Newcastle 2-2 Wigan – The final inquest.
Posted on October 18th, 2010 | 30 Comments |
We, as fans, have every right to expect and demand better than the display on show on Saturday.
What I, for one don’t understand is why we just cannot start out with a more attacking formation, the likes of which we send out in the last 20 minutes when we realize that almost all is lost. That formation gets us goals, and somehow seems to keep the opponents at bay.
That being said, I am not the manager, and therefore cannot do much about it. However, if by some chance you’re reading this Chris, I’ve aired my views. Hope you’re taking notes….
Anyway, my take on the individual player’s performances, as ever, are summed up below;
Tim Krul – Seems to have gotten a confidence boost after having been made the Holland U-21 captain. Well, it showed in my opinion. However, as I’ve mentioned before his positioning (especially for the second goal) is questionable as a goalkeeper should not be beaten at his near post. In his defence though, that was quite the cracker from N’Zogbia.
James Perch – Though I have defended him in the past, his performance was appalling. Beaten practically every time by Charlie Boy and looked to be wondering where he’d vanished every time he’d been blitzed by him.
Mike Williamson – Though there are people blaming him for the first goal, upon watching the replay, you will find that it was Perch who bumped into him which caused a fair bit of confusion. Though it wasn’t one of his better games to be honest.
Fabricio Coloccini – Sturdy defensively yet again. Seems to be rather good captain material I believe. And the goal that was our salvation will definitely be remembered at crucial parts of this season.
Jose Enrique – Though the final touch for the cross to N’Zogbia came off of his leg, you can’t hold him responsible for that. Fair performance, all in all. And as always, great link up play with Jonas yet again.
Danny Guthrie – The poor lad was once more played out of position, and some may argue that Perch was playing out of position and further up field as a result of his tendency to drift far into the centre, leaving a huge vacant space in his original position.
Wayne Routledge – His pace, even if it does nothing else, distracts the opposition, and I don’t know why people were whinging when he came on as he added a nice dimension to the play on the right that seemed to open the field up more than when Guthrie was on the field.
Cheick Tiote – His quietest game thus far, but another solid performance. Wish he’d ‘De Jonged’ Nzogbia though. A nice ‘clean but hard and heavy’ reducer.
Joey Barton – Terrible passing yet again. He seems to have the vision, but not the ability to see it through. In all honesty, I would have liked to have seen Guthrie move into his position and have Barton off for Routledge.
Jonas Gutierrez – Has put in spellbinding performances in back-to-back games now. Great ball in to Ameobi for the goal. Stellar cross.
Peter Lovenkrands – For those saying he should’ve started (myself included), he proved why he shouldn’t. Missing for most of the game.
Shola Ameobi – Proved that he now warrants a start. Knows how to find the back of the net. About time he stumbled and yet produced something at the same time. Good show.
Andy Carroll – Seems to have returned to form, bags of effort, but still not much end result. The more I watch him play, the more I realize that we shouldn’t pressure him too much as far as being our chief source of goals is concerned. I think he needs a little time off to rest. Being a Geordie and the number 9 doesn’t make him a dead cert starter.
Nile Ranger – In keeping with the above, I’d like to see this lad given a run out. Simply because he offers something a little different, and is quite clearly an offensive threat to our opposition. That much was evident from his performance not only on Saturday, but for the last few games aswell.
Based on what I’ve seen this far from our lads, I think that the following players definately deserve a go:
Ryan Taylor – At least until Danny Simpson is fully fit. He can’t be worse than Perch defensively, and offers much more going forward.
Danny Guthrie – Based on Barton’s recent dip in form, he should start in the centre alongside Tiote.
Nile Ranger – Has that cutting edge to play just off the main striker and a tendency to get in amongst the thick of things.
Shola Ameobi – If a striker is getting you goals then he should start. Whether he’s generally first choice or not.
Chin up lads and lasses. If we can play like we did we played in the last 20 minutes against Wigan then I see better days ahead.
Howay the lads!
Toonsy mate, I agree with much of what you’re saying except the part about Shola starting a game, he did that against Manc ‘cheating’ Citey & we got nowt, he’s probably best coming on around the hour mark & using what pace & strength he has to hassle defences for the last 30 mins, he’s crap as a starting striker & always has been, he tires to quickly imo & that why most of his goals have been scored when he’s used as a sub, not as the main striker!!!
I think Colo should be made captain with Nolan being vice, as it seems Smudger isn’t going to get a game now that we have Tiote, unless he’s injured but from what I’ve seen of him & his tackling so far, it’s gonna take a steam train to hit him to take him out.. lol
I said before the match on Saturday, that we should be playing more attacking at home with the following players starting:
Krul
Perch, Willo, Sol, Enrique,
Routy, Barton, Gutherie, Jonas,
Carroll, Loverboy
Then bring Tiote on later when we need to defend, I was shot down by so many people who said we need Tiote to start.,… its seems that CH is listening to fans & thats why we’re being so defensive in attack, it isn’t working, all thru the KK years, our best defence was attack & that shows these days too…. if you attack teams, they go defensive & it work, so why not do it more often???