it. Rafa is going to set us up in the manner that he thinks will give us the chance of getting maximum points. Unless something changes in the player front that's not likely to involve much atttactive football. It's a bitter pill to swallow, but we do have a glimmer of hope in the shape of this potential buyout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 They all know they have to defend and they all have positional discipline its what has got us up the league a bit. Rafa is working within a very stringent budget and what is essentially still a Championship side....In short he's performing miracles. Moaning at this point is ridiculous - there are different things to watch now, intricate details and patterns within the defensive posture. It's a bit like watching a second tier Italian side desperate to remain in Serie A. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 35077 Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Then again, after all we've had to cheer about in the last 10 years, we've every right to complain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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