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Newcastle United vs Bolton Wanderers, Saturday (26/2/11) Pre-match thread.


Stifler

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His runs usually amount to nothing.

 

That's where you're wrong. Loven takes many solid runs without being used. Because of Nolan we don't have a cm that's able to serve him the balls we need (through balls behind the defense, either on ground or in air). Barton is able to do this, but since he plays as RM he's often crossing the ball to the other side. It's much harder to hit a through ball from his position. Loven is not that gong ho as Ranger: He doesn't run that much, but his runs are good and accurate. If he's calledd off for offside, it's often very marginal or a wrong decision. We need an attacker today that constantly is trying to break through Bolton's defense. That's what physical teams hate: passing and through balls on the ground in the longitudinal direction. We will not win this game by hitting those long balls. That's also why we played so well against Bham and Burn: we kept the ball on the ground.

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Are they carrying any injuries?

 

 

A few, especially in defence. Knight and Ricketts injured, with Steinsson and Samuel only on light training at the moment. We have no recognised right-back, so Paul Robinson will probably play there and Marcos Alonso (19-yo signed from Real Madrid in the summer) at left-back as they did against Fulham.

 

In that case, delivery into the box will be no problem given Jose and Jonas' form on the left, we just need the strikers to convert the chances. It's a shame we'll be without Ameobi's aerial presence, as he would create chances for Nolan as well as putting them away himself. Hopefully Best's goal last game is a sign that he's been working on his heading in training.

 

3-1 :)

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Robinson has actually been one of our best players this season. Occasionally gets done for pace and has to resort to a late tackle (as in the Arsenal game), but makes up for it for actually being able to defend.

 

Fulham identified Alonso as the weak link last week, and gave him a tough time in the first half  - his positioning was dodgy to say the least. However, he was a totally different player in the second half, much more confident and composed.

 

For all this talk of us being physical, we've probably only got 3 'tankers': our centre-backs and Davies. 4 if Muamba plays.

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Reckon we'll play Nolan in behind if Lovenkrands is out.

 

            Harper

 

Simpson Willi Colo Enrique

 

Raylor  Barton Tiote Jonas

 

                  Nolan

 

                  Best

 

 

Not sure if Raylor is fit like.

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Guest BlacknWhiteArmy

Reckon we'll play Nolan in behind if Lovenkrands is out.

 

            Harper

 

Simpson Willi Colo Enrique

 

Raylor  Barton Tiote Jonas

 

                  Nolan

 

                  Best

 

 

Not sure if Raylor is fit like.

 

Probaby Guthrie next to Tiote, Barton wide

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Reckon we'll play Nolan in behind if Lovenkrands is out.

 

            Harper

 

Simpson Willi Colo Enrique

 

Raylor  Barton Tiote Jonas

 

                  Nolan

 

                  Best

 

 

Not sure if Raylor is fit like.

 

Probaby Guthrie next to Tiote, Barton wide

 

Don't think Guthrie is fit. Sure Pardew said he'd miss out.

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Guest BlacknWhiteArmy

Reckon we'll play Nolan in behind if Lovenkrands is out.

 

            Harper

 

Simpson Willi Colo Enrique

 

Raylor  Barton Tiote Jonas

 

                 Nolan

 

                 Best

 

 

Not sure if Raylor is fit like.

 

Probaby Guthrie next to Tiote, Barton wide

 

Don't think Guthrie is fit. Sure Pardew said he'd miss out.

 

Forgot about that-

 

Raylor's been training for a few weeks, and played a full reserve game a week or so ago.

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Nolan doesn't function as an AM, he's too slow. Not able to keep the ball, and leaves us vulnerable for counter attacks due to his ball losses. His mobility is not good enough either. So he ends up running between the attacker and the midfield, not filling either role sufficiently. If Loven fails to shake of his injury, I actually wants Kuqi to start, with Ranger replacing him around the 60th minute of the game. Kuqi's running will wear the defenders out, making Ranger too hot to handle when he's replacing Kuqi.

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I think we'll see:

 

                  Harper

  Simmo  Willi  Colo Jose

Barton  Nolan  God  Jonas

              Best  Ranger

 

I can't see Pards breaking up our defence or midfield due to a lack of striking options.  Also, Raylor is unlikely to be match fit.

 

Shola is unavailable, Loven may be injured, Kuqi probably lacks sharpness.  Now is the time for Ranger to make the step up to the 1st XI.  If he gives us a goal or two he may stake a claim for a permanent place in the starting team.

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