Steven Taylor

[Dokko]

Said last week he needs a rest, looks mentally tired.

He's not French though.

 

As always I call it how i see it, I don't have agenda like some (not a dig at you btw) though 7 French players yesterday, 6-0, but that's for another thread.

 

Taylor needs colo back, he needs a stronger (mentally) partner next to him to help him out. I thought we'd be ok without colo, as a player and a captain, can't believe I was that spectacularly wrong about both.

[Tooj]

Said last week he needs a rest, looks mentally tired.

He's not French though.

 

As always I call it how i see it, I don't have agenda like some (not a dig at you btw) though 7 French players yesterday, 6-0, but that's for another thread.

 

Taylor needs colo back, he needs a stronger (mentally) partner next to him to help him out. I thought we'd be ok without colo, as a player and a captain, can't believe I was that spectacularly wrong about both.

 

The thing is though Taylor is now 27 so should be at his peak years so I think we shouldn't be saying things like he needs a stronger partner next to him mentality wise as at his age he should be able to cope. Quite worrying if that's the case like.

 

A lot of people thought that about Colo mind so it wasn't just yourself.

[joeyt]

Could have driven a tank through the gap between him and MYM yesterday

[Thespence]

"It's a sick feeling. At this moment in time, it feels like a family member has died, if I am being honest with you," Taylor said

 

http://tyneandwear.sky.com/newcastleunited/article/65270/steven-taylor-liverpool-defeat-feels-like-a-family-member-has

[huss9]

feel taylor has been getting a bit cocky lately. just a couple of weeks ago he was saying we were too good to go down. does he not remember last time?

[Dokko]

Said last week he needs a rest, looks mentally tired.

He's not French though.

 

As always I call it how i see it, I don't have agenda like some (not a dig at you btw) though 7 French players yesterday, 6-0, but that's for another thread.

 

Taylor needs colo back, he needs a stronger (mentally) partner next to him to help him out. I thought we'd be ok without colo, as a player and a captain, can't believe I was that spectacularly wrong about both.

 

The thing is though Taylor is now 27 so should be at his peak years so I think we shouldn't be saying things like he needs a stronger partner next to him mentality wise as at his age he should be able to cope. Quite worrying if that's the case like.

 

A lot of people thought that about Colo mind so it wasn't just yourself.

 

I know, at a shame but its true. For the first few years we botched his education and in the last few years injuiries have kept him out for long spells, that with him not bring the brightest means he actually plays like a 23-24 year old. Doesn't mean he's a bad player, just immature and for a defenders, especially a central one its a major flaw.

 

He feeds off colo, we all know that I just didnt realise how much until the last few games, he's on edge all the way through and needs a claiming influence near him. It's not Mbiwas fault, he's young, just moved and trying to settle, it's tough going for the pairing especially when the two big players of Cabaye and Tiote have misfired so badly hen they've played.

[oldtype]

He plays quite well when we're good and plays terribly when we're shit. It's not rocket science.

 

He's clearly one of the symptoms, not one of the causes.

[biggs]

Fed up with the hand gestures,ffs just get on with tackling and looking for offside all the time

[tmonkey]

IMO since his return from injury we've conceded a bucketload of goals where Saylor has contributed massively to the poor overall levels of defending by e.g. leaving ridiculous gaps all over the pitch, backing off and watching the play develop in front of him, hoping to get a cheap interception in or to throw his body in the way when the final pass/shot is made, etc etc. For me his "good" games have been those where the gamble has paid off, but ultimately at this level we just can't afford to have a defender in the first team who defends in this manner.

 

I'm also getting sick of him being so deceptively s*** in the air. His headed clearances will go straight to an opposition player 99% of the time, and if he's up against a big target man he seems to just faff around putting in a weak challenge. On top of this, he ha now started to run into a "false keeper" position, i.e. shirking his marking responsibilities and positioning himself in front of his own keeper as a sort of initial shield - it flabberghasts me as to how he's getting away with this.

 

Take for example some of the goals yesterday:

 

1st goal:

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img20/835/saylor1.jpg

 

Saylor runs back a few yards for no reason at all into the "false keeper" position. Haidara may have played Agger on, but it was very tight and plenty of times the linesman will call it because by the time the ball is slightly in mid air the attacking player looks offside. Saylor running back to that position basically ensured there was no possibilty of an offside being called.

 

2nd goal:

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img837/2416/salyor2.jpg

 

When the ball gets kicked by Reina and by the time Sturridge lays it off, Saylor has dropped about 10 yards deep for absolutely no reason, with noone anywhere close to him. The amount of space he's leaving, and the opportunities he's providing to the opposition, is ridiculous. It's akin to a boxer standing in front of his opponent, chin out, arms by his side, saying "go on, give me your best shot", and then trying to deal with things from that moment onwards.

 

3rd goal:

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img197/9240/saylor31.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img824/9788/saylor32.jpg

 

http://imageshack.us/a/img823/111/saylor33.jpg

 

The absolute worst of Saylor. Look at him. Just look at him backing off as Coutinho carries the ball forward unchallenged from the half way line to our penalty box - Saylor is backing off so much that he turns his back on Coutinho and ends up moonwalking backwards towards our penalty box, whilst MYM forgets the man behind him and decides to try to close Coutinho down because Saylor won't. Beyond pathetic. That was the goal which killed the tie off, as at 0-2 we were pressing them back into their own half and looking to actually do something. I appreciate it's normal for good defenders to back off a bit, but they're always much tighter when they do it, and the idea has always been to force the attacker to go down the route they don't want to go before getting the tackle/block in. Saylor just allows the opposition player to do whatever he wants

 

4th, 5th, 6th goals - doesn't matter anymore as the players have given up.

 

IMO the instances highlighted above are entirely about the style of Saylor's defending, i.e. he has consistently been doing the above throughout this season (and even last, though having Krul is great form papered over some of those cracks), and are to do with flaws in his makeup, so this isn't a case of singling him out for criticism after another horrendous result (he wasn't even close to our worst player to be fair). By contrast, MYM has been pretty disappointing with the mistakes and all-round naivety at times, but at least he tries to snuff the danger out, and doesn't hide - unlike Saylor. To be frank, sometimes I think Saylor is at the same level as Danny Simpson, i.e. they might ocassionally look decent in the Premiership depending on who the opposition have, but the rest of the time they're major liabilities not up to facing Premiership opposition week in week out, and will let the team suffer as they hide.

[AY]

3rd goal was MYM´s fault I IMO. He should have followed Sturridge but decided to try and close Coutinho for some reason. It´s 2vs2 and DS was Mapou´s man.

[Tiotes Witch Doctor]

3rd goal was MYM´s fault I IMO. He should have followed Sturridge but decided to try and close Coutinho for some reason. It´s 2vs2 and DS was Mapou´s man.

 

Because Taylor backed off so much that if M'biwa didn't step in Coutinho could have had a free run at goal.

[tmonkey]

3rd goal was MYM´s fault I IMO. He should have followed Sturridge but decided to try and close Coutinho for some reason. It´s 2vs2 and DS was Mapou´s man.

 

I think MYM was trying to step up and leave Sturridge offside, so when Coutinho plays the pass Sturridge is caught out, as you can see in the screenshot above - either that or he was hoping both himself and Saylor would block Coutinho together. He probably didn't calculate Saylor backpeddling to such an extent that he plays Sturridge on and leaves a nice little gap between the two defenders. Hence the goal.

 

Some of the fault does lie with MYM, as he took the "wrong" option here, however for me most of it lies with Saylor for allowing the situation to develop to the extent that it did. FWIW, I have no idea what Saylor is thinking, as Coutinho did look a class act but at no point looked to be a great dribbler with pace, so there's really no excuse for him not trying to tackle or at least get tight and show him onto his weaker foot (beyond the explanation already provided as to why he backs off).

[TRon]

Been pointing out Taylor's backing off for years, in fact I made the same point on the previous page. Also agree with how weak in the air he is for a big lad. You just know he won't want to mix it with Carroll and will leave that to Colo/MYM.

[AY]

Coutinho would have probably went past Tayls with ease if he had tried to close him down too soon. IMO he looked pretty good dribbler. Tayls has no idea Sturridge is behind him.

 

First rule when playing a high line/offside is to pressure the guy with the ball. If MYM is trying to leave DS offside its a horrible decision because there is so much space for Coutinho. I can understand Tayls backing, and if MYM follows Sturridge it´s a simple 2 vs 2 and Tayls should show Coutinho away from centre to his left foot.

 

Ok, it happens pretty fast but still, you just cant play offside in that situation. And sorry for my crap English.

[Benwell Lad]

Whoever says Williamson needs a slap.

 

Don't see that as any kind of great support for Williamson, just an indication of how bad Taylor is.

Alongside Colo, Taylor, like the rest of them, looks ok. When Taylor tries to be the main man in defence it's dangerously bad.

A few centre halfs have floundered alongside him and once you see through the local lad passion he's really no better than Williamson.

[Guest DebuchyAndTheBeast]

He looked striken by fear as if he had seen a ghost or a revenant or something.  You could argue he had no protection from the DMs but his positional play was one of the poorest I've seen from a PL defender this season and like tmonkey pointed out he was caught in nomansland for our first goal. Honestly I would drop him for Williamson  even if the general consensus seems to be that Williamson is our worst CB.

[Wilson]

Madness.

[Ronaldo]

Ignore him, man. He seems to think Jonas is a good captain.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

The backing off of Coutinho was the right thing to do, like Gary Neville said the idea is to delay the attack until a back 3 of Saylor/MYM/Haidara can form. Then there's no problem. The worst thing is when MYM steps in and leaves a massive gap for Sturridge to score. Got to trust your teammate to do his job.

[Rich]

Linked with Marseille again and appears to have got Willie McKay as his new agent:

 

NEWCASTLE United defender Steven Taylor has emerged as a surprise target for Ligue 1 club Marseille, writes MARK DOUGLAS.

 

The Journal understands that Taylor has recently switched agents, and is now represented by Joey Barton’s agent Willie McKay – a man with high-level contacts in France.

 

And that change in management may explain why Marseille have been monitoring the central defender, who was called up for England earlier in the year.

 

Taylor is one of the players that Alan Pardew will no doubt be desperate to keep at St James’ Park next season, with the United boss desperate to retain a core of experienced Premier League players as he tries to put last season’s disappointment behind him.

 

He has lost Steve Harper and admits there are doubts over Shola Ameobi’s future, so keeping Taylor is a priority.

 

But Marseille’s interest is genuine, and they will be given glowing references by Barton – who has enjoyed a successful first season in France and looks set to complete a permanent move from QPR this close season.

 

Taylor will probably be unmoved by the interest from France, having expressed interest in staying at Newcastle.

 

His current contract runs until 2016 and he has aspirations of becoming a future United captain, as well as breaking into the England team with the Magpies.

 

But it is indicative of the kind of problems that Newcastle can expect this summer as they look to add to their squad while also protecting their prized assets.

 

United certainly need to improve defensively next year if they are to avoid another skirmish with relegation, and Taylor wants to see Fabricio Coloccini stay and continue to develop their partnership.

 

He says the squad are “desperate” to see the club’s skipper stay. “Colo and I have had a great partnership over the past few seasons,” said Taylor.

 

“We have a good understanding. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

 

“We seem to be able to mix it up. He’s very composed, and he’s not shy of a tackle as well.

 

“He’s been great a guy in training. You can learn a lot from him. I’ve got a fantastic partnership with him, and hopefully that will continue.”

 

As United ponder who may stay, the size of the task they face in trying to attract top target Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was laid bare by news of interest from Russian side Anzhi.

 

The 23-year-old striker is at the top of United’s wish-list, although club sources seem to acknowledge that he has other options and Newcastle have planned accordingly.

 

One of those opportunities is a lucrative one from Russia, with Samuel Eto’o having made contact with his agent to inform him of a proposed contract offer which would see him bank £6m a year – and a £9m signing on fee.

 

“Of course such a proposition makes me think about things,” Aubameyang told L’Equipe yesterday.

 

Newcastle’s long-standing interest in the player saw Mike Ashley journey to France to run the rule over him, but the number of suitors he now has makes it difficult to conclude a deal. Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg have been linked, along with AC Milan – who had him on their books as a teenager.

 

United can double his St Etienne wages, but without European football to offer, and with nothing like the resources of the mega-rich Russians, the chances of landing him would appear slim.

 

Newcastle are understood to have compiled a list of targets but will not put their plans into action until Alan Pardew’s return from holiday in the next fortnight. Few Premier League clubs will make moves in that time, with most of the decision-makers away on holiday.

 

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2013/05/25/61634-33381356/#ixzz2UIfcupav

[Tiresias]

He has lost Steve Harper and admits there are doubts over Shola Ameobi’s future, so keeping Taylor is a priority

 

Only Pardew would be panicking over losing Shola Ameobi

 

On the other hand should absolutely keep hold of Taylor, no chance he wouldn't perform if we force him to stay either imo.

[Ryan]

Swap deal for N'Koulou.

[Guest]

Colo's replacement.

[Tooj]

He has lost Steve Harper and admits there are doubts over Shola Ameobi’s future, so keeping Taylor is a priority

 

Only Pardew would be panicking over losing Shola Ameobi

 

On the other hand should absolutely keep hold of Taylor, no chance he wouldn't perform if we force him to stay either imo.

 

What would you do say for example if we had a chance of bringing Lescott in but that meant losing Taylor?

[Tiresias]

Not got the wages to.

 

Personally I think it is important to keep players with investment in the club around and we don't have enough CBs to just accept a one in one out policy, and I can't see us signing more than one CB anyway, which we'll need to if Colo goes, surely a more realistic concern.