KaKa

Carroll and Wilson tonight boys

I think this will be a narrow Arsenal win. They struggle on front of goal, but we'll sit in and invite pressure.

 

If Arsenal start a front four of Lacazette, Aubameyang, Smith-Rowe and Saka, as well as Tierney playing at left back then we will get destroyed.

 

They look very very good when those 5 are on the pitch at the same time. Thomas Partey is also back and adds a lot of energy and dynamism to their midfield.

 

If all those feature it could be very bad.

 

This Arsenal team don’t destroy teams, I expect us to lose, but it will be by the odd goal I think.

I think this will be a narrow Arsenal win. They struggle on front of goal, but we'll sit in and invite pressure.

 

If Arsenal start a front four of Lacazette, Aubameyang, Smith-Rowe and Saka, as well as Tierney playing at left back then we will get destroyed.

 

They look very very good when those 5 are on the pitch at the same time. Thomas Partey is also back and adds a lot of energy and dynamism to their midfield.

 

If all those feature it could be very bad.

 

You're being overly kind to Arsenal here. Those names look great but the football they play isn't.

 

They play the same sort of (anti) football as us most of the time. If a team opens up against them they can look better and more dangerous. If teams sit back like we do they haven't got a clue what to do.

They've only just started playing all those together and it has improved them a lot when they feature.

See the West Brom game as an example where they dismantled a manager akin to ours.

I think this will be a narrow Arsenal win. They struggle on front of goal, but we'll sit in and invite pressure.

If Arsenal start a front four of Lacazette, Aubameyang, Smith-Rowe and Saka, as well as Tierney playing at left back then we will get destroyed.

They look very very good when those 5 are on the pitch at the same time. Thomas Partey is also back and adds a lot of energy and dynamism to their midfield.

If all those feature it could be very bad.

Yeah, couldn't believe he mentioned the canteen. Typical

He's now whining about the virus again, as the reason why the team has been struggling

Steve Bruce has revealed some of Newcastle’s coronavirus victims have been “goosed” by the illness.

 

Skipper Jamaal Lascelles and fellow defenders Federico Fernandez and Emil Krafth are among those who have been struck down, while striker Allan Saint-Maximin has been out of action since November 21, with the virus still having an impact on the club.

 

Asked if the ongoing situation was getting him down, head coach Bruce replied: “I’m not getting down about it. I know how difficult to handle players and staff who have had it. They are absolutely goosed, some of them. That becomes the problem I’m faced with. It’s a difficult thing to manage.

 

“All of a sudden now, the canteen is closing, we might be thinking about dressing rooms to close again, all of this where the protocols are very difficult to adhere to.

 

“We can’t have a team meeting, we can’t have a video analysis meeting, we can’t do this, we can’t do that. It becomes very, very difficult.

 

“The most difficult thing for me is we were struck down a month ago and we are still suffering. We have still got our best player arguably (Saint-Maximin) struggling with it and it’s been seven or eight weeks.

 

“We’ve got people like Fede (Fernandez), arguably the best pro we’ve got on our books, struggling with it, still. That’s the difficult thing, that people don’t understand.

 

“Most people are OK, but some aren’t and it becomes very difficult. The captain, for example, couldn’t raise a leg at 45 minutes against Arsenal. He was in a state.

 

“It has been a difficult situation and that’s what I get down with.”

 

Saint-Maximin in particular has been a huge loss to Bruce, whose side have been desperately short of creativity during an eight-game winless run they hope will end at Arsenal on Monday evening.

 

Asked about how costly the Frenchman’s absence had been, and if that showed the Magpies had become overreliant on him, Bruce said: “Have we become overreliant? We’ve been without him for weeks, so I can’t really answer that.

 

“Have we missed him? One hundred per cent, yes, of course because he can give us something which gives you that spark in the last third, if you like, and playing on the counter-attack, we’re not quite the same when he’s not in the team.”

;D

I would end up hurting someone if that was me. My goodness 

Wow. Nice. Was so worried he would come here and ruin his career.

Man! That would have been legendary

I know Pep loves rotating but Foden is in the the form of his ,ife surely he's got to just keep playing him

 

Definitely not saying that because he's in my fantasy team

Pep loves winding up fantasy football players. Awful human being.

I don't think he meant that but if he did that's unbelievable

 

Hard to see what else he could have been going for.

Yeah, he definitely meant that. Great awareness.

Smart finish ...

Looks far worse than it actually was. It's undoubtedly a shit challenge but the fact it's caused the player to go flying in the air makes it look way worse.

Azpilicueta really sold it too with the histrionics after.

Out of control though, straight red regardless

Yeah, pretty much it really.

Just no need. Middle of the pitch and not under threat. Terrible decision making.

Why on earth tackle like that man ... completely brain dead.

Fulham with some lovely football just then and should have taken the lead. Terrible mishit by Cavaleiro.

Stars are aligning ... my goodness.

Martin Hardy from the Times reckons he's lost patience with the players who have been telling him they want to play 3 at the back, and he's claiming he wants to go 4-4-2. He's blaming them for the defeats against Brentford and Sheffield in effect, although even if you believe his version, it just shows how indecisive he is. You're the manager you pillock, it's your job to decide formations. He must have lost quite a few of the players so tomorrow's team sheet should be interesting.

He does not coach the team well enough to play a 4-4-2 as we look horrific defensively when he sets us up that way, which is likely why the players were against it.

If he's going back to that again with his still horrific coaching and now the players being dead against it ... it is going to be an unmitigated disaster.

Training was “optional” on Wednesday  :lol:

 

https://theathletic.com/2324975/2021/01/16/inside-newcastles-slump-change-confusion-and-why-bruce-is-safe-as-houses/?source=user_shared_article

 

I don't have an account. What thre sentence/paragraph that refers to the optional training ?

 

“Given Bruce’s stern post-match rhetoric, some players were taken by surprise when the next day’s warm-down session remained “optional”.

 

I think we all know who wants more days off and easy training too!

 

“There are the usual training-ground gripes at Newcastle. Players out of the team are never happy. Some players want more days off, some want less, some want training to be focused, to train with a purpose, others prefer a lighter touch.l

He's a soft touch that doesn't really have a plan or know what he's doing and the players have been taking the piss. The effects of that are now showing on the pitch.

This guy is really still using "Rafa's tactics" as an excuse for his inability to put a functioning team on the pitch

Xhaka man ... my goodness. So bad.

Pepe, man. What an absolute waste of money. Christ. Surely the worst signing for the money paid in recent times?

£72 million ... it's such an unbelievable fee it's untrue. I think it probably is the worst.

If Brighton can play free flowing football against City why can't we?  They had chances as well. Because Bruce hasn't a clue.

That was Brighton playing a good number of backup players too!

The GOAT making stuff happen. Letting Penandez have those pen stats by having Sterling take it. Very magnamious.

Nah, he bottled it 

Why isn’t KDB taking that?

Killed all the guys that had DeBruyne as captain

Robbed of a goal or assist in one fell swoop!