Newcastle had a good workout on Saturday afternoon at Mainz in Germany, and while it looked like it was heading towards a 1-1 draw, the home side produced a decent goal with just six minutes go to win the game 2-1.
However, that goal could have been defended much better by our defense and the goalscorer Viktor Fischer was all on his lonesome on the left wing inside the box.
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It was a sweltering day on Saturday, and the temperatures topped 30°C, so it was an excellent work-out for our players in the sauna and sun.
Now we have another tough game on Wednesday night against Wolfsburg so the fitness levels at Newcastle should be improving nicely for our first game in the Premier League a week on Sunday at home to Spurs.
This is what Mo Diame had to say on the Newcastle website after the game:
âYou always want to win when you play a game, but I think it was a good session for everyone because they made us run a lot today, and that is good for our fitness.â
âBut yes, of course, we are disappointed with the result.”
âI was quite surprised â you do not expect that sort of sun. But, the weather was a good thing for our fitness as well, and we know how important it is to get fit.”
“The most important game is on the 13th and we need to be ready for that one (against Spurs at home).
âWolfsburg are another good team, so it will definitely be a similar game on Wednesday.”
“They were German Champions recently (won in 2008-2009 season and runners-up in 2014-2015), so it is going to be a difficult game.”
“But, as I say, we are just trying to get better game after game to make sure we are ready on the 13th.â
âIt was tiring today, but I feel OK,â âI am playing in the middle â where I like to play â so I am trying to enjoy my football.”
I am happy to help the team, and I am just trying to get myself ready for the start of the season.â
Mo Diame was a little disappointing last season, and he admitted to that.
But hopefully, those players like Mo who didn’t come through last season can do so this season, and Rafa improved a lot of our players last season.
They included players like Matt Ritchie, Karl Darlow, Ciaran Clark, Jamaal Lascelles, DeAndre Yedlin, Isaac Hayden, Dwight Gayle and others.
We need to keep that improvement going this season so we can finish in the top half of the table.
That’s the goal this season, and we don’t want to be fighting relegation!!
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
7 comments so far
Jail for Ashley
Jul 31, 2017 at 8:30 AM
Comment #1As if the mackems needed reminding of their plight after a five nil win.
Jail for Ashley
Jul 31, 2017 at 8:38 AM
Comment #2Five nil hammering đŽ
lochinvar
Jul 31, 2017 at 8:43 AM
Comment #3Think we can cross him off the list now
Everton midfielder Ross Barkley will have to lower his wage demands to join Tottenham, who are not willing to pay the ÂŁ120,000-a-week wages the 23-year-old England international turned down at Goodison Park.
Bobbybee
Jul 31, 2017 at 8:49 AM
Comment #4Jesper, we’re all aware of Rafa’s history and that he’s a winner, but like most of us he’s also a realist..
This is the first rung of a long ladder and we’re no different from any other club just promoted. We’re up against the difficulties of supposedly smaller clubs than us being financially better off and some people have difficulty facing such facts, they just expect us to beat them because of who we are.
Right now we’re the third worse off team in the PL and we need to deal with that first. We can’t buy our way up the table, so everything we achieve will be down to pure hard graft and expertise.
Our main advantage lies with the manager and his ability to get the best out of every player under him.
It’s going to be a hard season involving really hard work, but I don’t see relegation being an issue. Not because we are NUFC and deserve to be higher up, but because we have a great manager who has assembled a TEAM who want to be here and will work for him, each other and the fans.
Looking forward to it myself and doing my bit – as we all should. SJP belongs to us, let’s make it a fortress. HTL!!!!
Veltman
Dec 15, 2017 at 11:31 AM
Comment #5XD
Veltman
Dec 15, 2017 at 11:35 AM
Comment #6đł
Veltman
Dec 15, 2017 at 11:37 AM
Comment #7đĄ