Here are some observations on our defeat tonight against Arsenal at the Emirates.
- We shouldn’t panic because our last 2 games were against Arsenal – and they are one of the best teams in the country – and we didn’t really expect to get anything out of either game.
- We actually missed Enrique tonight, because N’Zogbia had to play back in defense at left back
- Joey Barton came on after 57 minutes for Rozehnal and the team seemed to flow a lot easier – and we wouldn’t be surprised if Keegan plays Barton from the start against Middlesbrough – which is now becoming a crucial game for us. However, Emre will also be available for the game on Sunday.
- The defense played quite well under the circumstances, and the Arsenal goals were good ones. Taylor and Cacapa are playing solidly in central defense and Stephen Carr is actually playing surprisingly well and made some good clearances tonight. He’s not our favorite player but give the lad some credit tonight. 😀
- We still lack creativity and drive in midfield, but now Emre will be available for Sunday, having now served his 3 match ban, and we expect Keegan to use him to full advantage on Sunday, when we have to attack Middlesbrough from the very first whistle.
- Smith and Owen up front both worked hard tonight, and didn’t have many chances, but we’re not sure Smith can score enough goals up front or is effective enough. We would probably prefer Viduka or even Ameobi to start on Sunday, with Michael Owen.
- The lads need the full support of the Newcastle fans on Sunday. We are playing better football than under Big Sam – even in defense – but playing Arsenal at the Emirates twice in Keegan’s first 3 games in charge is hardly easy – and it certainly hasn’t been.
- Kevin Keegan has to work on the confidence of the players as much as anything for Sunday’s game. We will need some players to step up in that game. A win will certainly relieve the anxiety creeping in on Tyne-side right now, in what has been a disastrous season for us, let’s be honest.
- N’Zogbia picked up his 5th booking of the season, which means he will miss the trip to Aston Villa, but will be available for Sunday’s game against Middlesbrough.
- We should pretend the season starts anew for us on Sunday, and see how many points we can collect through the end of the season. But the confidence of our players is going to be crucial for the next few games – that’s for sure.
It’s almost certain now, that for the second season in succession, we will not qualify for any European competition.
Comments and opinions always welcome.
50 comments so far
Leo*
Jan 30, 2008 at 12:58 AM
Comment #41i think i wont be the only one to say that it is good to hear from a fan from another team not on hear to gloat or be an idiot. ala midd the yidd, good on ya arsenal john
as for you midd, i will quote a bit of al murray… shame on you!
Geno Toon
Jan 30, 2008 at 1:12 AM
Comment #42Everyone needs to take a breath… We lost to Arsenal twice…but it was expected. The boys need a good gut check…Get a few wins on the trot and we will be ok. I really worry though that big players in there prime dont want to play for an inherently unstable club.
Build up the youth system get into europe on some level and the bigger names will start to come.
People need to stop this calling for KK head already. He didnt pick the team he inhereted it. Also he is playing one of the hottest teams right now and is missing many of his options for team selection.
subz
Jan 30, 2008 at 1:32 AM
Comment #43I’ve only read the 1 comment against KK(38), which I agree is bollox, I expected what we got out of the 2 games.
There is a marked improvement in attitude and play, but, all I’m saying is with butt & smith in the team it all goes to waste. Milner is low on form also.
Toon_Under
Jan 30, 2008 at 1:55 AM
Comment #44Not overly dejected as I braced myself for Adebayor to do something, and i thought 2-0 was fair, 3-0 was wrong.
We proved a couple of things tonight though.
1) Enrique should be our starting LB as at least he knows how to mark and is not afraid to tackle, plus N’Zogbia stays too far up the pitch to be a defender.
2) Personal opinions aside, Joey Barton needs to be in the engine room for this team to get anywhere this season. He looks for the passes to build up play, and tonight he tried to push up and link with the strikers. Well done Joey – it’s a long road back but at least you showed some ticker tonight.
3) Smith cannot head a ball accurately and should be on our bench in the Geremi utility sub role, with Ameobi or maybe Carroll starting. I thought Shola brought something to our attack when he came on, but that might have something to do with Barton too.
4) Milner tries hard, but keeps coming up short. Barnes might be a good investment after all.
5) Someone has rammed a firecracker up Steven Carr because he is starting to look half decent again. It isn’t hard to shine, especially with Cacapa and Taylor constantly p*ssing about. What ever happened to ‘no nonsense’ defending??
iain
Jan 30, 2008 at 3:03 AM
Comment #45smith/shola had 3 easy chances between them last night that any half decent pl class cf could have scored. smith is so crap he didnt even make the run for his first one, his second was such a poor effort from inside the 6 yrd box it would have taken hours to cross the line left to trundle away at the pace smith hit it with.
fact is neither of them are pl class.
and we have nowt in mf becuase big sam thought that 12m quid for barton and smith was good business. we could of had elano and santa cruz for that. shows what sam knows about football.
two of our defensive players arnt pl class either carr/butt.
smith has given up trying for us imo. not that it makes any diference to his usual poor performances.
what worries me is not the results or performances.
fact is this season is a write off becuase mort and ashley now bugger all about football. and until people like wise are in place to help them we could have mourinho in the dug out and it wouldnt count for much as we would still be lumped with crap players.
AdamCF
Jan 30, 2008 at 8:26 AM
Comment #46If the midfield tracked back properly then Flamini’s goal wouldn’t have happened. Time for the midfielders to pull their fingers out..
jeff
Jan 30, 2008 at 8:48 AM
Comment #47How two faced are the press?When Allardyce was appointed all the press was saying was that the geordies had to give him time,even when he was sacked it was the fans never gave him enough time.Now Keegan is in,Ive just read a report saying the honeymoon period is well and truly over and where is the promised attacking football that was promised,and where is the return to the glory years that was promised by the messiah…………SO MUCH FOR GIVING A BLOKE TIME!!!!!!! I think they seem to forget Keegan has inherited this squad.Allardyce couldnt get them going and he bought most of them how do they expect Keegan too..They say we are in crisis..They make a big thing of the Dennis Wise appointment,Why?? Yes it was a bit of a shock but if this club is to be run properly then we need it spot on behind the scenes,and saying Keegan didnt know anything about it is total crap,and he has said so himself…
Yes we need to beat the smoggies and we are quite capable of doing that..To be honest we are 2 points down on where I thought we would be and thats cos we didnt beat Bolton…I never expected us to beat arsenal in either game so whats the crisis….Yes the bottom clubs are closer now but lets not listen to these morons from down south who always want to write bollocks about newcastle united……..
doby the mag
Jan 30, 2008 at 9:59 AM
Comment #48Very well put jeff (46) – I agree.
hamzemre
Jan 30, 2008 at 10:11 AM
Comment #49i’ve to realistically expect we’d lose the games against top 6 teams home/away right to the end of this season, but if we can improve a bit more in the middle against lesser teams we’d be fine & getting the results. Have a faith, lads!~
Micky Toon
Jan 30, 2008 at 10:14 AM
Comment #50To be honest I’m not too worried that out shower of shit lost to the league leaders. It was expected. It’s Keegan that I’m worried about. I am still not convinced Keegan is the man for us, I’ve been vocal of this from the announcement, and anyone wanting to call me a gloryhunter can shove it as I know what it’s like to support the team pre 1st Keegan era. He looked lost last night, I just hope for all of our sakes we haven’t made the biggest mistake of the season.
Jury is still out on Keegan for me. If we lose against boro, then we will need to worry as we will have not moved any forward than when BSA was in charge.