The College Dropout

I reckon Longstaff might start in the CL. And I would give Cal 45 minutes as well. Isak doesn't look capable of playing for longer than that.

If he's playing with a genuine injury - he shouldn't, he's young and it could ruin his entire career. I think his issue is more fitness/stamina. He's struggled with playing at full intensity for 90 minutes pretty much his entire time here. The injuries won't have helped this. But IMO it's not good enough. Anderson & Gordon realised they were not fit enough to play at Howe's intensity last season and they put in the work over the summer to get Howe fit. Isak hasn't. I look at Gabriel Jesus. A far inferior finisher and a lad who also looks injury-prone. A much smaller lad than Isak too. But when he does play, he's able to give 100%. Fights for every ball. Wilson is hardly a unit but he's able to put himself about when he's on the pitch. Isak needs to develop physically. Prime Henry played in a much harder division but was able to hold defenders off when a ball was rolled into his feet. I'm one of Isak's biggest fans. I think he's the second-best striker in the league potentially. But he's not above critique.

It's not excellent. Any statistics does not back it up. He's also not great from crosses. Again this is borne out of the statistics. It's not that Pope just makes more saves, he has a consistently higher save % and consistently outperforms his Xg against overall and Xg against from big chances. https://theathletic.com/4236524/2023/02/22/man-city-goals-conceded-ederson/?redirected=1&source=googlesearch&access_token=8463639 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65309985 Ederson is fantastic and a better goalkeeper than Pope for many elite sides that dominate possession. But for a team like ours whose goalkeeper has to make a lot of saves, deals with a lot of crosses. I'd take Pope. In nearly every statistical measure of a winger, Saka outperforms Almiron. The eye test will back that up. That is simply not the case for Pope vs Ederson. Some of this isn't just a matter of my opinion but also backed up statistically over many seasons. We saw this when we first signed Pope. "No better than Dubravka" many said. Apart from using his feet to pass, he's better than Dubravka at everything - considerably. To find a keeper that is better than Pope at nearly everything - is going to be hard. Unless we change our style of play considerably and really need a passer who will barely need to make a save (Ederson).

Those lads are all experienced pro's signed for big money. And even some of those started on the bench. Hall is 19 - there's no rush. Livramento is older, more experienced, excellent during every appearance, much more of a Prem proven player.. and he still spent a lot of time on the bench. Too much time IMO - I was upset when he didn't get on at Wolves. I was annoyed at Howe because i felt he had no faith in the young lads. It's taken an injury crisis to give Livramento/Hall a chance. When given the opportunity, Hall hasn't really taken it. Which is why Livramento has overtaken him at LB. While I would like Howe to be more proactive in rotation and resting players - all the evidence I've seen from him suggests that's not the case just yet. So Hall being on the bench and barely playing is just typical Howe. I've seen the same thing with Matt Targett. Targett had a poorish 70 minutes against Brighton and didn't play again in the league until Burn's injury. So I'm not worried about Hall. He's 19. He'll get his opportunity again, probably next weekend and if he plays well, he'll play much more going forward. I just hope regardless - when player's are fit. Howe rotates the players more just to keep them fit and fresh.

Where have you seen that? if that was the case and we have major doubts he wouldn’t have got on today imo.

We don’t have the players for it imo. Especially not now. Even Tonali’s not a passer like that. His game is more physical.

He needs to come deep and win balls contested along the ground. This might be true. Doesn’t look to be playing fully. 45 minutes flat out against Milan then sub out for Wilson please. Really needs to get to Howe fitness.

Thats never been Howe’s style though. Players have to earn minutes under him. This might make him change style but I doubt it. We’ll just buy more players he’s willing to use and more players have earned his trust already this season. Last season when we had slumps in form or players looked tired or has multiple bad games. Unless there was a trusted player deputising, the players kept their place. Eg Dan Burn multiple poor performances or poor 60 minutes. Dude was never getting subbed. I stopped expecting or hoping for it.

We aren’t a possession based side. So it will help. But.. how much? Fair enough. I disagree. Pickford earned the England spot years ago rather than recent ability. Pope is a better shot stopper and claims more crosses statistically. And he’s done this over a long period of time. Goalkeepers don’t move clubs and suddenly become better shot stoppers or come and claim crosses.

Hall started 2 games at LB and then was substituted due to poor performance am I right? Not trusted. Tino came in and balled out. Trusted. I don’t find it strange at all. 50/50 on Hall starting Fulham. If he plays well, like properly well - he’ll get a lot more minutes. If he’s not good.. he’ll sit on the bench a lot and play in the FA Cup. Everyrhing I’ve read about the obligation is that it is a formality and no indication that it’s based on appearances. In short it’s Howe being Howe.

Not saying he’s a better player. But he’s a better fit for us. Ederson is not an elite shot stopper.

We are talking about Newcastle.

Nah Ederson’s shot stopping is not good. Man City defend with the ball and he contributes to that. But at Newcastle he will have to make saves and he’s a league below Pope in that regard. This is backed up statistically. Villa fans were talking about upgrading Martinez not too long ago. He’s risen his level. I think him and Pope are level but I’ll give it to you. Allison and Martinez then. Pickford is ahead of Pope for England. Would you have Pickford ahead of Pope for Newcastle. Pickford is better with his feet and can do the sweeping. As a shot stopper he’s statistically inferior and he doesn’t command his box as well as Pope. We get some stuff better, get some stuff worse. Pope can be improved. But it won’t be easy.

When he has had the opportunity he didn’t try it. The actual approach he has been trying, has not been working. This is a fact. We’ve been unlucky with injuries. But we’ve deservedly lost the matches we have lost based on performance. As we get options back, I trust Howe to tinker his approach. He only tends to switch things up when he’s exhausted plan A and we are getting close to that point.

We weren’t good at Wolves and were lucky to be 2-1 up. I didn’t watch but I was told we weren’t good at West Ham either and still found ourselves 2-1 up. Results aside - we’ve not been playing well away from home in the league. In the CL, 45 minutes against PSG aside - we’ve performed poorly too. Lucky to escape with a point at Milan and well beaten in Dortmund. On another day PSG score 3 in Paris. I think Howe will get it right eventually. But his approach hasn’t looked like working all season away from home. We don’t try to press a lot of the time. And then we are left with a team that can barely pass but has quality in moments.

What have we been trying all season? In the league we’ve not had 2 legitimate good performances all season away from home. We look good when we press.

Thanks Vinny. I try not to get too high when we are winning and I try not to get too low when we are losing. People think im overly critical in good times but dont notice im rarely the most knee jerk or pessimistic in bad times.

It’s super hard to find a goalkeeper beater than Pope. In my books - there’s only 1 GK definitively better than Pope in the PL - Allison. The rest? I wouldn’t swap Pope for any. That Vicario was flapping at everything we put under him. He’s a good keeper. He’s not better than Pope.

We’ve seen that you can’t fuck off FFP.

We don’t have the personnel to make another style work. We need to get the press right away from home and prioritise legs over ability in team selection. Can’t do that now with all the injuries and win many games unfortunately.

Big worry is that it’s not worked at all.

Lewis Hall? He’s played 10 professional games at LB prior to joining Newcastle. He’s played more often at CM/DM.

My biggest concern is the away performances and tactics. We don’t seem to have a way to perform away from home. 45 minutes against PSG we were excellent. Other than Sheff U we’ve not had a goood performance away from home.

Don’t get the calls for rotation in the last few matches. The time to rotate is at home, against lower half opposition. Or on strict minutes management the way Klopp does it - regardless of game state. The first - Howe didn’t do when he has the opportunity but that time has gone. The second - that’s not his style and that requires a proper squad.

We need a different plan away from home and he needs to be more proactive with rotation. I expect a response at home against Milanand definitely Fulham as we got more back. But away from home we’ve been bad in every game.