City Result Opens Up Questions

It was a valiant effort at the Etihad as Newcastle went head to head with Manchester City and even dominated possession in an aggressive second half.

But, my question is - what could we have achieved with 11 players on form?

Elanga and Woltemade

Some may think it unfair to single out players for criticism in a match where. even in defeat, Eddie, the team and fans can hold their heads high.

We gave City one helluva game and their players and fans were ecstatic that they held out for the win.

However, this was a performance where promising Toon breaks and attacks constantly broke down when the ball was played to Elanga.

It's one thing having pace; but it counts for little if you can't retain possession and consistently beat your man. Last night Elanga did neither.

To be a top player, you have to be able perform at a high level against the top teams. Last night neither Elanga or Woltemade did that.

For me, that is becoming an increasing concern.

Woltemade in my opinion , has been a tad over-hyped in his new position.

He has done OK but has not made anywhere near the type of impact on a game that has been a major factor in any of our recent results.

Last night, up against a top team in City, Woltemade looked exactly what he is - a player playing out of position. His contribution to our performance was zero.

Elanga and Woltemade should have been subbed long before they walked off the pitch and, had Eddie done that, the result just might have been different.

Brutal decisions have to be made

Regular readers of the blog may know that I have more than once stated that, IMO, Eddie Howe has to be ruthless in assessing who he believes can and cannot take the team forward into next season.

After finishing 5th, qualifying for the CL and winning a cup last season the hope was that this would be a springboard that would take us to the next level.

The transfer kitty was bulging to buy the players needed.

I won't go over the whole summer transfer debate - but the fact is Wissa, Woltemade, Elanga and even possibly Ramsey haven't shown that they are 'next level' players.

The truth is, so far, they are either worse or no better than the players they replaced.

That's why we are among the also rans chasing the best position we can achieve outside of the top six- when the aim was top four.

I get injuries have played their part, but IMO we cannot allow that to overshadow that the squad simply hasn't been improved.

Dan was also on the end of another two awful refereeing decisions.

He was shoved into an offside position and his goal should have stood.

Even more blatant was Silva's deliberate barge into Dan seconds after he had received a yellow card. That barge was a booking all day long and Silva should have walked.

The ref bottled that decision and it was every bit as bad as the Digne handball farce.

Burn a Colossus

At the opposite end of the scale to Elanga and Woltemade, step up Dan Burn.

Has he ever put in a better 90 minute performance than he did last night?

Up against the best striker by far in the PL, and possibly the best in the world, Dan hardly gave an inch, out muscling and dispossessing Haaland on multiple occasions.

These are the type of performances needed when playing top opposition, the type of games where both players and fans find out if they can compete at the highest level.

Against Manchester City and Haaland, Dan Burn proved he is still up there with the best CB's in the league. Rumours of his death as a top player are exaggerated.

Five home games on the trot

After three away wins, losing in the manner we did to City gives us hope that we can continue that level of performance and go on another winning run.

Results went our way yesterday leaving us just 4pts behind 7th placed Brentford.

A Liverpool win will leave us 9pts behind 6th and reining that gap back in is unlikely.

But, there is still plenty to play for - barring a miracle we'll be in the last 16 of the Champions League and we've got an easy home tie in the 6th round of the FA Cup against a team based not far from Salford.

There is still time for Wissa, Woltemade and Elanga to make an impact - but they need to start doing it pronto.

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