Alan Pardew

[Dr Venkman]

Pardew's said himself that he didn't expect Ba to be as good as he has been. We started off the season by concentrating on being difficult to break down and managed to get a few results. Once Ba started scoring there's been no reason to change the strategy as it's kept us in the top 7 all season.

[TRon]

The argument about the inclusion of Ben Arfa aside, I don't think we play particularly bad football. IMO it's a continuation of how we played under Hughton in general; sometimes we knock it about and look really good, sometimes we play the percentage game. The same as most Premier League clubs to be frank. Both approaches have got us results this season, and as long as that continues in the main then it's hard to criticise.

 

I can understand the concerns of those who think that moving towards a percentage game too often will see us moving backwards though. If we see this season out well and make Europe then I think Pardew will have more confidence in his own plans whatever they may be. Things are on something of a knife edge at the moment because we're doing better than seemingly anyone at the club expected, so he's scared to change anything too much in case he misses this opportunity.

 

The type of football we play varies widely depending on the players starting on any particular day. We don't seem to play any particular brand of football consistently other than the very basic sort that Cronky mentions. Maybe it is just a case of getting the best out of a lop sided squad at the moment and we will build on it next season as we add players in key positions like left back - absolutely essential if we want to play the sort of football which Spurs have progressed to.

[Dr Venkman]

Thing is though, with the purse strings being held so tightly and players brought in as much for their contract situations and low prices are we really gonna be in a position to choose the type of football we play? We could set out to play good football next season and the exact same thing could happen, I don't blame Pardew one bit btw, he's pretty much rubbing everyone's noses in it this season considering how well he's doing.

[Lush Vlad]

The argument about the inclusion of Ben Arfa aside, I don't think we play particularly bad football. IMO it's a continuation of how we played under Hughton in general; sometimes we knock it about and look really good, sometimes we play the percentage game. The same as most Premier League clubs to be frank. Both approaches have got us results this season, and as long as that continues in the main then it's hard to criticise.

 

I can understand the concerns of those who think that moving towards a percentage game too often will see us moving backwards though. If we see this season out well and make Europe then I think Pardew will have more confidence in his own plans whatever they may be. Things are on something of a knife edge at the moment because we're doing better than seemingly anyone at the club expected, so he's scared to change anything too much in case he misses this opportunity.

 

This.

[ATB]

For me "good football" is just as much about entertaining the fans as minimaxing the oporunites for the oppoinent. If you can control the ball you will stop the other team to create chances and we dont have to sit through games like Wolves (a), Blackburn (a) and Villa (h) etc.

[Beren]

The argument about the inclusion of Ben Arfa aside, I don't think we play particularly bad football. IMO it's a continuation of how we played under Hughton in general; sometimes we knock it about and look really good, sometimes we play the percentage game. The same as most Premier League clubs to be frank. Both approaches have got us results this season, and as long as that continues in the main then it's hard to criticise.

 

I can understand the concerns of those who think that moving towards a percentage game too often will see us moving backwards though. If we see this season out well and make Europe then I think Pardew will have more confidence in his own plans whatever they may be. Things are on something of a knife edge at the moment because we're doing better than seemingly anyone at the club expected, so he's scared to change anything too much in case he misses this opportunity.

 

I think the bolded bit above is why people are challenging our direction – which, as fans on a forum, we’re entitled to do. [Not aimed at you, but the “we’re sixth, therefore your discussion/logic is invalid” contingent]. Pardew has demonstrated a pattern of not addressing growing issues until things begin to falter – and sometimes not even then, and I am personally not entirely confident he’ll try to change after what will (barring some end-of-season collapse) be a highly successful season in terms of results.

 

I also don’t think we play the same football as under Hughton, but it’s not a million miles off. In fits and starts we’ve had moments of midfield ingenuity, but for the most part we have to thank God for Ba Ba for goals – feeding off scraps and long balls. Pardew’s purchases certainly seem to indicate he wants our football to be prettier, which is great – Santon is a fine example of that. His current defensive frailties aside for one moment, his technique and ambition to come forward is excellent and Pardew (I hope) recognises the importance of full-backs in the modern game. They are the options, when available, that stops centrebacks and goalkeepers from launching it from the back, transitioning defence to attack with more measure. They are the marauding, over-lapping havoc that can tip the scales against a team content to defend (see Micah Richards this season). Pardew’s purchases (or lack thereof) in strengthening us on both defensive flanks this summer will be a good indicator of how he wants us to play [ – and possibly Ashley’s parsimony too, I suppose].

 

My main concern isn’t the purchases though – which have been excellent on the whole (Cabaye, Ben Arfa, Santon, Ba, Cisse – all point to sexy football). It’s more his ability to coach, train and deploy them effectively. Hughton had us playing some pretty slick football at times with the likes of Barton, Nolan, Tiote and Carroll – it was some good passing stuff. Most of the goals came from elsewhere, yes, but in terms of our foothold in games – I felt much better about their passing and ball retention than I have under the majority of Pardew’s tenure so far – and yet, the results under Pardew are better so far. Cronky’s statistic about ‘chances’ is telling for me though. By the end of the season, I’d love to have more confidence in Pardew’s ability to coach the team to control possession and to develop/integrate players who could become team linchpins (HBA, Santon, Cisse). I don’t expect it to happen overnight and it won’t be a linear progression, but it’d be nice to see signs of progress.

 

[Hughesy]

Can't agree that we had a better foothold in matches under Hughton than Pardew.  Must have been watching very very different matches.

[Dave]

I don't think there's much in it tbh. We certainly don't play dramatically better football under Pardew IMO, not that I mean it's worse though. I believe some have taken the oft-quoted comments from Cabaye about how Pardew apparently convinced him to sign as proof that we play a slicker game these days. That might have been the intention and might still be, but there's not a ton of evidence so far in my eyes.

[TRon]

The argument about the inclusion of Ben Arfa aside, I don't think we play particularly bad football. IMO it's a continuation of how we played under Hughton in general; sometimes we knock it about and look really good, sometimes we play the percentage game. The same as most Premier League clubs to be frank. Both approaches have got us results this season, and as long as that continues in the main then it's hard to criticise.

 

I can understand the concerns of those who think that moving towards a percentage game too often will see us moving backwards though. If we see this season out well and make Europe then I think Pardew will have more confidence in his own plans whatever they may be. Things are on something of a knife edge at the moment because we're doing better than seemingly anyone at the club expected, so he's scared to change anything too much in case he misses this opportunity.

 

I think the bolded bit above is why people are challenging our direction – which, as fans on a forum, we’re entitled to do. [Not aimed at you, but the “we’re sixth, therefore your discussion/logic is invalid” contingent]. Pardew has demonstrated a pattern of not addressing growing issues until things begin to falter – and sometimes not even then, and I am personally not entirely confident he’ll try to change after what will (barring some end-of-season collapse) be a highly successful season in terms of results.

 

I also don’t think we play the same football as under Hughton, but it’s not a million miles off. In fits and starts we’ve had moments of midfield ingenuity, but for the most part we have to thank God for Ba Ba for goals – feeding off scraps and long balls. Pardew’s purchases certainly seem to indicate he wants our football to be prettier, which is great – Santon is a fine example of that. His current defensive frailties aside for one moment, his technique and ambition to come forward is excellent and Pardew (I hope) recognises the importance of full-backs in the modern game. They are the options, when available, that stops centrebacks and goalkeepers from launching it from the back, transitioning defence to attack with more measure. They are the marauding, over-lapping havoc that can tip the scales against a team content to defend (see Micah Richards this season). Pardew’s purchases (or lack thereof) in strengthening us on both defensive flanks this summer will be a good indicator of how he wants us to play [ – and possibly Ashley’s parsimony too, I suppose].

 

My main concern isn’t the purchases though – which have been excellent on the whole (Cabaye, Ben Arfa, Santon, Ba, Cisse – all point to sexy football). It’s more his ability to coach, train and deploy them effectively. Hughton had us playing some pretty slick football at times with the likes of Barton, Nolan, Tiote and Carroll – it was some good passing stuff. Most of the goals came from elsewhere, yes, but in terms of our foothold in games – I felt much better about their passing and ball retention than I have under the majority of Pardew’s tenure so far – and yet, the results under Pardew are better so far. Cronky’s statistic about ‘chances’ is telling for me though. By the end of the season, I’d love to have more confidence in Pardew’s ability to coach the team to control possession and to develop/integrate players who could become team linchpins (HBA, Santon, Cisse). I don’t expect it to happen overnight and it won’t be a linear progression, but it’d be nice to see signs of progress.

 

 

I've felt a lot of the same concerns in that post. I agree that it's early days yet but I honestly believe that we could have deployed the players we have bought in ways more suited to them for a lot of games this season. But by hook or by crook we've picked up some good results, mostly against poorer teams where our more mediocre players are matched by the oppositions. Results are everything though and on the whole they've been good.

[Dr Venkman]

I don't buy the 'he's brought in good players so he must want to play good football' line one bit mind, I don't think he has much say over who we do or don't sign.

[Shak]

I don't buy the 'he's brought in good players so he must want to play good football' line one bit mind, I don't think he has much say over who we do or don't sign.

 

In terms of the individuals themselves, perhaps.

 

No way he doesn't contribute quite a bit in terms of the type of players he wants though IMO, there'd be no sense at all in the board just going out and finding players they like and just throwing them at Pardew and telling him to make space for them somewhere.

[JH]

Don't really think it makes a massive difference in the grand scheme of things. Yes, it's nice to play good football but we can't do it all of the time - especially with a central midfield of Perch and Guthrie. Sometimes we'll play well and pass it around, sometimes we'll lump it forward and play badly. Sometimes we'll scrape to victory, sometimes we'll get hammered.

 

It's all part of football. We can't play nice football every week, just like we can't win comfortably every week. We can sit here and say "They had loads of chances and could have taken them" "On another day, we'd have been punished" - if Colo had been more composed against Spurs, we'd have beaten them 3-2. If we'd hit the net instead of the post, we'd have beaten Swansea etc. etc.

 

I think he's just hesitant to play passing football all of the time. It's something you have to build up, not just come to you overnight. And it isn't always the right thing to do (just look at the 3-0 win over Man U). Swansea play nice football and are 11th with 30 points. Stoke play horrible football and are 13th with 30 points - you don't get any extra points for being pretty to watch.

 

I think Pardew has done an exceptional job since he took over, considering we lost our no.9 and club captain within a few months of each other. We're a point off 4th place so late in the season playing some 'rubbish football' and without our biggest creative threat (who I think is Ben Arfa). The fact we can win/scrape a point even when we're playing badly is a good sign. We have morale, we have good spirit and a fight still in us.

 

It's not all luck, whatever some say. If Pardew was that f***ing lucky, he'd have won the lottery by now. We've taken advantage of a generally poor PL season but we've earned it IMO.

 

He does need to integrate Ben Arfa into the side and needs to stop relying on the likes of R.Taylor and Perch, however. But my biggest problem is our self-belief. We don't think we are a good enough side, and that is down to Pardew to make them believe that they can compete with the best. His 'let our hair down' comments were baffling and probably contributed to our 'rabbit in a headlights' start to the match against Spurs as we stood in awe of them and didn't think we could compete with them.

[Hughesy]

JH - spot on.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

At the end of the day I don't think fans even want 'nice football' necessarily. They want exciting football with attacking intent, and games that are lively and NUFC are on top. At the same time they also don't want us to give the ball away trying risky stuff, and often slaughter players who do that.

 

I personally think playing Ben Arfa more and trying to keep the ball down is the best way to achieve that, and I think Pardew will do once he has all the right players available.

[AlanSkÃrare]

JH: Fully agree about what Pardew did to the players confidence pre-Spurs. It seemed as if nobody believed we could have a go at them, and it showed on the pitch. I think that is also evident in the post-match comments by some of the players, apologetic and full of praise for Spurs rather than pointing to our own failings.

[TRon]

At the end of the day I don't think fans even want 'nice football' necessarily. They want exciting football with attacking intent, and games that are lively and NUFC are on top. At the same time they also don't want us to give the ball away trying risky stuff, and often slaughter players who do that.

 

I personally think playing Ben Arfa more and trying to keep the ball down is the best way to achieve that, and I think Pardew will do once he has all the right players available.

 

It isn't about playing "nice football" necessarily I agree, but the top teams around us from Man City down to Arsenal and Liverpool all pass the ball well and more importantly keep possession. For us to break into the top 6 we'll have to do that as well at some point. We showed signs of it against Man U so maybe when we get Tiote back into the side we'll see it a bit more.

[Mick]

An interesting statistic is that we are 5th from bottom of the league in terms of chances created, but 4th from top in terms of the conversion rate of those chances.

 

It sometimes feels to me like Pardew has pared down the art of winning games to the bare bones, and this no-frills method is what's carrying us through. It's not pretty to watch but tbh results are more important than performances.

 

I do have faith that we're a work in progress and we'll move forward from this point though.

That just proves what some of have said, BA has been making his goals from scraps, he's clinical.

[Guest reefatoon]

At the end of the day I don't think fans even want 'nice football' necessarily. They want exciting football with attacking intent, and games that are lively and NUFC are on top. At the same time they also don't want us to give the ball away trying risky stuff, and often slaughter players who do that.

 

I personally think playing Ben Arfa more and trying to keep the ball down is the best way to achieve that, and I think Pardew will do once he has all the right players available.

 

It isn't about playing "nice football" necessarily I agree, but the top teams around us from Man City down to Arsenal and Liverpool all pass the ball well and more importantly keep possession. For us to break into the top 6 we'll have to do that as well at some point. We showed signs of it against Man U so maybe when we get Tiote back into the side we'll see it a bit more.

 

Agree. Tiote definitely breeds a little more confidence in the more attacking minded players.  They feel they can get forward more knowing he is there behind them to mop up.

[madras]

Not so sure about Tiote giving others confidence to get forward. If we lack anything its our midfield doing exactly that..

[madras]

To clarify my above post, they should/can but don't/won't.

[TRon]

Not so sure about Tiote giving others confidence to get forward. If we lack anything its our midfield doing exactly that..

 

We've had that problem for years now, Lee and Dyer were probably the last effective midfielders to get forward. Cabaye when he plays likes to sit deep as does Guthrie.

[johnnypd]

what's odd is that tiote tends to assume more responsibility for pushing forward when paired with cabaye, going on surging runs, dribbling forward and always looking for the attacking pass.

 

cabaye if anything drops even further back and prefers to spray the ball out wide like a quarterback, then off the ball he gets embroiled in little tete-a-tetes. don't get me wrong i like cabaye a lot but he's been a slight disappointment and i'd prefer to see him reduce the ugly side of his game, conserve his energy better and try to be more creative.

[Dave]

Once again I don't think pre-season helped. Tiote and Cabaye didn't play together once due to various farcical issues, in fact for most of the time they weren't even in the same country. As a result they still don't look the natural partnership one would expect them to be.

[johnnypd]

Once again I don't think pre-season helped. Tiote and Cabaye didn't play together once due to various farcical issues. As a result they still don't look the natural partnership one would expect them to be.

 

 

think that extends even further than those two as well. the only bit of the side that has looked settled was the defence earlier in the season, which now looks extremely vulnerable to quick attacks with Taylor injured. The team has looked disjointed all season playing fairly poor football, but we've done well due to Ba's goals, an organised defence (RIP) and the solid mentality that Pardew's instilled.

[Guest Dontooner]

So far the defensive players have been the story of the season, probably due of Pardew's safe approach to the game. The attacking or flair players havent lived up to expectations very likely due to the same reasons. I have emphasize the point that we do not create enough open chances, and have very little attacking overlapping runs to support offensive moves.

Its actually quite usual that in an entire match, ours strikers are the furthest up front awaiting for a cross and very little actually goes through the middle. I put this down due to the lack of tactics or trying to play a very defensive game that often allows only a couple of attacking players to be involved.

 

Overlapping runs are usually staged or pre train on the pitch, so the players would find extra space, the player in possession would know exactly where the ball needs to go during the attack. We have very little or no such runs in games, very unusual for a top 6 team tbh.

 

In the long run, we definitely need to improve in terms of attacking and creation, teams could be founded out and the forms of other team could get better as well. Imo we would not stay top 6-7 if we dont find a will to improve our game come the last stretch of the season.