Ron Elliot had a very good game on Wednesday night against Manchester City and one of his saves – from Sergio Aguero – was simply world-class.
Newcastle did very well to hold City to 1-0, and in those last 15 minutes, Newcastle had at least a couple of good chances to equalize and end Manchester City’s 17 game winning run.
But we couldn’t do it, and we got nothing out of the game.
Rob Elliot has talked today about the tactical genius of Rafa Benitez and how he can set a team up to get a result, and we almost got a point on Wednesday night.
The next two games against Brighton at home tomorrow and Stoke away on Monday will see Newcastle being a more attacking side.
We need wins, and two wins in those games would take us near the middle of the table.
This is what Rob has said about the game on Wednesday, as reported in the Northern Echo:
“We had a game plan. We were never going to go toe-to-toe with Manchester City – teams have done that this season and conceded six, seven and eight.”
“Our idea was to stay in the game as long as possible, build well and then we had some chances to nick a draw at the end.”
“We need to be realistic and the manager is tactically fantastic, he set us out well and we were disappointed with the goal we conceded.”
“But it was only one goal, and we almost got something.”
“We’ve got to be realistic about where we are at the moment, but at 1-0 against anyone you’ve always got a chance.”
“We always knew they would have a lot of the ball, but we set out with a game plan and I thought we executed it really well, showed great attitude and desire, and the fans appreciated that.”
“Especially towards the end when the atmosphere was incredible. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the goal.”
“We need points from the next two games. When you look at the table, it’s obviously great if you can take points from teams like Man City or the big boys.”
“But the main thing is to pick up points from the teams in and around you.”
“We know we have another two opportunities to do that between now and New Year’s Day.”
“We have got to get our focus back on Brighton and Stoke, and we have to make sure we stick to what we are good at and build on from the positive performances against Arsenal and West Ham.”
“Man City was a bit of a different game because you don’t play against Man City every week – thank God.”
“But the next two games are massive and hopefully that can push us positively into the New Year.”
These upcoming two games will set the mood for Newcastle fans going into the new year.
At least 4 points from those games will be a good return, but we have to go all out to win both games.
Comments welcome.
4 comments so far
catchy in norway
Dec 29, 2017 at 7:50 AM
Comment #1what’s the point in saying Rafa has a cheap championship squad and then linking us to cheap championship players? everyone of you rafa clappers complain he has no quality to work with and yet boom we are linked with a 10 million pound striker who hasn’t really set the french league alive.
playing the numbers game how is a 10M striker meant to beat a 75M defender ?
what value will a 10 M striker add to our squad?
surely at this stage of the season every player being brought in should be a nufc record breaking player that walks straight into the first team.
10 M is nothing for the most important part of the team.
10 M is what you pay for a kid these days to fit in your squad and develop.
how can anyone be happy with this?
catchy in norway
Dec 29, 2017 at 7:53 AM
Comment #2Ed tactical genius? you really are pushing it, now we are really slipping into p45s alternative world of football.
Tactics shouldn’t have to include luck. they hit the woodwork 3 times.
we should have been dead and buried by HT.
sing in the corner
Dec 29, 2017 at 8:11 AM
Comment #3On the takeover, I’m not really that surprised. Once it was accepted that the rumoured mid December property deal deal deadline Ashley was supposedly working to wasn’t in fact a major factor, there’s no hurry for him and he is haggling the way he would.
What’s more annoying is: here we are a few days before the window opens and Rafa has no figures to work with in terms of transfer budget. This is making it near impossible to elbow our way to the front of the queues in the January sales, when pickings are going to be slim anyway. There are a good few teams, in our league alone, who are hunting signings to ensure survival.
Are Rafa’s hands gonna be tied again then?
Slank
Dec 29, 2017 at 8:20 AM
Comment #4Having seen the way Man City have previously demolished virtually all who faced them, Rafa used his vast experience to construct a game plan to try and blunt their attacking prowess and if possible catch them on a quick break.
In keeping the score down to one nil feels like a victory but without the three points. The lads will be greatly heartened by how they stuck to their managers game plan and still managed to be a threat late in the game. The tactics against Brighton will be completely different, and rightly so.
People should ignore what failed manager Gary ‘smart arse’ Neville has said and also Jamie Carragher who has never managed a football team of any consequence in his life and not surprisingly as only players from the back streets of Liverpool could understand his thick and largely unintelligible Scouse accent. At least our Alan can be understood by almost everyone in the country even if some of his comments leave many of them puzzled.