Newcastle have drawn, lost, drawn and won in their four games played this season, with the only poor performance being against Swansea, when we were reduced to 10 men just before the break at the Liberty Stadium.
Newcastle had a good 4-1 win at home to Northampton on Tuesday night in the League Cup, with essentially a second team playing, but there were some good performances in that game.
Steve McClaren on the touchline against Northampton
Steve McClaren will have some tough decisions to make when he selects the team for the early game (12:45 pm kick-off) against Arsenal on Saturday, but it seems like the team is starting to come into a little bit of form.
Maybe we can make it two wins in a row on Saturday, before the long two week International break.
Comment welcome.
21 comments so far
Jail for Ashley
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:12 AM
Comment #1Ashley Out!
will die for the toon army
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:21 AM
Comment #2If Ssisoko is back then we have a full team squad. Leaving Rivere, Good and Marvueax who I think to us fans they look like they r on holiday at the club.
will die for the toon army
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:22 AM
Comment #3Big Up Mcca and ur medical team. Thats e advantage of a big squad but Mcca sort or the RB backup.
Grafton83
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:24 AM
Comment #4I think it’ll be similar to the Man U game, if we can keep them out at the back and ride our luck a little in the right places we could easily nick a winner at home. Am a bit worried at how our defence will cope with Sanchez though.
Jib
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:25 AM
Comment #5Even without a new coaching regime and new signings , this weekend would have been our best opportunity in years to beat Arsenal.
hibbit
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:28 AM
Comment #6giroud is a handful for any defence
TheToonKing
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:33 AM
Comment #7we could definitely beat them, but we have to give ourselves the chance to do that, we have to go for it , especially at home.
Arsenal are good, but can be beaten. Their defense looked shaky, they don’t really have any leaders, characters , they just keep the ball and pass it around until they find a good through ball/cross.
we have to be strong brave and direct, get at them asap with strenght and pace when we get the ball with Thauvin, Perez, Sissoko, Mitro.
We can win.
toon kk
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:34 AM
Comment #8Our defence is far too slow to handle Arsenal’s strike force. Our whole team will be pinned back into our own half, maybe a chance of catching them on the break.
the broons
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:34 AM
Comment #9Yeah am putting a tenner on giroud to score anytime again. Loves playing against us makes up half his season’s tally.
welshgeordie9
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:35 AM
Comment #10Arsenal might be a little weak in defence at the moment, but they are certainly not weak in midfield or up front, would like us to win before the 2 week break but i think it’s going to be another draw.
Bobbybee
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:36 AM
Comment #11I don’t get how anyone can not rate De Jong myself. Some of his touches are first class and his vision and ability to pick a pass are second to none. He might not be 100% yet, but there’s a difference between being unfit and being a poor player. I reckon he’ll come good soon enough and become a star for us. So many good players trying to fill eleven places. Just the sort of selection headache any manager wants.
Jib
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:36 AM
Comment #12Who will do a job on Sanchez.
I’m not saying he man-marked him (that never happens these days 100%) but Colo picked up Rooney a hell of a lot last week. Clearly the Chilean is too quick for Colo , so , who stays with him , is Mbemba fast enough ?
Colo should have no probs with Giroud who I don’t rate (watch him get a hat-trick now)
Another intriguing game which should see us giving the gunners too much to think about in their own half for a change.
the broons
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:37 AM
Comment #13toon kk
I was meaning to ask you, since you rate Haidaira so lowly can you please explain to me in what departments he is worse than Dummet?
Jib
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:42 AM
Comment #14I swear I hadn’t read this when I said I don’t rate Giroud
http://metro.co.uk/2015/08/26/stats-show-emmanuel-adebayor-has-better-goalscoring-record-for-arsenal-than-olivier-giroud-5361244/
hibbit
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:45 AM
Comment #15jib you don’t rate giroud big mistake
welshgeordie9
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:46 AM
Comment #16I can’t believe some people have been having a go at tiote and de Jong, considering they have been injured a long time, de Jong the worse of the two ie collapsed lung, what you want them to do make a speedy recovery and be back to their best from the first game, it takes time, i bet you that those players that played against Man Utd and Northampton that if they play bad on Saturday they will get slaughtered after being praised.
Malackay
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:46 AM
Comment #17the broons…..
In a word….. defending.
Haidara’s reluctance to stop a cross is shocking. I’d also say that his defensive brain in general is poor: he doesn’t show wingers down the line when he should (e.g. Tadic, a left footer who played on RW vs. Southampton, he constantly showed him onto his lethal left foot). He is good in possession and decent going forward, but defensively very poor and any half decent winger will have a field day with him.
Dummett is appalling going forward, he struggles with anything beyond hoofing it down the line every time he is in possession. However, is a lot more defensively astute than Hairdaira.
If you could combine both their strengths, you’d have a good full back.
hibbit
Aug 27, 2015 at 8:52 AM
Comment #18put it on here for weeks we need a first team lb and cover for rb and a quality cb …. have we got them no
nut meg
Aug 27, 2015 at 9:02 AM
Comment #19Malackay
Just for the record Dusan Tadic can use both feet.
Malackay
Aug 27, 2015 at 12:36 PM
Comment #20Nut meg, our two comments aren’t mutually exclusive. He can use both feet but his left is by far his most dangerous. Are you saying showing him inside is the correct move as a full back? If you are, you’re mad, if you’re not saying that, I don’t understand what your point is?
rwpoynter
Aug 27, 2015 at 2:17 PM
Comment #21What is really good here is the faith the fans have. Under Carver, no one fancied us to win any game. The players have clearly warmed to McClaren and even if we don’t win I expect a far better performance than we got at the rear end of last season. A win over Arsenal is a real possibility.