Newcastle United v AFC Bournemouth - QEII Sombre Edition

[Alex 35063]

Apart from the obvious duo of Wilson and ASM we miss Shelvey. He’s not the answer long term or good enough against the top sides but him being out just pushes the dross one step closer to the starting XI

[NJS 4378]

Still think it's Almiron/Fraser that's mainly the issue - front 3 of Isak, Wilson and ASM would work - if we can get them out there. 

[Alex 35063]

11 minutes ago, PaddockLad said:

At the moment it’s 200 mill to draw games we’d have probably lost last season 😳

Yeah but Isak is new to the team and the league, Bruno has just come back and then Wilson and ASM aren’t available. I do get what you’re saying and it reinforces the lack of quality in terms of options to bring on and creativity. But we were the worst team in the division and absolutely nailed on for relegation 12 months ago. Now we’re disappointed to be sat in mid-table and not tonking sides at home. 

[aimaad22 4156]

4 minutes ago, Rayvin said:

 

Might get him on the cheap though since Leicester are doing poorly and he was apparently keen on the move in the summer. You never know..

 

Can see Arsenal or someone swooping in if that's the case. Sorry just not in a positive mood right now  Watching Almiron, Willock and co is punishing way to start the weekend.

 

Need patience here I guess. Get Wilson and ASM fit, prod onto January. Good thing there is a World Cup along the way. 

[Rayvin 5217]

1 minute ago, aimaad22 said:

 

Can see Arsenal or someone swooping in if that's the case. Sorry just not in a positive mood right now  Watching Almiron, Willock and co is punishing way to start the weekend.

 

Need patience here I guess. Get Wilson and ASM fit, prod onto January. Good thing there is a World Cup along the way. 

 

I do get that sentiment  

[spongebob toonpants 3994]

Frustrating, but not as bad as some here are making out. It's still a thousand times better than we were seeing under Bruce.

We are obviously struggling to turn possession into chances, but we are still controlling games which is a novelty. Probably did enough to win today in reality

 

I'm still trusting the process, only a handful of games to the next window.

[toonotl 2977]

100% on the sting of Shelvey's absence. It's not so much the quality of Shelvey compared to other creative PL midfielder (not that he lacks quality) but it's even more that those attributes are completely lacking in the rest of our squad. Shelvey is the type of player we lack the most. He's lower-mid table quality but we don't even have another option.

 

Willock is a runner. Joelinton the destroyer. Bruno likes to sit in and orchestrate things forward but also laterally with neat passes. Longstaff is a pale shadow of Bruno. That's it.

 

Shelvey has the ability and courage to sink a through ball that someone like Isak would thrive on and there's no one else besides perhaps Bruno who could play that role. But the problem with Bruno stepping into that slot is that one of Joelinton or Willock would probably need to make way for Longstaff to then fill in for Bruno's absence further back. Not the worst solution but it means playing Bruno slightly outside of his best role and relying on Longstaff to make the team tick and fuck me that would make me nervous too. 

 

I think by the end of January we'll see the long term replacement in that position and we'll really kick on with everyone fit. Hopefully in the meantime we can get Shelvey back and get a few good months from him. It doesn't seem that Howe is willing to tinker much so that's the main hope that we get players back. Most of the time I would back Howe to get Plan A to work. But sometimes there are special circumstances like against the likes of Bournemouth at home.

 

It's not all doom and gloom. Howe has the qualities of a top top manager, I believe. He works hard. He's smart. Honest too. And he wants to win. Sounds daft but I think a lot of managers just float along. Howes not like that. Mainly, I'm proud that he's our manager so he gets a pass on what I perceive as the odd mistake.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13861]

Definitely feels like a mistake to not bring in a winger when you’re watching Fraser and Almiron serve that up. Rather than Longstaff, I do wonder if the option may have been Botman, go to 3 centre halves and then have Botman carry it to pin Bournemouth further back, with Murphy and Almiron tucked in and the full backs playing right on the edge. Wood should have been on earlier but I do understand Howe’s reluctance because that bench is fucking shit tbf. Anderson was actually a miss because he could have been a spark in place of Fraser and that speaks to the lack of quality when an academy product with 3 or so games to his name should be keeping Murphy and co out.

 

Still, hit the post twice again so there’s a slice of bad luck there. Would be nice to start winning though 

[Alex 35063]

33 minutes ago, aimaad22 said:

 

Can see Arsenal or someone swooping in if that's the case. Sorry just not in a positive mood right now  Watching Almiron, Willock and co is punishing way to start the weekend.

 

Need patience here I guess. Get Wilson and ASM fit, prod onto January. Good thing there is a World Cup along the way. 

Cheer up, man. Planty Joobs on Monday 👍🏻

[Ayatollah Hermione 13861]

Mind, I think we definitely get one of Maddison or Tielemans in January, along with an exciting young winger. Wouldn’t be surprised to see the form pick up again as it did last season with that little boost of quality.

[Christmas Tree 4725]

Shit day out that was.

 

Pleased for Isak on the penalty.

 

He also wanted to make loads of runs through the middle and was asking for the ball to be played but it never came.

[Kid Dynamite 7025]

Willock is a million miles from his loan spell form. Relying on him, Almiron and Fraser to create chances was always going to be asking for trouble. Murphy and Wood off the bench shows we still have a thin squad if we want to be in the top half of the table. A right winger and ACM are the next 2 positions that need upgrading 

[Kid Dynamite 7025]

1 hour ago, aimaad22 said:

 

Can see Arsenal or someone swooping in if that's the case. Sorry just not in a positive mood right now  Watching Almiron, Willock and co is punishing way to start the weekend.

 

Need patience here I guess. Get Wilson and ASM fit, prod onto January. Good thing there is a World Cup along the way. 

Wilson being fit isn't going to fix the issue of us having limited options to lay chances on for him unfortunately. 

[Ayatollah Hermione 13861]

But Maxi being fit alongside him will. Bruno clearly wasn’t fully fit today either 

[aimaad22 4156]

Yup. Maxi is critical. Stretches defences and pulls them out of position plus the end product has been better lately. 

 

I think the club has underestimated just how shite our other midfielders are. They would have hoped to squeeze something out of them this season as the project progresses but it just isn't happening. 

[spongebob toonpants 3994]

On the bright side at least Brendan isn't our manager

[Alex 35063]

I like how he turned his nose up at joining us even though we weren’t in for him anyway.

[sammynb 3355]

Definitely made the correct decision not to watch this live.
As others have said Howe's plan A is decent but it needs better players to for it to always be successful.

Why keep slinging in crosses to a CF that isn't reknown for being a header of the ball, all the while we have a battering ram sat on the bench?

Why constantly slow the attack down when our CF has the pace and ability to put defenders on their arse?

Wood got a lot of shite off fans but we can see Isak is just as isolated because the service isn't there.

Maybe wor Eddie needs to think about dumping the inverted wingers for a game or two in the hope that players on on their preferred foot can provide better attacking balls (not just crosses but slide rule passes) - imagine what we'd be like with an in his prime Nobby Solano on the right side?

[toonotl 2977]

Yep. Its not so much that Fraser and Almiron were so poor yesterday, it's that they played in the manner expected of them. When we're that weak on the wings (adding in that Targett appears limited in attack) then opposition sides can flood the middle and channels and force us to go around them. So not only are we struggling for service from the wing, we're being forced into playing a game where we are dependant on our wing play to provide chances. It's a double-edged sword. This is the importance of ASM and how he stretches the pitch in both the vertical and lateral sense and provides more space in the channels for others to exploit. As said yesterday, Howe should be expecting these problems at this point as we've been without ASM for weeks now and it's been clear that we're being offered the wide spaces by our opponents. We needed to mix it up yesterday and we failed to do so. Still only lost once to a 9th minute stoppage time winner to thr league second best team at their ground. Things are great but there's a bit of pain there in that it could be even better. Onward and upward. 

[Holden McGroin 6582]

The performances are there, we just don't seem to be getting the results. 

 

Not sure what the possession percentage was at the end but it was 68% at half time. We would have had probably less than 50% under Bruce and got sucker punched. Teams are coming to St James's now with different game plans and thats a sign we are a different Beast now.

[thebrokendoll 9188]

sombre in the title, sombre drive home last night, wasn't in the mood to catch up with the thread till this morning.

think it's all been said already with regard to the match, just so very disappointing really, no one had a good game, one or two aren't particularly capable of it.

on the plus side....

I now know that if I leave the percy arms at exactly 14.47 I'll arrive at the top of access 15 in the leazes jprecisely as the ball in being kicked for the start of the match. 

avoided all the majestic queenie and king stuff. 

[Dr Gloom 21912]

Having slept on it, I’m less frustrated than I was yesterday after the match. Breaking down a stubborn side which has turned up to defend their own box and look to counter was never going to be easy. We don’t yet have the quality in reserve to break down teams like this if we’re missing just a couple of our our better first team players. 
 

Have to put it all in perspective though. We’ve come a long way in a short space of time. It’s been a disappointing start to the season because our performances have generally been good and it feels like we should be there sitting on 12-13 points. But remember where we were this time last season. The progression is plain to see. 
 

But until we sign another 3-4 quality first team players, Howe needs to develop a different style of playing. We don’t have the quality in reserve to stick with the same system and make like for like subs when we’re chasing a goal.
 

I expect there will be lots of other teams which turn up to SJP this season after this and play in a similar style with a compact, narrow defence and invite us to break them down. 

[thebrokendoll 9188]

thought of another plus point actually....

£6 for a pint of strongbow and a pint of guinness in the sumptuous surroundings of the percy  absolute bargain!

not so sure about the replica of the berlin wall they've built around the back outside space or the couple of reproduction stalag 13 huts for when it's raining. 

but hey, small sacrifices for 2 pints for six quid!   

 

Edited September 18, 2022 by thebrokendoll

[Dr Gloom 21912]

2 minutes ago, thebrokendoll said:

thought of another plus point actually....

£6 for a pint of strongbow and a pint of guinness in the sumptuous surroundings of the percy  absolute bargain!

not so sure about the replica of the berlin wall they've built around the back outside space or the couple of reproduction stalag 13 huts for when it's raining. 

but hey, small sacrifices for 2 pints for six quid!   

 

 

bargain. i bought y first £7 pint the other day down in that there london 

[Renton 21588]

I missed it yesterday which is the principal reason we put in a poor performance and failed to win. Soz. 

 

I think we're probably at the early stages of a transitional period, but lack the personnel to pull it off, at least when we have substantive injuries. To progress we need to become a team that dominates possession after years of the opposite, and is effective at this. It's not an easy thing to achieve. We're still a better counter attacking team, hence seemingly better against top opponents, but that isn't sustainable.

 

It's clear Howe is a fantastic motivator and coach to me, getting the best out of the players. But for the next step up we need more quality. There is only so long you can rely on pure effort before things go flat. I hope we strengthen in January and if our owners want a truly competitive Premiership team now is the time for them to spend. We have two steps to navigate, become a genuine contender first, which is the hardest thing to do, and then actually win something. For the latter we really need to go flat out in the cups. I'm confident we will get there eventually.