Paul Merson thinks we will lose tomorrow at the Etihad Stadium just like the other pundits.
Merson believes it will be a 3-0 scoreline and in his prediction, he says he feels sorry for the Newcastle fans.
He also brings up the possession stats which pundits and TV commentators seem to be fascinated by.
In the first 25 minutes, it was 90% to 10% in favor of Chelsea, but they didn’t score in that time.
And we only lost 2-1 with the winning Chelsea goal coming with 3 minutes to play.
So what’s the problem?
Paul Merson – predicts a comfortable home win
With teams now playing on the counter-attack, possession stats don’t mean much these days.
This is what Paul has said about tomorrow’s game
“You have got to feel for the Newcastle fans. Fifty-five thousand supporters turn up every week and now they’re out of the cup. Now it’s a long season for them.”
“Last week’s stats against Chelsea were bordering on atrocious.”
“With 25 minutes played it was 90% to 10% in favour of Chelsea. I’ve seen that in five-minute spells, I’ve never seen it in a 25-minute spell, ever.”
“Newcastle will go to the Etihad and defend, but Man City will break them down, 100%.”
“It’s just when, and how many times. The Newcastle fans packed the away ends at Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup, and they’re out of the cup already.”
“I think they’d probably rather win something and spend another season in the Championship than watch this every week at the moment.”
Prediction: 3-0
Paul doesn’t say what the alternative is – do we try to go head-to-head with a team who have the money to buy world-class players on a whim?
Then we would lose maybe 7-0.
Pundits don’t have any real responsibilities other than to give their opinions.
Managers have it much tougher – they are responsible for the results.
Comments welcome.
7 comments so far
Jail for Ashley
Aug 31, 2018 at 9:10 AM
Comment #1Yep Paul,
If Rafa is to leave then I would take a cup and relegation all day long.
Optimistic Panda
Aug 31, 2018 at 9:11 AM
Comment #2Jesper captain of the moaning crew
For some one who’s supposedly ignoring me you have a lot to say to me.
Get back to your knitting.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Aug 31, 2018 at 9:15 AM
Comment #3Ed…if we park the bus against Citeh the way we did at home against Chelsea it could easily be a duplicate of the Citeh vs. Huddersfield game!
…it’s dangerous to play like that when you offer nothing going the other way! That’s sort of what Merson is getting at…nothing outdated in that!
Parking the bus like that sure is outdated and counterproductive if anything! I am not sure what we can take with us from that game…
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Aug 31, 2018 at 9:15 AM
Comment #4Are we moaning again OP about others?
RobLeenio
Aug 31, 2018 at 9:42 AM
Comment #5To be fair, I think the coverage of the tactics used during the Chelsea match from the pundits was far more reasonable than the coverage of the Man City game last season.
I seem to remember Merson was particularly vocal and opinionated when Rafa stifled Citeh last season, the above comments from him are actually fairly reasonable compared to what he said then.
At the end of the day, Rafa is the manager and we judge him on results. It’s therefore his right to pick the tactics he thinks are best and he has way more experience than the vast majority of fans, commentators and studio-based ‘experts’ in doing it.
In Rafa we trust.
Jail for Ashley
Aug 31, 2018 at 9:51 AM
Comment #6We suffered more plus five defeats under Pardew than every other PL manager here combined. He not only equalled the consecutive record loss countless times before smashing it with a six before stepping down and allowing Carver the honour of all time losses.
We’ve never been hit for five under Rafa and our heads are held high after his two and a half years here. So you all be very careful what you wish for, those wanting a change.
RUNAWAY777
Aug 31, 2018 at 10:48 AM
Comment #7I do not like merson but on this occasion he’s a 100% correct we will get lashed on Sat like it or not you no he’s rite.