Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is looking forward to the game with Sporting Kansas tonight.
Newcastle squad training in the heat yesterday
Here’s the current standings in the MLS so you can see that Kansas are in mid-table in the Eastern Conference, and apparently are unbeaten in the last 11 games, but a number of those were draws.
Alan seems pleased with both the facilities at Kansas and the way the Newcastle squad has been welcomed in the mid-west, and we suppose most of the lads will return with sunburns because the weather has again been around 100 degrees F, and of course a red hot sun every day, at this time of year in the US.
This is what the Newcastle manager said today:
“We’ve had a great couple of days in Kansas and the training has gone really well. It’s red hot out here but the lads have been looking after themselves, keeping hydrated, and we’re ready for our first game.”
“All the lads and the coaching staff are delighted to be here, we’ve been treated really well and everyone here has made us feel very welcome. It’s an ideal environment for a pre-season camp and it should prove very beneficial to us all.”
“Not having the three lads here (Barton, Cabaye and Ranger) is a bit disappointing, especially Yohan, with him just joining a few weeks ago. But it’s something we’ve overcome and we’re cracking on with things.”
“I’ve been speaking to the Kansas staff and their manager. They’re really looking forward to playing us which should make for a great game, and they’re on a great run of form too – undefeated in their last eleven games in the MLS.”
“It was actually Sir Alex Ferguson who recommended Kansas to us in terms of being good opposition to play and a club with first class training facilities. He was spot-on because the training pitches are immaculate and that’s crucially important to our preparation. I’m grateful to Sir Alex for his recommendation.”
“Most of the lads will be involved on Wednesday night; it’s a game where I’ll be using the full squad where I can as the heat will obviously dictate that.”
“I must also say a word about the Coaching Clinic John and my other staff conducted last night. It was a fantastic night and one that was a great experience not only for our staff but for all the coaches and children from Kansas who attended.”
The coaching clinic they gave yesterday was a pre-arranged deal, and football (called soccer over here because of American football) seems to be catching on as the country followed the US woman’s team throughout the Woman’s World Cup.
The team came a cropper in the final against Japan on Sunday, and Japan finally won on penalties.
The US dominated that first half and should have been well ahead by half time, but you cannot win games when you miss so many chances – and the game was a lot like Arsenal games, where the London side dominates but misses all their chances.
And of course Japan lost one of their group games – to England – but the news is that football (s0ccer) has gained a little more support over here with the excellent woman’s run in the World Cup.
It will be a tough test for our lads tonight, and it will be interesting to see how they play and how they fare against a competitive Sporting Kansas side.
Comments welcome.
17 comments so far
Eastander
Jul 20, 2011 at 8:56 AM
Comment #1Doers anyone know how good Marveaux actually is? We may get a bit of an insight tonight but I’m just wondering whether he will walk straight into the squad and take one of the wing positions?
I would like to think so as we dont get a good enough end product from Spiderman and we have a CM on the other side
AMEOBI
Jul 20, 2011 at 8:58 AM
Comment #2Is it half 1 or half 12 kick off? Seems a good match
Stuart
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:00 AM
Comment #3From what I’ve heard hes of a similar mould to Jonas, except he can actually pick a cross and has a killer freekick on him.
BigKirky
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:01 AM
Comment #4Hope it can be watched on some streams.
ilovetoon8788
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:02 AM
Comment #5Not too sure about Marveaux. May or may not be a first team regular. He might have to fight it our with Jonas.
MacToon
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:04 AM
Comment #6Eastander, I believe Marveaux will play less of a part than Cabaye in the early part of the season, after that who knows.
Should be good matches in the US. just a shame there’s been 1 or 2 left behind and the amount of flights they are taking seems rediculous, I hear 10 flights in 10 days.
davybtoon
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:10 AM
Comment #7marveux will most definetely be on the wing all season real good, as graham carr said the season b4 last hes flying n nearly got in french n scored 10 goals from the wing, he will b 10x times better than jonas as he can actually put a cross in
NUFC_Richyg01
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:14 AM
Comment #8I guess it depends if Jonas moves over to the right wing
BigKirky
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:15 AM
Comment #9I see Mark Douglas is running a piece by Titus saying that Zog would be interesting in moving there and that it could be good news for them by the fact that the villa move has stalled slightly. I’d be gutted if 5under1and got him. Mainly for the fact that like for Wigan, he’ll score against us. Its a crying shame. He’s a guarantee of hitting the ground running and playing some great football if he came to us.
Indian Magpie
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:18 AM
Comment #10New £4.8m Newcastle signing Yohan Cabaye was initially refused entry to the United States after being accused of not paying for some dentistry work completed there while he was playing for Lille.
Stuart
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:21 AM
Comment #11Hahaha @ Indian!
The Americans arent half anal like. Keeping someone out of the country for something as petty as unpaid dental bills lol.
Durham_Toon
Jul 20, 2011 at 9:33 AM
Comment #12Guys off topic but Arsenal tickets are on sale now for ST holder and Members.
Was it ever decided where the unofficial singing section was going to be? Heard Gallowgate (SW) corner?
coopertoon
Jul 20, 2011 at 10:28 AM
Comment #13is it live anywhere?? and what times kick of?
chris_g
Jul 20, 2011 at 11:08 AM
Comment #14coopertoon – kick off is apparently 1.30am thursday morning UK time
somebody on one of the other blogs gave these as possible live streams:
http://www.oleoletv.com/watch/live/stream/online/free/tv/video/channel/feed/link/broadcast/vivo/gratis/p2p/0/july/20/2011/kansas-city-wizards-vs-newcastle-united.html
http://redmtnsports.com/free-sporting-kansas-city-vs-newcastle-united-live-stream-20-july-2011/
chris_g
Jul 20, 2011 at 11:10 AM
Comment #15coopertoon – kick off is apparently 1.30am thursday morning UK time
somebody on one of the other blogs gave these as possible live streams:
http://www.oleoletv.com/watch/live/stream/online/free/tv/video/channel/feed/link/broadcast/vivo/gratis/p2p/0/july/20/2011/kansas-city-wizards-vs-newcastle-united.html
chris_g
Jul 20, 2011 at 11:11 AM
Comment #16and
http://redmtnsports.com/free-sporting-kansas-city-vs-newcastle-united-live-stream-20-july-2011/
HOGC
Jul 20, 2011 at 5:10 PM
Comment #17wat time is the match?