The thing that really surprised us on Monday night, in our game at Old Trafford, was the massive gap in class between the two sides.
Kevin Nolan – we must learn from mistakes
The Red Devils attacked incessantly from the start, and it seemed like Newcastle had little to offer in return.
And then under the incessant pressure they found it difficult to keep the ball in midfield once they got it – with the result that our defense was under constant attack for almost the full game.
We played one of the best teams in the league and thankfully, they’ll not be as good as that every week, but the game this coming Sunday afternoon at home to Aston Villa also promises to be a tough game.
Kevin Nolan, the new Newcastle captain has come out today and said he expects the lads to bounce back from this disappointment.
Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan said today:
“We always bounced back last year.” “Of course, we’re talking different leagues but the strength of the team was that we always looked forward and never dwelled on a bad result so we’re not going to start doing that now.”
“Don’t get me wrong, there is a massive gap between the leagues but what happened last year was that we came together as a squad and a city and presented a united front.”
Nolan knows that the great spirit and confidence that grew last season in the Newcastle camp will be needed this season, and that drive and passion has to be maintained, even though we are bound to have some poor results this season, as we witnessed in our very first game.
Kevin added:
“We can’t get too carried away with what happened last year and realise this is a new challenge.” “It is OK when you are winning every week as everything is hunky dory. All the players walk into work with a smile on their faces but now comes the time when we have to fight.”
“We will get a few tonkings in this league as everyone does – even the big teams have off-days – but it is how you bounce back that counts.” “We certainly won’t play a better team than United this year. There are 38 games and that is probably the toughest.”
“But we have got to learn from the silly mistakes we gifted them.” “It was always going to be difficult and we knew that before kick-off but for half an hour we played well and if Andy Carroll had put away his chance, it would have been a different game.”
“We went there with a game plan which didn’t work but we gave the ball away on the edge of our box for their first goal and their second was a bit iffy too.”
Newcastle made mistakes in defense, and that’s even understandable since they were under such formidable pressure.
But it’s also one thing that separates good teams from the also-rans, and the lads can learn some big lessons from the first game of the season.
There were also positives coming out of the game with Coloccini and Williamson looking good, and some other lads looked good, but Mike Williamson may just turn out to be one terrific buy for the club.
But we have to look for some improvement on Sunday afternoon – and the defense must tighten up – if we are to have any chance of putting the first points on the board.
After all, the very last thing we want this season is to start with is a string of defeats .
Comments welcome.
4 comments so far
craigcoozy
Aug 18, 2010 at 9:38 AM
Comment #1jus to reiritate these comments on that shite website.nufc.blog.org are not mine , obviously sum1 wit no life, theres no news yet , hopefully mite a bit later !
zeetoon
Aug 18, 2010 at 11:57 AM
Comment #2always remember, ur a legend craigcoozy
shearertodomorebigmacads
Aug 18, 2010 at 12:18 PM
Comment #3”The thing that really surprised us on Monday night, in our game at Old Trafford, was the massive gap in class between the two sides.”
I don’t think many of us were suprised tbh, and i am not being negative! We fielded a championship side which did well last season but had to fight hard at some points last season to get a point (away at swansea). We are definately a team for the future and its promising some of the talent we have but unless we get some premier league players for this season we are shafted and thats the sad truth.
Apart from the gap in class the other night the other gap i could see was the position on the pitch where kevin nolan should have been but he was playing in completely the wrong position and tbh had a shocker. I think he can be a great player on his day but he annoys me when he realeases all these comment how bloody wonderful the harmony,lad,team spirit etc etc is which again is brilliant but then he plays shi*e on the football pitch at the weekend and because of this arse licking to the fans he does we turn a blind eye to his poor football and instead CH gives him the armband so now we cant drop probably the player on the team with the poorest touch and slowest pace. I like Kevin Nolan i think he is a great professional and is good for morale but i am starting to doubt whter he has class to be a premier league player.
Is it just me?
I am not being negative i love the club and support the boys 100% even nolan when they run on the pitch but come on FAT ASH spend some money even if its a few million its the least we deserve.
BeeGuy
Aug 18, 2010 at 2:44 PM
Comment #4There was not a massive gap in class Monday. There seemed to be a massive failure to see what was happening on the pitch and make adjustments.
In most sports, there are staff positioned high up in the stands that report how the various positions are covering their tasks. To me, Nolan looked like a prizefighter knocked out, but on his feet after he got a “coco bop”. And Smitty got too preoccupied with helping out Harper as assistant goalie. Nolan should have been replaced and Smitty should have been reminded where he belonged on the pitch – and that did not happen. Does not NUFC keep staff upstairs to report to the managers? If not, why not? And are a woozy Nolan, and out of position Smith better than anyone on the bench?