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Newcastle 3 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur - 22/10/07 - Post match reaction from page 17


James

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We weren't at our best today but took our chances when it came and for the most part, defended resolutely. Our attack wasn't fluid, but it looked like we had a gameplan (for example Given always kicked towards Geremi because he was up against the smaller Lee) and we never stopped hustling in the first half. Even though we weren't playing Arsenal-style football, we were really good in keeping possession and pinning them back. Sam seems to have instilled a low-risk attacking plan which puts the opposition under pressure for long enough that they'll make at least a couple of mistakes, and from there we hope that our strikers finish the job. I think all of this says that we're heading in the right direction, and all we need now is to replicate this type of performance away from home.

 

Note - Milner was quite disappointing whilst he was on. We missed Zoggy ALOT. I dunno whether it was because Chimbonda is a quality fullback or it's just that Milner's a bit tired atm, but he was slow in reacting and even slower in getting involved in our attacks.

 

Note 2 - Berbatov is deceptively quick. Skinned Beye with ease on one occasion near the byline. His agility is also something that hasn't been mentioned that much, but it's that and his close control and overall technique that makes him such a classy player.

 

Note 3 - I'm slightly worried about Beye. He looks good going forward - having pace helps here. However, defensively, he seems unable to adapt and change how close he's actually marking his player. On one instance with Berbs near the byline he was too close. On a few occasions when Spurs had a player on the left wing, he was too far away which made it was easier for them to cross the ball. Maybe it's a tad overreading his game but he needs to adjust to who he's marking and where they are on the pitch. This was also evident when we played Citeh three weeks ago.

Generally thought we played well. As well as we have this season. Emre kept the ball reasonably well. Butt, Cacapa and N'Zogbia played well. Zog kept them busy down the left. Some good stuff. Milner didnt play well but scored a good goal and thats why he is a good squad player. However, we missed Zog's pace to press them in the second half but they were pretty poor/toothless. Martins and Owen kept them busy when we didnt just hump daft balls up to their centre halves. Jermaine Jenas is gay (According to the crowd). Fullbacks did ok, both adjusting and neither did anything horrendous - both give us an outlet that we havent had for some time from specialist fullbacks.

Nice to see SJP almost filled and Tottenham bringing a similar level of support to Fulham.

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We weren't at our best today but took our chances when it came and for the most part, defended resolutely. Our attack wasn't fluid, but it looked like we had a gameplan (for example Given always kicked towards Geremi because he was up against the smaller Lee) and we never stopped hustling in the first half. Even though we weren't playing Arsenal-style football, we were really good in keeping possession and pinning them back. Sam seems to have instilled a low-risk attacking plan which puts the opposition under pressure for long enough that they'll make at least a couple of mistakes, and from there we hope that our strikers finish the job. I think all of this says that we're heading in the right direction, and all we need now is to replicate this type of performance away from home.

 

Note - Milner was quite disappointing whilst he was on. We missed Zoggy ALOT. I dunno whether it was because Chimbonda is a quality fullback or it's just that Milner's a bit tired atm, but he was slow in reacting and even slower in getting involved in our attacks.

 

Note 2 - Berbatov is deceptively quick. Skinned Beye with ease on one occasion near the byline. His agility is also something that hasn't been mentioned that much, but it's that and his close control and overall technique that makes him such a classy player.

 

Note 3 - I'm slightly worried about Beye. He looks good going forward - having pace helps here. However, defensively, he seems unable to adapt and change how close he's actually marking his player. On one instance with Berbs near the byline he was too close. On a few occasions when Spurs had a player on the left wing, he was too far away which made it was easier for them to cross the ball. Maybe it's a tad overreading his game but he needs to adjust to who he's marking and where they are on the pitch. This was also evident when we played Citeh three weeks ago.

 

Agree totally about Beye, but he will definitely come good. He joined us so late and he had to be thrown into it with  no preparation due to the uselessness of Carr.

 

He will come good. He's a top defender.

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Guest newcastle4life
;D Really happy with the result Faye had a great game could be a great signing if he keeps playing like  first few games.
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Of course you can't judge him on that one performance. Probably what worries me more is his atrocious displays pre-season. Once again, to string him up for that is OTT. Fingers crossed, I've personally got plenty of faith in him.

 

 

 

WHAT!!

 

He played very well at hartlepool and then got injured at Carlisle!

 

He certainly did get injured. He still played a substantial part of the match though. I'm not trying to wind anybody up here, just passing judgement.

 

EDIT: I wasn't at the Hartlepool game but I thought I read he was at best average against a weak side... Not really something I would argue though, I wasn't there.

 

However, he was the worst player on the pitch at Brunton Park.

 

Atrocious displays although you saw less than half of the time he played.  Was excellent at Hartlepool, against limited opposition yes, but atrocious is just making it up to suit your argument

 

He was atroious at Carlisle and poor today, sorry. Why would I want to "pretend" he was poor? I am a newcastle supporter man, why I would want to make it up to "suit" an arguemnt is daft. I'm not arguiing. Just reflecting judgement on the comments initially made on a poor performance this evening.

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Milner was fairly quiet on the attacking front, well taken goal though after a world class first touch to put him in that position ;)

 

Was very impressed to see him sprinting (his version) back to defend when Shay had to come and clear at one point.

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Of course you can't judge him on that one performance. Probably what worries me more is his atrocious displays pre-season. Once again, to string him up for that is OTT. Fingers crossed, I've personally got plenty of faith in him.

 

 

WHAT!!

 

He played very well at hartlepool and then got injured at Carlisle!

 

He certainly did get injured. He still played a substantial part of the match though. I'm not trying to wind anybody up here, just passing judgement.

 

EDIT: I wasn't at the Hartlepool game but I thought I read he was at best average against a weak side... Not really something I would argue though, I wasn't there.

 

However, he was the worst player on the pitch at Brunton Park.

 

No he wasnt. Dyer wasnt even moving and didnt look interested in the slightest.

 

Fair enough, I disagree though. Although Dyer also had a poor game he did create an opening and a good chance from a breakaway run into the box and had a shot on target. He also never constantly gave posession to the other team. I've no personal gain from saying this, point is he was poor today and then, lets just see what happens.

 

Barton did seemed to be off the pace and seemed to need an extra couple of seconds before a pass but surely that's expected from someone coming off a 2 month layoff? Especially against a team harrying and hustling because they're down by 2? No?

 

Yes, that's what I said. Jesus. :D

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Of course you can't judge him on that one performance. Probably what worries me more is his atrocious displays pre-season. Once again, to string him up for that is OTT. Fingers crossed, I've personally got plenty of faith in him.

 

 

 

WHAT!!

 

He played very well at hartlepool and then got injured at Carlisle!

 

He certainly did get injured. He still played a substantial part of the match though. I'm not trying to wind anybody up here, just passing judgement.

 

EDIT: I wasn't at the Hartlepool game but I thought I read he was at best average against a weak side... Not really something I would argue though, I wasn't there.

 

However, he was the worst player on the pitch at Brunton Park.

 

Atrocious displays although you saw less than half of the time he played.  Was excellent at Hartlepool, against limited opposition yes, but atrocious is just making it up to suit your argument

 

He was atroious at Carlisle and poor today, sorry. Why would I want to "pretend" he was poor? I am a newcastle supporter man, why I would want to make it up to "suit" an arguemnt is daft. I'm not arguiing. Just reflecting judgement on the comments initially made on a poor performance this evening.

 

I think worrying about him because he was poor in pre-season and poor today is a little kneejerk. He has been a good player for years now in the premiership. There was a certain "fishy" player who gets regular England call ups on the pitch today I would be a lot more worried about, thankfully he isn't our player anymore.

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Guest shaun11177

Of course Owen and Martins can play together its just that the team need to play a little bit different rather than having the easy option of hitting a target man which can be a bit predictable.

Beye is a good defender but will take a few games to get used to the pace of the Premiership it must be twice as quick as the French lge.

All i ask is no Smith in midfield.

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Of course you can't judge him on that one performance. Probably what worries me more is his atrocious displays pre-season. Once again, to string him up for that is OTT. Fingers crossed, I've personally got plenty of faith in him.

 

 

 

WHAT!!

 

He played very well at hartlepool and then got injured at Carlisle!

 

He certainly did get injured. He still played a substantial part of the match though. I'm not trying to wind anybody up here, just passing judgement.

 

EDIT: I wasn't at the Hartlepool game but I thought I read he was at best average against a weak side... Not really something I would argue though, I wasn't there.

 

However, he was the worst player on the pitch at Brunton Park.

 

Atrocious displays although you saw less than half of the time he played.  Was excellent at Hartlepool, against limited opposition yes, but atrocious is just making it up to suit your argument

 

He was atroious at Carlisle and poor today, sorry. Why would I want to "pretend" he was poor? I am a newcastle supporter man, why I would want to make it up to "suit" an arguemnt is daft. I'm not arguiing. Just reflecting judgement on the comments initially made on a poor performance this evening.

 

I think worrying about him because he was poor in pre-season and poor today is a little kneejerk. He has been a good player for years now in the premiership. There was a certain "fishy" player who gets regular England call ups on the pitch today I would be a lot more worried about, thankfully he isn't our player anymore.

 

Look, if it's Kneejerk, it's not from me. Keep your knickers on everyone. I just responded to initial comments from somsone else regarding his performance and related it back to the game pre season... that is all.

If you read back you will see I know he's a been a great player at City and sure he's do well for us, in effect the same point you're making yourself.

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Milner was fairly quiet on the attacking front, well taken goal though after a world class first touch to put him in that position ;)

 

Was very impressed to see him sprinting (his version) back to defend when Shay had to come and clear at one point.

 

Thought he was woeful, tbh, apart from the goal. And I like him!

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Milner was fairly quiet on the attacking front, well taken goal though after a world class first touch to put him in that position ;)

 

Was very impressed to see him sprinting (his version) back to defend when Shay had to come and clear at one point.

Yeah, it was a good touch. The kid needs a rest tbh. He looked like he had doubled the sack of coal he normally carries on his back. The stuff he isn't any good isn't worth going over. His tracking back was what worried me. Desperately needs a rest and then in a few weeks he can come off the bench if nobody else wants to. ;)
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Milner was fairly quiet on the attacking front, well taken goal though after a world class first touch to put him in that position ;)

 

Was very impressed to see him sprinting (his version) back to defend when Shay had to come and clear at one point.

 

Thought he was woeful, tbh, apart from the goal. And I like him!

 

Kneejerk :p

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Milner was fairly quiet on the attacking front, well taken goal though after a world class first touch to put him in that position ;)

 

Was very impressed to see him sprinting (his version) back to defend when Shay had to come and clear at one point.

 

Thought he was woeful, tbh, apart from the goal. And I like him!

 

Kneejerk :p

Accurate though.
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Fantastic result. I watched it in a pub in Luton in the middle of a bunch of spurs supporters...I hate spurs supporters  :razz:

 

Was a bit disappointed when Zoggy came off and Milner came on....especially putting Milner on the left, but I could understand why Sam did it, as Milner tends to keep the team shape better than N'Zogbia, even though he offers less of an attacking option. A pretty conservative tactic when you're in the lead. Still, I thought he played well enough and got the goal too. You can't ask for too much more.  :laugh:

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I wanna know more about the Owen and Martins partenrship, from what i gather Owen was dropping deep, is that right?

 

That seems strange to me if true.

 

Were there signs that this partnership could work?

 

 

they were both class

owen was dropping off picking up balls and so was oba

oba was flicking all the headers on and charging at the defence with owen dotting around picking up loose balls and he played really well

partnership could work at home games but maybe we need viduka at away games

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I wanna know more about the Owen and Martins partenrship, from what i gather Owen was dropping deep, is that right?

 

That seems strange to me if true.

 

Were there signs that this partnership could work?

Worked well enough for me. We actually looked like we could threaten as a team tonight rather than trying to grind a result. Martins played well, Owen made the keeper work, particularly with the first half shot. Their movement was anything but predictable.
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How did Owen play?  Did he look knackered from the England matches or was he sharp?  On another board it said he was doing a lot of link-up...that seems odd for a man known for being a clinical finisher (and not so great at "overall contribution" in some people's opinions).  Was this an attempt to work with Martins -- although I thought he was more the link-up play type? 

 

for gods sake, i know this will already have been answered, but i'll answer it again, Owen's link up play is ALWAYS productive, he gets very involved in attacks and hardly ever wastes a pass, and thats how he played tonight, i honestly dont know where the idea that he's nothing but a finisher comes from

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