Newcastle United 1-0 Wigan Athletic - 1/9/07 - Post match reaction from page 19

[Rich]

Did Oba join in the celebrations after the goal?Owen ran in his direction but didnt see Oba in the throng of players.

 

They celebrated separately with a few players surrounding each, then they went and gave each other a big hug like a pair of gaylords.

 

 

Good point about Milner as well, needs to get his head up sooner and start picking crosses if he can. It'll come, though.

 

Defenders look scared shitless of him these days, though, seems he's building himself a canny reputation as someone difficult to play against. Melchiot did handle him well, but he still looked like being our best bet at creating something - not that he had much competition from any of the others in the front-six.

 

The win today was the important thing, an early goal against these sorts of teams like we should have had with Owen in the first-half, and it's a completely different ball game.

 

8 points from 4 games, Derby away next and then West Ham at home. Still optimistic, but I cannot wait to see this team with Barton/Emre in it and N'Zogbia further up the park.

[Keefaz]

Back, and a bit pissed. Think people should leave off Butt. Twice as good as Geremi today, tbh.

[Yorkie]

[safety]Back, and a bit pissed.[/safety] Think people should leave off Butt. Twice as good as Geremi today, tbh.

 

FYP.

[EthiGeordie]

  I don't think Smith should be in the team when Barton come from his injury. Also we need to play Oba and Owen a lot more.

[Nobody]

Martins to be one of the first on the team-sheet this season again, IMO. Three goals and one assist in three and a third game. Not bad. And his first touch has improved a lot. He looks a threat everytime he gets on the ball

[alpal78]

Glad with the win but on another day we would have easily drawn and we will draw a canny few if we keep on playing like this. Dissapointed Aallardyce didn't went for it after they were down to 10 men, you just know that Mourinho would have taken off a defender and sub with an attacking player. Sam just relied on his players working harder and harder and threw on Martins as the last throw of the dice without changing the formation. It's good to have faith in your players but sometimes you have to go for it to win more than you draw.

 

A few things on the tactics we use. The 4-3-3 is not an attacking formation when we play with two strikers and one winger (Zog was playing LB). I'd rather we play 4-4-2 at home with two wide wingers the way SBR plays, bring back the era of Robert and Solano. From the look of things, we have a solid back four (credit to Sam for that), so why do we need 3 hard tackling midfielders. Surely one of Butt and Geremi would have been enough.

 

If we ever play Smith in midfield again, he should be at the tip end of the diamond formation, which would once again require us to abandon the 4-3-3. That way he can be the extra man in the box and hopefully he still remembers how to shoot long range. One thing for sure, he is useless playing as a right midfield. That requires someone who can put an early cross and crossing is probably Smithy's worst attribute. Solano would have been perfect for that position. It was so painfully obvious that we lacked balance in the team with all the crosses coming from Milner's side. We should have used Zog as a winger (along with Milner) once they were one man short. The first rule of playing against 10 man is to always strech the play wide and we could not do that coz we only had Milner on the left.

 

Agree with Millner needing to put the cross in early, early and simple the way Oba did, less of that twisting and turning crap please, otherwise our strikers won't know when to make their runs. Anyway he is young and he will learn (hopefully). Also think Oba should start.

 

Rant over, good 3 points and good start to the season by Big Sam (credit where credit is due).

[merlin]

This game turned out just as I thought it might(a winner late on), but it shouldn't have done - the blame for this lies with the officials.

The Asst flagged(presumably)Viduka offside after Owen scored early on, and the guys in the Fox studio proved he was onside and the goal should have stood.

Also, a blatant handball by our sadly(NOT!)departed former CB should have been a cast-iron pen.

Had either of those decisions been correctly handled, we would have won easily - Owen could have had a Hat-trick as he would probably have taken the pen.

 

The main plus from this game is the way we plugged away despite everything going against us - something we haven't always done in past years - and we got the rewards in the end - what a relief !

The defence looked rock-solid, but will have far tougher tests than this - wait & see if we can keep the likes of Torres quiet for 90 mins - but the pairing of Capaca and Roz looks formidable and Taylor did well at RB, and almost put us ahead. The only slight questionmark remains over Zog at LB, and we need Enrique match fit ASAP.

Once that happens, we should have one of the best defences in the Prem.

 

The only real worry is keeping Owen fit - he is by far our best hope for goals, and I thought the guy was excellent today, he's starting to look sharp again.

If anything happens to him we WILL struggle to score as both Martins & Viduka will not get more than 15 each - wherever they play .

 

Altogether, I'm well-pleased with the progress being made - we WILL have bad results , inevitably, but we are definitely going in the right direction - with some luck and a good signing in Jan, we could even start thinking about trying to make top 5, but 6-8th is well within our reach.

[Guest exilim]

I think we are buying Allardyce much more time with all these results, partially because we have not gel yet, but also because we have not come up against a big 4.

 

We are going to have derby and west ham for our next 2 games and hopefully by then, we will have barton, beye and feye all ready to be introduced..  Imagine the difference it will make to have a quality right back and a midfielder who can score goals and probably even create chances. (but lets just hope he doesnt go to jail)

 

Oh of course, enrique will be getting more sharp and will be able to slot in the left back, that way we can push nzogbia up to the left and milner on the right.. I just can't wait to see nzogbia playing back in the left wing, wow.

 

And of course owen will be getting more match fit and with martins + Viduka, we are in for some exciting times.

[Taylor Swift]

People moaning about the tactics? We won ffs. Moan when his tactics cost us points. Most would have taken a win before the game and that's what we got, no need to moan when we (and Allardyce) got what was needed. On another day it might have been a draw but on another day we could have scored 6. We won. End of.

[Guest SLK]

allardyce very nearly cost us 2 points there.

 

alan smith normally plays through the middle,geremi has normally played wide either as a midfielder or full back,neither one is very creative however smith is more likely to follow in on secand balls. then when they go down to 10 men he insisits on keeping milner and n'zogbia on the same side instead of splitting them,maybe even going to 3 at the back, and having attacking impetus down both sides.

 

we look very solid at the back mind!

I agree that Smith should have been in the centre of midfield just behind the strikers...Wasting his skills on the right side of attack...

[Guest SLK]

Glad with the win but on another day we would have easily drawn and we will draw a canny few if we keep on playing like this. Dissapointed Aallardyce didn't went for it after they were down to 10 men, you just know that Mourinho would have taken off a defender and sub with an attacking player. Sam just relied on his players working harder and harder and threw on Martins as the last throw of the dice without changing the formation. It's good to have faith in your players but sometimes you have to go for it to win more than you draw.

 

A few things on the tactics we use. The 4-3-3 is not an attacking formation when we play with two strikers and one winger (Zog was playing LB). I'd rather we play 4-4-2 at home with two wide wingers the way SBR plays, bring back the era of Robert and Solano. From the look of things, we have a solid back four (credit to Sam for that), so why do we need 3 hard tackling midfielders. Surely one of Butt and Geremi would have been enough.

 

If we ever play Smith in midfield again, he should be at the tip end of the diamond formation, which would once again require us to abandon the 4-3-3. That way he can be the extra man in the box and hopefully he still remembers how to shoot long range. One thing for sure, he is useless playing as a right midfield. That requires someone who can put an early cross and crossing is probably Smithy's worst attribute. Solano would have been perfect for that position. It was so painfully obvious that we lacked balance in the team with all the crosses coming from Milner's side. We should have used Zog as a winger (along with Milner) once they were one man short. The first rule of playing against 10 man is to always strech the play wide and we could not do that coz we only had Milner on the left.

 

Agree with Millner needing to put the cross in early, early and simple the way Oba did, less of that twisting and turning crap please, otherwise our strikers won't know when to make their runs. Anyway he is young and he will learn (hopefully). Also think Oba should start.

 

Rant over, good 3 points and good start to the season by Big Sam (credit where credit is due).

Excellent comments

[Guest SLK]

People moaning about the tactics? We won ffs. Moan when his tactics cost us points. Most would have taken a win before the game and that's what we got, no need to moan when we (and Allardyce) got what was needed. On another day it might have been a draw but on another day we could have scored 6. We won. End of.

Always seek to improve...Even if you win, a smart person can see where things weren't going right and tries to rectify them for future games...I think there is still room for improvement with tactics regardless of winning or not today...

[James]

Glad with the win but on another day we would have easily drawn and we will draw a canny few if we keep on playing like this. Dissapointed Aallardyce didn't went for it after they were down to 10 men, you just know that Mourinho would have taken off a defender and sub with an attacking player. Sam just relied on his players working harder and harder and threw on Martins as the last throw of the dice without changing the formation. It's good to have faith in your players but sometimes you have to go for it to win more than you draw.

 

With the score at 0-0 we made the only substitution that could sensibly be made, ie swapping a midfielder for a quick striker. We had no other sensible substitutions available, but you could have hardly called N'Zogbia a left back, with him occupying an attacking midfield position whenever off the ball.

 

What people are stupidly failing to appreciate is that the game became more difficult for us when Wigan went down to ten men. In the first half, we were creating chances because Wigan were creating spaces through their own play by trying to win the  game themselves (but with little joy due to our defenders being a step ahead).

 

However, in the second half, Wigan packed every player in their defensive third, stopping us playing the short ball, while their physical presense was always going to make us lose out on the long ball. It is an effective tactic that can win invaluable points for a smaller team just hoping to avoid relegation. Man Utd and Chelsea would have struggled to win this game.

 

Only an excellent playmaker could have broken the deadlock, but a playmaker who is good enough to make a consistent impact in the every day 11 vs 11 hustle and bustle in the Premiership is rare. In England, we have Alonso, Arteta and Scholes, and that is about it.

[S.S.R.]

Funny how we can keep a decent line in defence and catch the other team offside much better when we have a left-midfielder and a centre-back as our full-backs.

[NSG]

Guess which paper game MOTM to a Wigan player?

[Karjala]

8pts from 4 games, good start, and Derby away coming up

[Gallowgate Toon]

Shows nerve to stick to your guns when the other team go down to ten men. Must be so tempting to sacrifice a defensive player for another forward, especially when you haven't broke the deadlock with nearly five minutes to go, and you've got a sub left. Butt was a liability though and wouldn't have been missed.

butt was making the forward runs (like when he first came here) geremi and smith were poor,how many balls did geremi play to n,zogbia ?

Geremi was excellent today, he was everywhere he covered every position on the pitch and his passing was brilliant, Smith however wasn't but i think the criticism on geremi is harsh, his vision is what we need and with him and Barton in the middle we will be a much more creative side. Butt holds him back because he rarely makes runs he just sits, Barton however does make lots of runs and drives through the defence (not literally) he and geremi are perfect foil for eachother, we will be alot more creative with those 2 in the middle of the park.

[NSG]

Shows nerve to stick to your guns when the other team go down to ten men. Must be so tempting to sacrifice a defensive player for another forward, especially when you haven't broke the deadlock with nearly five minutes to go, and you've got a sub left. Butt was a liability though and wouldn't have been missed.

butt was making the forward runs (like when he first came here) geremi and smith were poor,how many balls did geremi play to n,zogbia ?

Geremi was excellent today, he was everywhere he covered every position on the pitch and his passing was brilliant, Smith however wasn't but i think the criticism on geremi is harsh, his vision is what we need and with him and Barton in the middle we will be a much more creative side. Butt holds him back because he rarely makes runs he just sits, Barton however does make lots of runs and drives through the defence (not literally) he and geremi are perfect foil for eachother, we will be alot more creative with those 2 in the middle of the park.

 

Disagree, I think Geremi had a decent game but a fair few of his passes were too short and easily intercepted.

[Tom_NUFC]

I thought we played well, and it was a decent game. To come away with a draw would have been completely unjust, as we swarmed all over them, and had a couple of goals ruled incorrectly off-side. Had the Viduka one been given, I think we could have scored a bucketful. As the game actually panned out, naturally everyone was getting a bit frustrated - players and fans alike, and there was a little bit of hit and hope. With Kilbane getting sent off, they bolted down their defence for the draw, and credit to them as I've just said they got us a bit frustrated and defended well. You could feel the relief when the goal came, because it was deserved on the day, it also broke the long home league goal drought, and I'm pleased that it was Owen that got it because it takes the pressure off him a bit.

 

I thought that our defence was rock - Taylor did well deputising at Right Back, N'Zogbia the same at left back and was always going forward, and Cacapa and Rozehnal in the centre - brilliant. Harper had a really good game as well, and made a couple of decent saves from Wigan's tiny number of opportunities.

 

Not the finished article by a long shot though. The midfield is still the weak spot, and the team as a whole still needs to gel together - but this is all understandable, as there have been big changes on the player front. It will take a bit of time for everyone to settle in together, and that can only really be resolved in competative games.

 

But overall, I think things are looking very positive.

[Bad Mongo]

Guess which paper game MOTM to a Wigan player?

 

No idea. Please tell. To Kirkland, I suppose? He was very good.

[NSG]

Guess which paper game MOTM to a Wigan player?

 

No idea. Please tell. To Kirkland, I suppose? He was very good.

 

Guardian, gave it to the other Wigan CB, not Shiteus. The one that fell over to let Owen in on goal

[Guest MagicNumber9]

Guess which paper game MOTM to a Wigan player?

 

Star + Bramble?

[Thespence]

I thought we played 442 for most of the game.  The right hand side was goosed with a CB & forward being it. Maybe we could of chucked the left back on for Smith, moved zog up & Milner to the right.

If Owen has lost a yard of pace, then I don't want to see  on the flanks or deep in our half as much as I am seeing at the moment. He needs to be in the box as often as possible.

 

Both Harper & Owen afterwards made reference to the fans not getting edgy & getting behind the team. Harper mentioned being clapped off at halftime as well.

 

I am sure I saw Craig Hope from .co.uk at the Northern Rock cashpoint down from the Gate, he was chatting with some girls & name dropping players If you read this I would name drop as well, the blond was good looking.

[Dave]

Enrique wasn't on the bench to bring on.

[Lloydie]

From the Telegraphs report

 

"He was facing a Wigan side enjoying its best ever start to a season in the top flight and with a defence containing Titus Bramble - so often a formidable tower at the heart of the Newcastle back line."

 

I know time is a healer but come on....