Sam IS A Tactical Genius

[Guest alex]

Why am I sure we'd beat reading playing attacking football?

 

Nothing is for sure, but how about the fact they've conceded 20 odd goals  so far this season?

 

I doubt if many teams will follow fat sam's approach and play for a draw.

I agree there, ridiculous to keep it tight and play for a draw, especially when we can't keep a clean sheet either.

[Guest Reading Fan]

People are being way too hard on Sam. He's still learning about his players, and testing different things out. Reading finished above us in the league last time, aren't far behind us now, and have a decent home record. He figured that we weren't good enough to go out there and attack them from the start. That may have been the wrong call in the end, but it wasn't a crazy call.

And why did Reading finish above us in the league last season? -OK, we had a terrible season with injuries etc. But in my opinion Reading did better than anyone expected because they didn't compromise how to play. They played their style, and got a good season out of that. With the squad Sam have in command, he should be Boss enough to do the same 

 

I agree with that. The thing is your defence is not good enough to try and play a defensive game and eek out a win.

Chelsea were able to do it under Mourinho because they had Terry, Carvalho, Cole & Ferreira. Such a strong unit, so difficult to break down. If Reading were up against that type of defensive unit we would have struggled and you could have just nicked a goal and won it like that.

 

Newcastle is a fantastic attacking unit. As proven by home results and the manner of your victories at SJP this season.

If your strength is attack and your weakness is defence then surely you got to attack. As the old saying goes. The best form of defence is attack.

 

Readings weakness is defence. So what do we do, we attack you like hell at the Mad Stad. Now if you attacked us back you would have outscored us. I'm pretty sure about that.

 

Pompey outscored us by 7-4. Blackburn outscored us by 4-2. Newcastle would have outscored us with the quality of your forward play. It would have made for an amazing game as well.

 

Thats why I think Big Sam got his tactics badly wrong. I think Big Sam and your defenders were blaming the defeat on a lack of concentration at the back. Thats nonsense. We had lots of chances. Lita could have had a couple. Sonko should have scored. Lita missed from just a couple of yards out. Newcastle had no chances. You needed us to help you out with a goal.

 

If Newcastle were more positive you would have beaten us. Simple as that. It really is that straight forward. Big Sam has got to have a much more positive approach at Sunderland. Is that your next away game. If you attack them hard, you will win.

 

Halford is rubbish by the way. He is slow and prone to mistakes. You can really pummell them down the left wing.

[Wullie]

If Sam goes to the SoS and we play like we did at the weekend and at Derby, they will beat us and a huge slice of patience will be eaten away. Even a point would not be any particular consolation.

 

Let's have Milner and Charlie start and fucking go at them. Collins and Halford up against those two SHOULD be a no-contest.

[danswan]

Beat the Mackems and everything is rosy. Lose and the first (serious) calls for Sam's head begin.

 

I would hate to be a football manager tbh (except for the salary). Walking on a knife edge from game to game. Over the moon! Sick as a Parrot.

[Cronky]

Beat the Mackems and everything is rosy. Lose and the first (serious) calls for Sam's head begin.

 

I would hate to be a football manager tbh (except for the salary). Walking on a knife edge from game to game. Over the moon! Sick as a Parrot.

 

Yep. This tendency to go overboard with praise when we win and scream blue murder when we lose has never been more obvious than this last week.

 

And what is going on in your signature? Is that a real ref?

[Cronky]

People are being way too hard on Sam. He's still learning about his players, and testing different things out. Reading finished above us in the league last time, aren't far behind us now, and have a decent home record. He figured that we weren't good enough to go out there and attack them from the start. That may have been the wrong call in the end, but it wasn't a crazy call.

And why did Reading finish above us in the league last season? -OK, we had a terrible season with injuries etc. But in my opinion Reading did better than anyone expected because they didn't compromise how to play. They played their style, and got a good season out of that. With the squad Sam have in command, he should be Boss enough to do the same 

 

I agree with that. The thing is your defence is not good enough to try and play a defensive game and eek out a win.

Chelsea were able to do it under Mourinho because they had Terry, Carvalho, Cole & Ferreira. Such a strong unit, so difficult to break down. If Reading were up against that type of defensive unit we would have struggled and you could have just nicked a goal and won it like that.

 

Newcastle is a fantastic attacking unit. As proven by home results and the manner of your victories at SJP this season.

If your strength is attack and your weakness is defence then surely you got to attack. As the old saying goes. The best form of defence is attack.

 

Readings weakness is defence. So what do we do, we attack you like hell at the Mad Stad. Now if you attacked us back you would have outscored us. I'm pretty sure about that.

 

Pompey outscored us by 7-4. Blackburn outscored us by 4-2. Newcastle would have outscored us with the quality of your forward play. It would have made for an amazing game as well.

 

Thats why I think Big Sam got his tactics badly wrong. I think Big Sam and your defenders were blaming the defeat on a lack of concentration at the back. Thats nonsense. We had lots of chances. Lita could have had a couple. Sonko should have scored. Lita missed from just a couple of yards out. Newcastle had no chances. You needed us to help you out with a goal.

 

If Newcastle were more positive you would have beaten us. Simple as that. It really is that straight forward. Big Sam has got to have a much more positive approach at Sunderland. Is that your next away game. If you attack them hard, you will win.

 

Halford is rubbish by the way. He is slow and prone to mistakes. You can really pummell them down the left wing.

 

We're a 'fantastic attacking unit', are we? Personally, I haven't seen a single game this year, home or away, when we've looked anything like 'fantastic' going forward. In fact, we've been a bit stodgy.

 

As for unleashing the dynamic duo of Martins and Owen, (as suggested in your previous post) well on the few occasions that they've been together, they've looked no more convincing as a combination in practice than in theory. Martins can't hold the ball up, and while Owen's a bit better in that department, his strength is as a finisher. If Viduka had been fit, he'd have played. As individuals, Owen's lost a fair bit of pace and Martins' touch on the ball is very poor.

 

You weren't playing Portsmouth and Blackburn at home, and in any case, at the moment, they are better sides than us. Likewise Everton, who you beat. We are what the league table suggests - a mid-table team, albeit one who can improve.

 

I wouldn't have picked the same team that Allardyce fielded, but at the same time, things are nowhere near 'simple' or 'straightforward'. And attack isn't always the best form of defence. That's a cliche.

[Mr. Snrub]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11678_2834895,00.html

 

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has admitted he is still unsure of his best starting line-up.

 

Allardyce has been frustrated by his side's inconsistent form since taking charge at St James' Park over the summer.

 

He has regularly made changes to his team but concedes he is still searching for the right formula.

 

"I don't know my strongest 11 just yet, but as each game goes by you get a little closer," he said in the Daily Star.

 

The Magpies remain unbeaten at home this season but have lost three out of five games on their travels.

 

Allardyce believes his team must learn to adapt away from home and become harder to break down.

 

"We've been a dominant force at home and that's encouraging, but my biggest concern is the away form," he explained.

 

"It's important the players take everything we're telling them on board.

 

"We need to become more determined to stop the opposition playing."

 

So he's concerned about our form away from home, yet he's still going to keep up with this 'stop the oppo playing and get a draw' attitiude.

 

Sort it out, you fat prick.  How about we play our own, attacking style of football instead of just trying to block out the oppistion.  Playing for a draw at the Stadium of Shite will be unacceptable.  If we go there, play how we did against Reading and Derby and end up losing, he will be under severe pressure from the fans already.  Especially after last time we were there we demolished them under Roeder.

 

Worrying comments, imo.

[Mick]

Allardyce seems to understand that we have a problem away from home, where he's struggling at the minute is recognising that he's partly to blame for creating the problem.

 

The players are not comfortable when put under pressure because we have no outlet, we have nobody to take the ball into the danger area and give the defenders a little time to think and re-organise themselves.

 

We take thousands away to every game we play and those supporters should be an asset but they're not because as soon as we see the team sheet we think we're going to get beat.  If we think we're going to have a go at the opposition then we're upbeat and will shout for 90 minutes, that doesn't happen with negative tactics.

[ohmelads]

Well, I've seen Reading get thumped a few times this season. And the one thing that has always been consistent when Reading have been thumped this season is the quality of the opposition attack.

 

Pompey who put 7 past us had Benjani & Utaka.

West Ham who put three past us had Bellamy.

Bolton who put 3 past us had Anelka and Diouf

Blackburn who smashed 4 in had McCarthy

 

Newcastle had Martins and Owen. I was fully expecting another rout.

 

But due to the negativity of Big Sam's tactics it didn't happen. It really should have happened but it didn't.

 

The teams who lost to us didn't particularly have good strikers. Wigan (No Heskey he was injured), Everton, Derby (toothless) & surprisingly Newcastle.

 

I was fully expecting to lose that game. I really was!

 

But never mind.

 

As long as Sam learns. But I'm starting to wonder if he will. Because this is just typical Sam. This is how he did things with Bolton.

His style will always secure a top 8 finish. But will it break into the top 4? I suppose it can do, because Mourinho played something similar for Chelsea. But Chelsea did it with better players. Although I don't think Chelsea played to their strengths. They played within Mourinho's image. Now that Jose has gone, Chelsea are starting to play more to their strengths.

 

I think Newcastle should be looking to steam roller teams like Reading, Derby, Bolton, Wigan, Sunderland, Fulham, Brum. Your players are clearly alot better than all these teams.

 

And I know how Reading play. And I know that if Newcastles players wanted it badly enough and they clearly didn't. And I know that if they played to their strengths they definitely would have won. Reading haven't beaten any big 4 teams yet. And thats because they just steam roller us. Newcastle should have done the same. I'm just surprised thats all. I'd like Sam to be alot more positive.

 

Sometimes it takes someone looking from the outside in to state the obvious and you have hit the nail on the head. I think a lot of Newcastle fans who have defended some of Sam's mistakes simply haven't been able to see the wood for the trees.

 

Sam is trying to change the culture of the club. But in reality it is Sam who must change. A lot of people worried about this scenario.

[Guest Sniffer]

FSA is not capable of changing, IMO. He seems to see it his way and that's the only way. He has no flexibility, demonstrates no flair and the quality of football is less than inspiring. I don't think he's capable of putting together a team that can play flowing, exciting football and win games because I don't think he'll sign the players who can perform like that.

 

I don't think we'll win anything with him and it will be a case of seeing out the next couple of years until we move on the next manager. Or sooner if Ashley decides enough is enough because I doubt if he's paid so much money for the club to watch the rubbish FSA is churning out.

 

[ohmelads]

Grinding out the 1-0 win seems to be in vogue at the moment and Sam is a big believer. He'll do things his way and won't change for anyone. The way I see it, he will be successful if given the time, but like any manager he needs to buy himself that time. He can not and should not expect blind faith from a set of supporters who are just getting to know him. He is trying to change the culture of the club and change the expectations of fans, but I think it's a little early for that. He needs to build up that trust, and make us believers in his system. There are many doubters. Nobody is bigger than the club, and it is the club we all follow, so if he is going to be given the reigns then he needs to show people he will lead them in the right direction. Some might glibly toss words like 'fickle' around, but this is true of every football club in the world. If you want the job, you've got to prove you're up to it. Like any manager would he has made some mistakes, what people want to see is that he is willing to learn from them and move on.

 

He showed at Bolton his style of football works, if he is given the time to set his squad up the way he wants it. He has made a lot of signings in just one window, and every single one of them tick one or all of his usual boxes; height, strength, experience and workrate. I think there is little doubt that he is building us up the way he built Bolton, only the aim would be to do it with better quality players and eventually go that bit further than they did. The problem I can see is that for the forseeable future he still has to work with a large number of players from the old order, players made for a very different type of football to the stuff he got Bolton playing. Sam has to adapt his ways, otherwise these players will be wasted. If he's going to buy himself time to revamp the entire squad then he must work with the current squad to get the necessary results. As frustrating as it may be, he must work with the current system in order to change it. He will keep telling us to be patient, but we have every right to say the same to him. Sometimes he will have to bite his tongue and accept that there are players in the current squad who are not made for his type of football. He can't expect the team to perform like Bolton overnight, and must change things in order to get the best out of the current lot. If anyone is showing a lack of patience it is Sam, as evidenced by the way he dropped Rozehnal and Taylor.

 

I see positive signs from Allardyce but I also see causes for concern, because when long balls are being launched to Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen, there is a clash of styles going on and a manager seemingly unwilling or unable to compromise. If only it was that easy to turn around a football club. His success here will depend on his flexibility and nous, because nobody is going to hand him a blank cheque. Time will tell whether he has what it takes.

[Guest Sniffer]

You are right. Michael Owen is totally wasted here and might as well leave if FSA wants to hump the ball up there. Martins might as well go as well. Bottom line is that Owen is far too good a football  player to play here with the kick and rush approach.

[Guest scousertommy]

Grinding out the 1-0 win seems to be in vogue at the moment and Sam is a big believer. He'll do things his way and won't change for anyone. The way I see it, he will be successful if given the time, but like any manager he needs to buy himself that time. He can not and should not expect blind faith from a set of supporters who are just getting to know him. He is trying to change the culture of the club and change the expectations of fans, but I think it's a little early for that. He needs to build up that trust, and make us believers in his system. There are many doubters. Nobody is bigger than the club, and it is the club we all follow, so if he is going to be given the reigns then he needs to show people he will lead them in the right direction. Some might glibly toss words like 'fickle' around, but this is true of every football club in the world. If you want the job, you've got to prove you're up to it. Like any manager would he has made some mistakes, what people want to see is that he is willing to learn from them and move on.

 

He showed at Bolton his style of football works, if he is given the time to set his squad up the way he wants it. He has made a lot of signings in just one window, and every single one of them tick one or all of his usual boxes; height, strength, experience and workrate. I think there is little doubt that he is building us up the way he built Bolton, only the aim would be to do it with better quality players and eventually go that bit further than they did. The problem I can see is that for the forseeable future he still has to work with a large number of players from the old order, players made for a very different type of football to the stuff he got Bolton playing. Sam has to adapt his ways, otherwise these players will be wasted. If he's going to buy himself time to revamp the entire squad then he must work with the current squad to get the necessary results. As frustrating as it may be, he must work with the current system in order to change it. He will keep telling us to be patient, but we have every right to say the same to him. Sometimes he will have to bite his tongue and accept that there are players in the current squad who are not made for his type of football. He can't expect the team to perform like Bolton overnight, and must change things in order to get the best out of the current lot. If anyone is showing a lack of patience it is Sam, as evidenced by the way he dropped Rozehnal and Taylor.

 

I see positive signs from Allardyce but I also see causes for concern, because when long balls are being launched to Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen, there is a clash of styles going on and a manager seemingly unwilling or unable to compromise. If only it was that easy to turn around a football club. His success here will depend on his flexibility and nous, because nobody is going to hand him a blank cheque. Time will tell whether he has what it takes.

 

A lot of good points, Allardyce has had relative success playing that way and he aint going to change. He's so similar in his outlook to Houllier it's uncanny, but a couple of words of warning from someone that had to put up with 3 years of this type of football:

 

It can bring success in the cups because Owen and Martins are good enough to put away the one good chance in a game that comes their way - the problem is keeping those two happy especially because they ARE going to be fed on scraps and without stirring I can see Big Sam selling one or both in Jan to bring in a striker that more fulfills what he's looking for in a player, hold up play, hard work and strength.

 

The problem in the league that Liverpool found was that against the better teams we would just give so much possesion to them that it was absolutely soul destroying watching us hang on sometimes. Against the weaker teams again, you'll give away so much possesion that you'll be able to see their confidence grow during the match because they'll know that if they score one then they're unlikely to lose the match.

 

I've a bit of a soft spot for the toon due to a girl a met at uni and to be honest, I think you deserve better than what you've had to put up with in terms of Shepherd/souness and Roeder - but in Sam Allardyce all I see is a one dimensional bluffer that loves appearing on telly with his mates whereby they all sit round telling him what a genius he is for having bluetooth headsets whilst he hawks himself for the England job that my nan has as much chance of getting as he has.

[Skirge]

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1157090,00.html

Sam Speaks:  Attack Is Best Defence At SJP

By Craig Hope

[Guest alex]

Was Craig Hope Alan D'Ohliver by any chance?

[merlin]

Grinding out the 1-0 win seems to be in vogue at the moment and Sam is a big believer. He'll do things his way and won't change for anyone. The way I see it, he will be successful if given the time, but like any manager he needs to buy himself that time. He can not and should not expect blind faith from a set of supporters who are just getting to know him. He is trying to change the culture of the club and change the expectations of fans, but I think it's a little early for that. He needs to build up that trust, and make us believers in his system. There are many doubters. Nobody is bigger than the club, and it is the club we all follow, so if he is going to be given the reigns then he needs to show people he will lead them in the right direction. Some might glibly toss words like 'fickle' around, but this is true of every football club in the world. If you want the job, you've got to prove you're up to it. Like any manager would he has made some mistakes, what people want to see is that he is willing to learn from them and move on.

 

He showed at Bolton his style of football works, if he is given the time to set his squad up the way he wants it. He has made a lot of signings in just one window, and every single one of them tick one or all of his usual boxes; height, strength, experience and workrate. I think there is little doubt that he is building us up the way he built Bolton, only the aim would be to do it with better quality players and eventually go that bit further than they did. The problem I can see is that for the forseeable future he still has to work with a large number of players from the old order, players made for a very different type of football to the stuff he got Bolton playing. Sam has to adapt his ways, otherwise these players will be wasted. If he's going to buy himself time to revamp the entire squad then he must work with the current squad to get the necessary results. As frustrating as it may be, he must work with the current system in order to change it. He will keep telling us to be patient, but we have every right to say the same to him. Sometimes he will have to bite his tongue and accept that there are players in the current squad who are not made for his type of football. He can't expect the team to perform like Bolton overnight, and must change things in order to get the best out of the current lot. If anyone is showing a lack of patience it is Sam, as evidenced by the way he dropped Rozehnal and Taylor.

 

I see positive signs from Allardyce but I also see causes for concern, because when long balls are being launched to Obafemi Martins and Michael Owen, there is a clash of styles going on and a manager seemingly unwilling or unable to compromise. If only it was that easy to turn around a football club. His success here will depend on his flexibility and nous, because nobody is going to hand him a blank cheque. Time will tell whether he has what it takes.

 

A lot of good points, Allardyce has had relative success playing that way and he aint going to change. He's so similar in his outlook to Houllier it's uncanny, but a couple of words of warning from someone that had to put up with 3 years of this type of football:

 

It can bring success in the cups because Owen and Martins are good enough to put away the one good chance in a game that comes their way - the problem is keeping those two happy especially because they ARE going to be fed on scraps and without stirring I can see Big Sam selling one or both in Jan to bring in a striker that more fulfills what he's looking for in a player, hold up play, hard work and strength.

 

The problem in the league that Liverpool found was that against the better teams we would just give so much possesion to them that it was absolutely soul destroying watching us hang on sometimes. Against the weaker teams again, you'll give away so much possesion that you'll be able to see their confidence grow during the match because they'll know that if they score one then they're unlikely to lose the match.

 

I've a bit of a soft spot for the toon due to a girl a met at uni and to be honest, I think you deserve better than what you've had to put up with in terms of Shepherd/souness and Roeder - but in Sam Allardyce all I see is a one dimensional bluffer that loves appearing on telly with his mates whereby they all sit round telling him what a genius he is for having bluetooth headsets whilst he hawks himself for the England job that my nan has as much chance of getting as he has.

 

Some excellent points - the final paragraph was a gem !

[fredbob]

I find it so strange that any manager can set out a teams game plan to be try and nick it 1-0. It just doesnt make sense to me, surely it's be easier to set out a game plan to win 2-0. Which means playing attacking football. Why would you want to put yourself under self induced pressure to not conceded when it'd be easier to play with less pressure with the knowledge of having a 2 goal league.

 

I know it sounds screamingly obvious but i dont understand how any managers thought process could be to stifle creative football in order to strangle out a game.

 

 

[Guest Harry-Norway]

We are not that much better in defence at home,when did we have a clean sheet at St.J.?against AV(0-0)

 

There are to many personal faults in defence and midfield,bad passes and not chaseing the sec.ball,some of the midfielders looks lazy not bleeding for Toon,look to other teams who is fighting for every ball,when ouer midfielders drop the ball,they just give a dam.

 

I ve seen one match at St.J and the rest on TV this season in Norway and its much the same in everygame,its just that we been a bit luckyer in some matches who`s give us the points we have today.

 

If Toon is going to be top 6 the defence and midfield has to be more focused and consentrated and start fighting for Toon in 90 min +

 

[Cronky]

There's nothing daft about the tactic of frustrating the opposition away from home and nicking a goal or two on the break or when the other team are tired in the second half. Everton have been doing this successfully for the last three seasons. In fact, to a greater or lesser extent, all teams recognise the need to take a more conservative approach away from home, at least in the early stages.

 

Playing like that means you have to defend well, and I think Sam has only just hit upon his best back four. In front of them, the midfield needs to close the opposition down more aggressively and as a group. That's something we need to work on.

 

The other issue is that when you do have possession, it's important to keep it and not just give it away and invite further pressure. Our midfield doesn't pass the ball well, and without Viduka the ball doesn't stick up front. We don't have much ability to hit teams on the break, despite the pace of Martins.

 

By his own admission, Sam is still getting to know the players and trying out different things. He hasn't sorted out these problems as yet. But to say that we should go ahead for all-out attack is a bit naive. We aren't good enough to play that way either.

[Cronky]

In Sam Allardyce all I see is a one dimensional bluffer that loves appearing on telly with his mates whereby they all sit round telling him what a genius he is for having bluetooth headsets whilst he hawks himself for the England job that my nan has as much chance of getting as he has.

 

You're getting a bit carried away there. Sam has done more than enough in his career to demonstrate that he has some real ability. The number of players that speak highly of him and want to play for him is testament enough to that. And look what happened to Bolton the minute he left.

[Dave]

Give a bonus point to teams that score three goals or more in a league game.

[toptoon]

People are being way too hard on Sam. He's still learning about his players, and testing different things out. Reading finished above us in the league last time, aren't far behind us now, and have a decent home record. He figured that we weren't good enough to go out there and attack them from the start. That may have been the wrong call in the end, but it wasn't a crazy call.

And why did Reading finish above us in the league last season? -OK, we had a terrible season with injuries etc. But in my opinion Reading did better than anyone expected because they didn't compromise how to play. They played their style, and got a good season out of that. With the squad Sam have in command, he should be Boss enough to do the same 

 

I agree with that. The thing is your defence is not good enough to try and play a defensive game and eek out a win.

Chelsea were able to do it under Mourinho because they had Terry, Carvalho, Cole & Ferreira. Such a strong unit, so difficult to break down. If Reading were up against that type of defensive unit we would have struggled and you could have just nicked a goal and won it like that.

 

Newcastle is a fantastic attacking unit. As proven by home results and the manner of your victories at SJP this season.

If your strength is attack and your weakness is defence then surely you got to attack. As the old saying goes. The best form of defence is attack.

 

Readings weakness is defence. So what do we do, we attack you like hell at the Mad Stad. Now if you attacked us back you would have outscored us. I'm pretty sure about that.

 

Pompey outscored us by 7-4. Blackburn outscored us by 4-2. Newcastle would have outscored us with the quality of your forward play. It would have made for an amazing game as well.

 

Thats why I think Big Sam got his tactics badly wrong. I think Big Sam and your defenders were blaming the defeat on a lack of concentration at the back. Thats nonsense. We had lots of chances. Lita could have had a couple. Sonko should have scored. Lita missed from just a couple of yards out. Newcastle had no chances. You needed us to help you out with a goal.

 

If Newcastle were more positive you would have beaten us. Simple as that. It really is that straight forward. Big Sam has got to have a much more positive approach at Sunderland. Is that your next away game. If you attack them hard, you will win.

 

Halford is rubbish by the way. He is slow and prone to mistakes. You can really pummell them down the left wing.

 

!00% agree with Reading fan.

 

Against Derby and Reading its gone horribly horribly wrong and we have not deserved to win, Smith and Emre on the wings FFS Zoggy and Milner are good at getting back but CRUCIALLY offer something going forward too!!! We should be attacking these teams with wingers having a real go at them and trying to outscore them (they are not Man u or Arsenal ffs). This is very worrying and could end up costing him his job as a blind man can see that his tactics away from home are complete and utter shite. Sort it out big sam please, don't be as arrogant and stubborn as Soumess, admit you've got it wrong and change it now!

[Skirge]

We need to be going out onto the pitch with the mentality that we will try to score as many goals as we can, attack is the best form of defence anyway. If we tried to score an early goals then play possession football for the rest of the match we would get taken apart, we seem unable to hold onto the ball, even with our back and square passing we still get caught in possession because of our lack of movement off he ball.

We then end up being closed down and it go's back to Shay who is then forced to smash a long ball down field and hope for the best, the only forward pass we seem to play is a long ball.

With no Viduka the long ball is of no use unless we manage to drop it in behind for Martins to run onto but thats not a tactic we can rely  on, getting the ball down and playing quick passes with good movement off the ball is what we too do.

 

Our defence is full of better players but its not the solid all together unit we are looking for, I think it will come together though and when it does they will be a very solid back four, its the lack of cover for our fullbacks that has cost us most this season. Zoggy has left Enrique all on his own loads this season and its cost us goals, tracking back from our midfield is very poor all round, Barton should help give the defence more cover but thats only in central areas, he needs to get Milner and Zoggy both to understand their defensive duties or I can see Duff taking Zogs position again when he is fit, Duff does track back.

[madras]

We are not that much better in defence at home,when did we have a clean sheet at St.J.?against AV(0-0)

 

There are to many personal faults in defence and midfield,bad passes and not chaseing the sec.ball,some of the midfielders looks lazy not bleeding for Toon,look to other teams who is fighting for every ball,when ouer midfielders drop the ball,they just give a dam.

 

I ve seen one match at St.J and the rest on TV this season in Norway and its much the same in everygame,its just that we been a bit luckyer in some matches who`s give us the points we have today.

 

If Toon is going to be top 6 the defence and midfield has to be more focused and consentrated  and start fighting for Toon in 90 min +

 

 

Really?

 

Remember Everton being allowed only one attempt on goal all game (the second goal was of course a fluke).

 

Remember Wigan not once testing Shay.

 

Remember Tottenham having one other opportunity apart from their goal which could be classed as a good opportunity.

 

Remember West Ham, apart from a brief period in the first half, not being allowed within a 20 yard raduis of our goal.

 

Our defensive performances at home this year have been nothing short of superb when comparing them to previous seasons. There have been times in a few of those games where we've been under pressure and the defence hasn't folded.

 

The only problem I can see with our performances at home is that we lack that ability to retain possesion when we really need to, which in my opinion is the midfields fault.

true..................so absolutly very true.